American patriot Terry Anderson, RIP

When I last saw Terry Anderson in early June at a "Support Arizona" rally in Phoenix, he was 400 miles from his home and family in Los Angeles. I did not know then that he was dying of pancreatic and liver cancer. He died July 7 and is survived by his wife, Melanie, and two sons.

Terry Anderson

On that June day, in the 110-degree Phoenix heat, Anderson delivered the impassioned message he had trumpeted on his Sunday-evening radio talk show for the past 10 years: "If you ain't mad, you ain't paying attention!" Millions of Americans did get mad and did pay attention, and he lived long enough to see a rising tide of public indignation against illegal immigration and its apologists.

And as President Obama might say, "Did I mention he was black?" That, of course, made it hard for the open-borders gang to call him a racist.

As a black American patriot, Anderson spoke eloquently of the damage done in black communities by the loss of black jobs to illegal aliens. He talked about the Hispanic gangs that drove a million blacks from south Los Angeles. He pointed out the costs imposed on Los Angeles schools by the children born to illegal aliens. He delivered this message by radio from the heart of Los Angeles each Sunday evening, as well as on hundreds of platforms across America.

Concerned about the impact of illegal aliens on the United States? Don't miss Tom Tancredo's book, "In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security"

Until his health failed him, Anderson was a robust man, a bundle of energy always in good humor. He was a dynamic speaker and fierce warrior, and his enthusiasm and "controlled anger" were contagious.

Here is a video of Terry Anderson at his best, in Crawford, Texas.

Anderson often brought national political figures to his radio audience, but his characteristic theme was more grass-roots and personal. He brought the issue of illegal immigration down to the human level through anecdotes and interviews with victims and relatives of victims. He shared his platform with the father of a teenager slain by illegal aliens in New Jersey, the family of a murdered father and son in San Francisco and countless others.

Terry was born in Oakland but from his teenage years grew up in south Los Angeles. It was his home, and, when he saw the invasion unfolding before his eyes, he fought to defend his home against that alien invasion.

Terry Anderson got mad about that invasion, and he wanted all Americans to get mad and fight back. He saw the illegal-immigration issue as a matter of survival, and, in a war for survival, there are no neutral bystanders. You are either part of the solution or part of the problem. Make a choice.

Anderson not only alerted his audience to the meaning of events in the news, he steered his listeners to organizations that were engaged in the battle, groups like NumbersUSA and the early Minutemen program on the Arizona border. He helped raise funds to support Ramos and Compean, the two Border Patrol agents who were wrongly jailed for shooting a drug smuggler. Over the past few months, he actively supported the U.S. Senate candidacy of J.D. Hayworth, the former Arizona congressman who is challenging John McCain.

Anderson was a genuine grass-roots spokesman. He was never invited to a state dinner in the White House, nor a beer summit in the Rose Garden, nor a televised conversation with Charlie Rose. He made no money from his radio program, and, in fact, he depended on gifts to stay on the air. It seems corporate advertisers in Los Angeles were extremely gun-shy when it came to affiliating openly with a black maverick who advocated passionately for the rule of law. That's too controversial for Home Depot and In-and-Out Burger.

Terry Anderson played no favorites. He did not care what political party you affiliated with or what kind of academic credentials you carried in your back pocket. All he cared about was whether you loved America or not. Yes, he blasted Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for their attacks on Arizona's new law, but he had been equally forceful in criticizing the Bush team for its support of amnesty legislation.

Recently he weighed in against Los Angeles Archdiocese Cardinal Mahoney for his advocacy of sanctuary-city policies and against former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich for his support of a harebrained scheme called the "Red Card plan." That plan would expand guest-worker programs that will take even more jobs from American workers – black, white and brown.

Our nation has lost a warrior who fought nobly and tirelessly for the rule of law and American sovereignty. The best way to honor this man is to heed his message. We need to stay mad and keep paying attention. We have not won the war against illegal-alien invasion, but thanks to the decade of work by this patriot and thousands like him across America, neither have we suffered the general amnesty so earnestly sought by La Raza and Barack Obama.

Terry Anderson helped buy us time to plan and wage a winning war, not just a holding action. Our challenge is to be worthy of his sacrifice.