A platform for racists

CNN pundit Lou Dobbs describes himself as tough, relentless and independent. What he doesn’t describe is how he provides a platform for anti-immigrant groups created by a proponent of white supremacy.

The Federation of American Immigration Reform (“FAIR”), Numbers USA and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) adore Dobbs. He rolls out the welcome mat again and again for their representatives to present themselves as simply immigration enforcement-only conservatives.

This hardly tells the story of the agenda and founding of these groups.

All three were established and funded by John Tanton. They are three branches rooted in his nativist, xenophobic and racist vision, with FAIR serving as a lobbying front, Numbers USA as on-the-ground mobilization and CIS as an academic face.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), known for its decades of work tracking hate groups, has followed Tanton over many years. The Center most recently reviewed 17 boxes of Tanton’s correspondence and writings that are archived at the University of Michigan.

The papers, the Center has reported, “show that Tanton has for decades been at the heart of the white nationalist scene.” Tanton believes non European immigrants are inferior. He has shown an interest in eugenics and corresponded with Holocaust deniers and former Ku Klux Klan lawyers. The papers revealed that Tanton is a fan of anti-Semitic and anti-Asian theories.

Tanton has also been in contact with leaders of the anti-immigrant lobby, according to the Center’s research. FAIR leaders are not only well aware of Tanton’s positions and ideas but also defend him. In fact, Tanton is still a board member of FAIR.

Despite all of the available research on Tanton and the numerous groups he has hatched, funded and served with, Dobbs and CNN show no hesitancy with citing FAIR and others as credible sources.

Extremist, anti-immigrant waves in U.S. history, whether against the Irish, the Chinese or Italians have always been accompanied and fomented by hateful and hostile rhetoric. It is evident which periods of history Dobbs and CNN are committed to replaying.

http://www.impre.com/eldiariony/opinion/2009/9/17/a-platform-for-racists-148646-2.html