Reno-Sparks NAACP asks Nevada State Assembly Republican Caucus to replace Ira Hansen as speaker
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Fri, 11/21/2014 - 11:15am
The Reno-Sparks NAACP this week asked the Nevada State Assembly Republican Caucus to reconsider its recent unanimous election of Assemblymember Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, as speaker of the lower house for the 2015 legislative session.
"We were very disappointed by the decision," stated Reno-Sparks Branch President Jeffrey Blanck.
"We understand that the caucus has many newly elected members who may not be as familiar with Mr. Hansen's past as we are. They need to know he has beaten the drum of intolerance for decades," Blanck said.
"We do not ask anyone to take our word for it. Take his words. A detailed compendium of his racist, bigoted, and homophobic views has been posted online and may be accessed via the Reno-Sparks NAACP's website at RenoSparksNAACP.org," Blanck added.
"As a public official, Hansen's comments are of importance," Blanck stated.
Two-time Branch past-president Lonnie Feemster knows Hansen well and has debated him in public.
"What can you add about the retrogressive mindset of someone who refuses to believe in evolution and advocates for private schools?" Feemster said.
The web postings come from Hansen's longrunning commentaries in the Sparks Tribune over 17 years, as well as reader criticisms.
"They run the expected gamut of discrimination," stated Branch Vice-President Andrew Barbano.
"My favorite is Ira's defense of the Confederate flag as emblematic of the courage of his Civil War heroes, including Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a founder of the Ku Klux Klan." Barbano added.
Barbano, a Tribune columnist for the past 26 years, compiled the research. Hansen appointed Assemblymember Jim Wheeler, R-Minden, to a major committee chairmanship. Wheeler brought national ridicule on Nevada when he said he would vote to bring back slavery "if that's what the constituency wants."
"All this would be laughable were it not so abhorrent and dangerous," Blanck said.
"Mr. Hansen has long been an unyielding opponent of everything the NAACP supports. We are willing to sit down and talk with him and we hope he can rise above his prejudices to become a true public servant. But, given his long and extremely disappointing record, the best interests of Nevada will be best served if the Republican caucus elects a less divisive leader," Blanck stated.
The NAACP is the nation's oldest civil rights organization. Reno-Sparks Branch No. 1112 was formally chartered in 1947.
