400 March Silently to Urge Racial Harmony : Palmdale: The event is in reaction to a derogatory poem that was distributed by a local freshman lawmaker.

Hundreds of somber Antelope Valley residents gathered in Palmdale on Saturday for a march and rally aimed at erasing the stain of racism that has marred the area’s image since a local lawmaker distributed a derogatory poem about illegal immigrants.

Marching in silence, a multiethnic crowd of about 400 braved a sweltering sun for the mile-long “March For Racial Harmony” from Palmdale City Hall to Courson Park.

The newly formed Latinos for Social Justice, the event’s organizers, had asked for quiet on the part of participants in honor of Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.

“We do not have to shout to make our point,” Antelope Valley attorney and march organizer Richard Loa told the crowd after the event.

As marchers passed by, curious residents emerged from barbershops, Laundromats and apartment complexes on Palmdale Boulevard. Although a few motorists honked horns in support of the marchers, most along the route watched in stony silence.

There were no reports of violence, authorities said.

The march was in reaction to a five-stanza poem about an illegal Mexican immigrant that freshman Republican Assemblyman William J. (Pete) Knight, a former Palmdale mayor, distributed to colleagues in May. In the poem, the immigrant uses broken English and chides Americans for paying taxes that support immigration.

Knight, who later apologized, said he received the poem from a constituent.

Organizers originally had planned for the march to end at Knight’s Palmdale office. But after meeting with city officials, Loa agreed to recast the march as a “unity” event and agreed to tone down its anti-Knight sentiments.

In return, Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford steered the event through the permit process and arranged for security.

Despite Knight’s popularity in the conservative area, Ledford, Palmdale Councilman David Meyers and Lancaster Councilman Frank Roberts were among the local officials who participated in the march and spoke to the crowd Saturday.

“I think we have a very good basis now to start addressing our problems,” Ledford said. “If we focus on what we have in common, then the divisiveness will fade away. I, as mayor, will work toward that end.”

Also participating was state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), who stressed the need for healing the racial rift caused by Knight’s action.

Still, the poem left open wounds.

“We have to stamp out bigotry, misinformation and stereotypes wherever they rear their ugly heads,” said Xavier Hermosillo, a Latino activist who drove to Palmdale from Los Angeles to attend the rally. “The days when we would allow someone like Knight to do this are long gone.”

“Why do we always have to prove that we’re Americans?” asked Ben Benavidez, state president of the Mexican-American Political Assn., which considered calling on Latinos to boycott housing purchases in the Antelope Valley after the poem became public. ‘It’s time to say we’re here to stay, and we’re not going anywhere.”

Benavidez, who read a letter of support from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, proposed forming a human relations commission that would work to ease ethnic tensions in the area.

And for one, Roberts, the Lancaster councilman, vowed to support the idea.

Representatives from local churches and civil rights organizations emphasized the common bond shared among the area’s minority groups.

“We are familiar with your struggles,” said Charles Smith, the area’s NAACP representative. “This march means that we as a people will not tolerate hate crimes or evil epithets . . . or insensitive politicians. We might be a minority, but we will not be ignored.”

But Tommy Tillmon, a church pastor and Palmdale resident for 23 years, added: “There’s nothing that’s happened that can’t be healed, and this is a starting point.”