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Mike Gravel on Civil Rights
Libertarian for President; Former Dem. Senator (AK); withdrew from Presidential primary July 2019
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$30 billion per year for National Reparations Trust Fund
Over its history, the American government has participated in systematic disenfranchisement of and discrimination against significant groups of people, whose descendants still suffer today. The examples are endless: from slavery to Jim Crow to
Native American treaty violations.The US should create a National Commission on Reparations, to assess claims from descendants of those affected by discriminatory government policies. [Then], establish a National Reparations Trust Fund (NRTF),
funded by an infusion of $30 billion per year from government coffers. Each year, 20 percent of the fund would be paid out; 25 percent of this money would go toward programs to benefit historically black colleges and universities, Native American
communities, and education in low-income communities hurt by policies like redlining. The other 75 percent would be paid out directly to those on the list of disadvantaged groups.
Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website MikeGravel.com
, Apr 9, 2019
Include sexual orientation & gender identity as civil rights
America has a woeful legacy surrounding its treatment of LGBTQIA+ people. And yet they have shown remarkable perseverance, fighting back relentlessly. It is time for full equality for all of America's LGBTQIA+ people, with a special focus on transgender
rights.The United States should amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination due to sexual orientation and/or gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, and credit.
Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website MikeGravel.com
, Apr 9, 2019
Bush’s overblown War on Terror is modern McCarthyism
McCarthyism [1950s anti-Communist purges] was one example of a recurring nightmare in American history: a legitimate problem is deliberately overblown to aggrandize the accuser’s political power; fear is amplified so the populace willingly forfeits civil
rights in exchange for security. If Arthur Miller were to update The Crucible, in which he compared the religious intolerance of New England Puritans with McCarthy, he would have to include comparisons to George W. Bush’s War on Terror.
Source: A Political Odyssey, by Mike Gravel, p.106
, May 2, 2008
Established first in-state high school for native Alaskans
Under the previous system run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, high school-age native Alaskans were forcibly separated from their families to be sent to schools on reservations as far away as Oregon or Oklahoma. I put an end to that and the native
communities loved me for it. It taught me a big lesson in politics: when you want to accomplish something, look for a wrong to correct. Don’t be a phony. If you solve problems you prove your worth and can run on your record.
Source: A Political Odyssey, by Mike Gravel, p.146-147
, May 2, 2008
Discontinue public college & government affirmative action
Q: Should the federal government consider race and gender in government contracting decisions? A: No.
Q: Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions?
A: No.
Q: Should the federal government continue affirmative action programs?
A: No.
Source: Presidential Election 2008 Political Courage Test
, Apr 22, 2008
Alaskan gay supporters in Harvey Milk Club
Q: You are from Alaska. A: I live in Virginia now, but my heart is still in Alaska.
Q: Are there many gay people up in Alaska ?
A:
My coterie of support within the Harvey Milk Club [a San Francisco-based GLBT support group] is the Alaskans that are in that club. They’re in the audience right today.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
, Aug 9, 2007
Marriage preceded religion; it’s not a religious term
Stop and think. What is marriage? I resent religion saying that it’s a religious term. It’s not. Marriage preceded all forms of religion in civilization. Marriage is a commitment between two human beings in love. And understand me;
I’m saying two human beings. They can be heterosexual. They can be two lesbians. They can be transgender. They can be two gays. What it is, it’s a commitment of human beings in love. And if there’s anything we need in this world, it’s more love.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
, Aug 9, 2007
Mainstream politicians play it safe on gay marriage
Q: Why do you think Obama and Edwards and Clinton do not support full same-sex marriage rights?A: Well, it’s because they’re playing it safe. They’re not going to lose any votes over not being for marriage, whatever their excuses are.
They’re going to win. This is costing votes for us. I don’t care. I don’t want those votes. So you want to know the difference? A good politician can tell you to go to hell and make you look forward to the trip. We see a lot of that.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
, Aug 9, 2007
First accomplishment: creating AK Human Rights Commission
Q: Prior to this campaign, what is the thing that you have done to advance GLBT rights that you are most proud of? A: My first piece of legislation in the State Legislature was the creation of the Human Rights Commission of Alaska. I fought hard,
I used political capital. And what I learned is that when you use political capital, more capital comes to you. The Human Rights Commission dealt with gays and dealt with the black community. That was my first accomplishment, and I felt it deeply.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
, Aug 9, 2007
Straight older men are dead wrong to oppose gay marriage
Q: You are unusual for your generation of straight white men, because you actually support same-sex marriage. How do you speak to men of your generation? And how do you speak just to men of your generation? A: About my generation, most of them are
wrong. They’re dead wrong. They’re dead wrong. You know, when I was a kid there was a lot of homophobia around. I can recall when the gay issue was, what, 55% opposed, 40% for. And lo and behold, now if you’re talking about the gay issue in general,
it’s probably 59% for, and the rest are in the dustbin of history. The same thing’s going to happen with the marriage issue. I’ll make you a promise. Five years from now the marriage issue will be a non-issue in the next presidential campaign.
Just that simple.
Q: If you think it’s changing so much, you could put gay marriage up to a popular vote and it would win?
A: I think so. I think that the American people are basically got really an underlying sense of values of fairness.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
, Aug 9, 2007
By next election, gay marriage could win a popular vote
Q: What about gay marriage?A: The marriage issue will be a non-issue in the next presidential campaign.
Q: If you think attitudes are changing so much, you could put gay marriage up to a popular vote and it would win?
A: I think so. I think that
the American people are basically got really an underlying sense of values of fairness.
Q: Things have changed that much?
A: What happens is we had the leadership that demagogues the issue to a fare-thee-well, whether it’s presidential candidates
who can’t quite get their arms around the marriage issue and, of course, will give you an argument. And it could be a real argument that it’s their morality that doesn’t permit it or it’s a political argument. When people like myself or Dennis
Kucinich move the ball down the court a little bit, that benefits the gay community. And it’s sort of ironic that we see the gay community supporting people like Hillary, Obama, Edwards, who, for some reason, can’t get their arms around marriage.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
, Aug 9, 2007
Civil union establish second-class citizenship for gays
Q: Did we go for marriage too soon? Should the GLBT community have stuck with civil unions?A: I know that Rep. Barney Frank initially said that they should have not gone for it. I disagree. But now he’s changed his position. He feels that you draw a
line in the sand by telling people that you can’t use the word marriage, which, of course, has been misappropriated by religion. Go to the City Hall next time and look for where you go get your license. Does it say Gay Same Sex Union or does it say
Marriage License Bureau? It says Marriage License. What you have to recognize is that when people are telling you that you can’t be married, what they’re telling you is there’s something wrong with you, you’re second-class citizens, and that’s not so.
You’re not second-class citizens, and the sooner our nation matures to that level [the better]. Leadership is the task of bringing us forward to civic maturity, and we don’t have enough of that leadership at the presidential level.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
, Aug 9, 2007
We must assert our rights; nobody will give them to you
For me, [GLBT issues are about] justice; it’s human rights. It’s not whether you’re gay. I’ve advocated many times for gays -- come out of the closet, please. Some people can’t pay the price at a given point in time. But there’s one thing that counts:
You’ve got to assert your rights. Nobody is going to give you anything from on high. It just does not happen that way in a system of representative government. And so you have to step forward, and
I’ll be happy to step forward with you, as I have all of my life. And I can promise you one thing, you stand up for me -- and I need your support; I need your support and want it and beg it because
I’ll do more for your cause than any other human being that walks the Earth as your president.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
, Aug 9, 2007
Dems love blacks during elections, but nothing has improved
I’m not much of a cheerleader either for the Democratic Party or for this organization [the NAACP]. I look out there [in the audience] and I see the prosperous part of the African-American community. But take a drive through Detroit and you’ll see anothe
part of the African-American community and I’d like you to go back to the people you represent and ask them, “Have things changed in the last 25 years? Have they changed, whether it’s been Democrat or Republican?” The Republicans have been a disaster. Th
Democrats have been a hair better. We love you in the primary, but we don’t find you after we’re elected. And that’s got to change. As a candidate, I’m not up here to gain some popularity contest, tell you what you want to hear. I’m going to tell you
what you need to know. That’s what counts. And we’ll start with drugs. We’ll start with our international foreign policy. We’ll start with a whole host of these things, get the questions you have and we’ll deal with them properly and straightforwardly.
Source: 2007 NAACP Presidential Primary Forum
, Jul 12, 2007
Electoral-industrial complex steals African-American votes
Q: In light of the recent anti-integration Supreme Court decision, please tell us what would you do to promote an equal opportunity and integration in American public schools and how would you ensure that the courts would hand down more balanced opinions
A: Obviously, the answer to that is to appoint the proper judges and I think, by and large, that everybody on this stage will appoint the proper judges. But the heart of the matter really is civil rights.
And you know what’s the most important thing in civil rights? It’s voting. And so what you want to do is recognize that in Florida, the African-American community was wiped out in the ability to vote & we lost the election. They stole it. The same thing
happened in Ohio. And what has the Congress done? Put up $3 billion for a “Help America Vote Act” to create an electoral industrial complex with machines that don’t permit you to find out how you voted. That’s what they’ve done and that needs to change.
Source: 2007 NAACP Presidential Primary Forum
, Jul 12, 2007
Racism still with us in the 21st century
Q: Is race still the most intractable issue in America?A: Racism was here with us at the beginning of this country. It was here in the last century, and it’s going to be with us in the 21st century. And one of the areas that touches me the
most and enrages me the most is our war on drugs that this country has been putting forth for the last generation. We have 2.3 million people in jail, and 70 percent are African-Americans [because of criminalization of drugs].
Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
, Jun 28, 2007
Don’t ask don’t tell should have gone 20 years ago
Don’t ask don’t tell should have been gotten rid of 20 years ago.
Source: 2007 Dem. debate at Saint Anselm College
, Jun 3, 2007
Unequivocally supports same-sex marriage
A press release spelled out his support for the recognition of same-sex marriages and other aspects of the gay civil rights agenda. It said Senator Gravel:- Unequivocally supports same-sex marriage and opposes the Defense of Marriage Act.
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Supports expanding hate-crime legislation and opposes laws that allow discrimination against sexual orientation, as well as discrimination on the basis of one’s gender identity or expression.
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In the absence of full marriage rights, supports domestic partner benefits for all Americans.
- Will repeal the military’s ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ legislation on the grounds that it is unconstitutional, as it restricts the rights of gay Americans.
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Opposes any state or national constitutional amendment that restricts the rights of the LGBT community.
Source: Wikipedia.org article on Mike Gravel campaign
, Feb 26, 2007
Politicians use fear to manipulate us all
We have become a nation ruled by fear. Since the end of the Second World War, various political leaders have fostered fear in the American people--fear of Communism, fear of terrorism, fear of immigrants, fear of people based on race and religion,
fear of Gays and Lesbian in love who just want to get married, and fear of people who are somehow different. It is fear that allows political leaders to manipulate us all and distort our national priorities.
Source: Speech to Winter Meeting, Democratic National Committee
, Feb 3, 2007
Calling critics or doubters un-American is anti-patriotic
What is the essence of this country that we are being patriotic about? A real love of America -- an authentic patriotism -- must be based on more than a moralizing grumph, a smug assertion, a bumper-sticker slogan.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “my country right or wrong.” I think we can all agree, this leaves something to be desired. No, I think a true patriotism -- a truly
MacArthuresque love of country -- can leave some room for loving the sinner, but hating the sin. The American who calls a critic or doubter to task as un-American is -- himself -- in that instant, the true anti-patriot.
It is the American who defends the right to disagree, and who hears and sees and embraces the voices of diversity, who is the truest and greatest lover of America.
Source: The Gravel Report, “Real patriotism for Americans”
, Aug 15, 2006
Page last updated: Dec 15, 2019