travels the fast lane of governmentnpatronage. No, I don’t like competingnagainst artists greased along by governmentnbucks. The arts were hardnenough to survive in, but now they areneven harder—made so by government-sponsorednmediocrity. For an artistnto be antiestablishment in Americantoday is for him or her to be innopposition to one’s own peers.nMy old school catalogue reads like an”Who’s Who” of lAC/NEA grantees,neach flaunting his or her respectivengovernment stamps of approval to prospectivenart students, many of whomnwill be led to expect that their art asnwell as their lifestyles should be subsidized.nYes, everyone knows that ournchildren’s artistic education is importantnto our arts councils. One suchnconcerned group is the heavily subsidizednIllinois Alliance for Arts in Educationn(lAAE). The lAAE is politicallynwell-connected, and past PresidentnDennis Grabowski has even served onnlAC panels while his former groupnreceived grants. lAAE President RichnSchuler and Executive DirectornNadine Saitlin served on last year’snlAC panels, and, of course, the lAAEnwas an honored grantee. In the lAAEn1990 Update Newsletter the groupnwas pleased to report on official artistnKaren Erickson, who “was recentlyninvolved in a cultural exchange programnbetween the U.S. and thenU.S.S.R., sponsored by the League ofnChicago Theatres and the Union ofnTheatre Workers of the Russian Federation.nAs part of a six member group,nKaren was able to observe an artist-inresidencenprogram at the state schoolnin Leningrad.” The article concludesnthat “Karen was able to learn a greatndeal about Theatre in Russia.”nIn the ongoing Balkanization of thenAmerican arts industry and what’s leftnof American culture, I suppose thisnexperience will provide the citizens ofnIllinois with a perfect symbiosis ofnperestroika and “commitment” for ournkids. Yes, the NEA and your state artsncouncils are committed to you andnyour children. Our cultural Gauleitersnsay, “Don’t worry,” everything’s fine,nfor they’ve taken over the art world,nturned it into a branch of the civilnservice, and taken on the business ofn”promoting creativity.” After all, thengovernment knows what’s best for you.nWho else is going to teach inner-citynresidents about the fundamentals ofninterior design?n— Stanley D. EdwardsnFORKS, WASHINGTON, knownnas the “Logging Capital of the World,”nhas reportedly taken on the signs of ancommunity under siege. In this smallntimber town there are rows upon rowsnof idle logging trucks, yellow “solidarity”nribbons tied to telephone poles andntrees, with signs posted everywherenthat read, “This Family is Supportednby Timber,” “Ban the Spotted Owl,”nor simply “For Sale.”nWith their livelihoods threatenednand seemingly nowhere to turn, somenloggers last summer sought refuge andnsupport from the only organizationnthat appeared interested and sympatheticnto their plight: the Aryan Nations.nBased in Hayden Lake, Idaho,nthis organization seeks to establish ann”Aryan homeland” for white Christiansnin Washington, Oregon, Montana,nWyoming, and Idaho. It hasntargeted Forks and other distressed loggingntowns in an attempt to establish anfoothold in the region.nThe organization made its first attemptnat recruiting last June. With TVncameras rolling, white supremacistnFloyd Cochran distributed leaflets andnshook workers’ hands at a sawmill entrancenin Medford, Oregon. “AryannNations supports the RIGHT of thenWhite LOGGER and all hardworkingnWhite TAXPAYERS to make a living,”nread the leaflets. “As Aryan Nationsnsees it, the birds already have anhabitat of their own, and they havenbeen feathering their nest for a longntime now — it’s called Washington,nD.C.!”nCochran claimed to have recruitedn21 new members from his visit tonMedford, but Forks was a tougher nutnto crack. Bill Richards, who coverednthe story for the Chicago Tribune,ndescribed Forks as having “a reputationnas a tough town for outsiders.” When anband of Hell’s Angels tried to take overnthe town in the l970’s, loggers reportedlynbeat them, demolished their bikes,nand threw three of them into a river.nRobert Hughes, a member of thenJustice Department’s Community RelationsnService who has long trackednthe Aryan Nations’ efforts, warned angathering of concerned residents thatnnnthe group would try to appeal to localneconomic frustrations. “We’re seeing anrhetoric shift from the more overtnwhite supremacy and anti-Semiticnmessage [of white supremacist groups]nto one championing white workers andntrying to take advantage of economicnconditions.” Hughes claims that “hatencrimes” — including cross burnings,nbombings, homicides, and vandalismn— have risen 23 percent in the lastnyear, which he attributes to white supremacistngroups.nAfter the meeting with Hughes, anconsortium of local logging groupsnissued a statement warning thesengroups to stay away, but not all citizensnwere as certain of the’ community’snreaction. As David Soha, part owner ofna logging company, told Richards, thenanti-government, anti-environmentalistnmessage of the white supremacistsnmay attract some loggers, particulariynthose who lost their jobs because of thenspotted owl.nIndeed, the repulsiveness of his organizationnnotwithstanding, FloydnCochran is right about one thing: “Youndon’t have to be a racist to be againstnelite environmentalists and big government.”nIf Washington continues tonignore the needs of the increasinglynalienated middle class — if taxpayersncontinue to be given a backseat tonsnail-darters and spotted owls — thennthe political class may succeed in realizingnits worst nightmare: a MiddlenAmerican uprising spearheaded bynwhite supremacists. .n— Theodore PappasnSAMUEL FRANCIS has become ancolumnist for the Washington Times.nHe had been deputy editorial pageneditor for the Times since 1987, andnhad in this position twice received anDistinguished Writing Award from thenAmerican Society of Newspaper Editors.nMr. Francis will, we are happy tonsay, remain a contributing editor ofnChronicles and will continue with hisnmonthly “Principalities & Powers.”nOCTOBER 1991/9n