La Raza, NAACP Show No Tolerance

(Kansas City) Reputed to be champions of diversity and tolerance, the National Council of La Raza and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, are showing their ugly side. Tolerance and diversity begin only after they exclude people who disagree with them.

The Washington-based National Council of La Raza, along with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, have threatened to take their conventions elsewhere unless Frances Semler, a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, resigns from the parks board.

But after a meeting Thursday between Hispanic community groups and Mayor Mark Funkhouser, the NCLR said that it was willing to compromise but that Semler would have to revoke her membership in the group.

A spokesman for Funkhouser, who appointed Semler and has stood by her since the controversy erupted, said Friday that the mayor was out of town and wasn't commenting on the new proposal.

Welcome to the world of high-stakes political blackmail. Millions of dollars will be lost if La Raza and the NAACP move their conventions from Kansas City to another locale.

Right, wrong and the rule of law don't make a hill of beans to champions of diversity and tolerance.