Boy Scouts chastised for immigrant rallies

[fgoodwin]

Boy Scouts chastised for immigrant rallies

 

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3713439

 

Politics: Official says Latino troop violated policy of involvement

 

By Jennifer W. Sanchez

The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune

 

Article Last Updated: 4/15/2006 01:10 AM

 

A Utah Boy Scout official has warned a Latino troop earning merit badges for "Citizenship in the Community" that it violated policy against involvement in political events with its participation in immigration demonstrations this week in Salt Lake City.

 

Michael Clara, scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 987, said he received a phone call on Wednesday from Vic Rowberry, a Great Salt Lake Council of Boy Scouts of America field director, who said the troop shouldn't have participated in the events.

 

Clara disagreed, saying he didn't understand the difference between providing the flag ceremony and staying to observe the Republican State Convention in August 2005 and carrying and passing out flags at the nonpartisan immigration demonstrations on Sunday and Monday. Though nonpartisan, the rallies were aimed at influencing federal immigration reform. Clara said Rowberry had given Troop 987 - made up of 15 Latinos ages 12 to 15 - permission to conduct the flag ceremony at the state GOP convention.

 

"It's disappointing that the council would second-guess our judgment . . . I'm strict with my boys, and we do everything by the book," said Clara, a Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly member who started the Latino troop three years ago.

 

Clara, 39, said his Boy Scouts participated in the demonstrations as volunteers for the Utah Coalition of La Raza, a nonpartisan advocacy civil rights organization, to fulfill their requirements for the Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge. To get the badge, the troop must pick "a charitable organization" that "brings people in your community together to work for the good of your community"; volunteer for eight hours with the group; and later discuss what the troop learned.

 

Kay Godfrey, spokesman for the Great Salt Lake Council, said the organization's policy is clear that uniformed members cannot participate in political events or activities that might be "construed as rendering an endorsement for a particular candidate or position." But, it is OK to serve as a color guard or in a flag ceremony as long as the troop doesn't participate further in the event.

 

Rowberry probably called Clara to remind him of the organization's policy and that "he should be a little more selective" about the events in which he and his uniformed Boy Scouts participate, Godfrey said.

 

The troop's participation would have followed Boy Scouts policy if it had performed the flag ceremony at the demonstrations and then left, Godfrey said.

 

The group will not face any consequences, Godfrey said.

 

"I'm sure he had good intentions, but we need to watch it," Godfrey said of Clara. "When there's a political cause involved, we have to be careful."

 

Before the April 9. Sunday march and Monday rally, the troop passed out fliers around Salt Lake's west side and solicited 1,000 U.S. flags and 500 signs with the U.S. flag that read "God Bless America," Clara said.

 

At the Dignity March, six Troop 987 scouts performed the flag ceremony and carried flags at the head of the three-mile march from downtown Salt Lake City to the Capitol. The demonstration drew more than 40,000 people. At the Unity Rally, four of the same scouts performed the flag ceremony and passed out the U.S. flags and signs.

 

Clara said the demonstrations were a powerful and patriotic experience for the troop - those who participated in uniform and those who attended without their uniforms with their families.

 

"They were in a crowd of people that respected and honored the flag," he said. "It gave them a deeper appreciation and understanding of what the flag means."

 

Guillermo Miramontes, a 14-year-old scout who participated in the flag ceremonies at the demonstrations, said he was excited about being part of such a large and important Latino event.

 

"I want to do more things to do with the community," he had said at the rally.

 

Rowberry did not return several messages left seeking comment.

 

No one could be reached for comment at the Texas-based Boy Scouts of America national office because it was closed Friday in observance of Good Friday.

 

In his 15 years as spokesman, Godfrey said he had never heard about a troop being questioned about its involvement with a political event until this week. He said he received "a few" phone calls from people asking about the troop's presence at the demonstrations.

 

Clara said he believes the troop is being "singled out" because it participated in a "nontraditional event." As the organization tries to diversify its troops, Clara said it needs to understand that ethnic minorities are going to participate in events that some Utah Boy Scouts have not joined in the past.

 

Clara said the organization teaches civic responsibility and being tolerant and respectful of people's differences.

 

"The very thing we're teaching our young men, the council is not doing to us," Clara said.

 

Godfrey called those comments by Clara "ridiculous."

 

jsanchez@sltrib.com