White Supremacist Runs for School Board

Updated 1:04 PM ET April 28, 2005
By SARAH COOKE

http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pr...89ohfa81&src=ap

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - First came the leaflets. Left on front porches around the college town of Bozeman last summer, they called for a white homeland and espoused a need to protect the white race.

Then, residents learned a month ago that a member of the group that distributed the leaflets had gathered enough signatures to run as a candidate in next Tuesday's school board election.

In the city of about 57,000, known for its mix of ranchers, artists and ski bums, many are appalled by Kevin McGuire's candidacy.

Brightly colored posters promoting tolerance have sprung up. Angry letters poured in to the local paper, some from people who felt duped into signing his petition.

At a candidate forum this week, the clean-cut 23-year-old McGuire was peppered with criticism and questioned at length about his beliefs and his membership in the National Alliance, a West Virginia white separatist group.

Few believe the California native has any chance of winning a seat on the seven-member board, but they aren't taking any chances. Like people in other Montana cities where racist or separatist groups have appeared in recent years, residents want Bozeman, the home of Montana State University, to be seen as a place that embraces diversity.

"All people are welcome here," said Stacey Haugland of the Gallatin Valley Human Rights Task Force. "We as members of this community want to make it really, really clear that our values are not the values of the National Alliance."

McGuire, who calls himself a "European American activist" and rejects the label of white supremacist, says he believes he has more support in the community than many think. And he says he is committed to reforming Bozeman schools.

He says the schools promote homosexuality, strip parents of control over their children, ignore white students and promote other cultures at the expense of figures like George Washington and other founding fathers.

"White children are often installed with guilt and a feeling of being ashamed because of the way that whites have dealt with minorities in the past, such as black slavery and the killing of Indians," McGuire said in a telephone interview. "Past discrimination should not result in present-day reverse discrimination against white kids."

McGuire never mentioned his beliefs or his membership in the National Alliance when he asked people to sign his petition this spring. More than three dozen voters supported him, and many were shocked and embarrassed when they learned the truth.

"I looked you in the eye and asked benign questions and you returned with satisfying answers," Benjamin Bennett wrote in a letter to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. "I signed your petition thinking `It's impressive to see a youthful adult having aspirations of serving on our local school board.' But boy, was I a sucker."

Others called him dangerous and unqualified and denounced his group for distributing the racist literature.

"It's been a distraction to the community and disturbed the community that he was even able to get on the ballot," said Martha Collins, a school board candidate.

Human rights advocates say McGuire is running only to promote National Alliance beliefs and attract new members.

"What he wants here is to stir up the pot and get some visibility," said Ken Toole, director of the Montana Human Rights Network. "The political arena presents a chance for him to get out and present his views as he wants."

Nationally, the National Alliance is "really on the ropes" since the 2002 death of leader William Pierce, said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. Pierce's novel "The Turner Diaries" is believed to have inspired Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.