America's Tradition of Racism lives on

Today is Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. The name means nothing to most Americans, an unfortunate illustration of lingering racism and sexism.

On February 16, 1945, more than 20 years before Martin Luther King, Jr. gave voice to his dream, this young Alaskan Native woman was the single driving force behind passage of Alaska’s Anti-Discrimination Act. It was the first such law in the United States.

Although granted citizenship in 1924, signs reading “No Natives Allowed” and “No Dogs, No Natives” expressed the reality of life in the 1940s. As beautiful as she was brave, Elizabeth Peratrovich stood alone before the all-male, predominately white Alaskan legislators, and changed American history.

"I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind gentlemen with five thousand years of recorded civilization behind them of our Bill of Rights.” Peratrovich testified.

"There are three kinds of persons who practice discrimination. First, the politician who wants to maintain an inferior minority group so that he can always promise them something.

“Second, the Mr. and Mrs. Jones who aren't quite sure of their social position and who are nice to you on one occasion and can't see you on others, depending on who they are with.

“Third, the great superman who believes in the superiority of the white race. Discrimination … has forced the finest of our race to associate with white trash."

Asked if she thought the proposed bill would eliminate discrimination, Peratrovich replied:
"Do your laws against larceny and even murder prevent those crimes? No law will eliminate crimes but at least you as legislators can assert to the world that you recognize the evil of the present situation and speak your intent to help us overcome discrimination."

History records that the Senate chamber was filled with applause and tears. The Senate passed the Anti-Discrimination bill 11 to 5.

In Alaska, a Native woman standing alone trumps a black man standing with thousands behind him. It is Peratrovich, not King, who is our Civil Rights Hero. What would she say today, with America still chained with such bigotry that race, sex, and religion are a consideration in determining which individual would make the best president?