The very definition of a whitewash
by digby
There’s a lot of talk these days about “fake news” and propaganda. It’s a big problem. But one of the unfortunate side-effects is that more sophisticated racists who aren’t waving swastikas or wearing hoods are seen as less threatening.
Here’s an example of a verified hate group being mainstreamed because they don’t sound like Milo or Richard Spencer:
In the wake of reports that President Trump will repeal DACA, the executive order that protects 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children, CNN hosted a debate on Monday morning.
The participants were Democratic strategist Maria Cordona and Dan Stein, who was identified as the president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
CNN did not mention FAIR’s deep roots in white supremacy, eugenics, and white nationalism. The organization was founded by John Tanton, who founded FAIR to keep America “a majority-white population.”
“As Whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion?,” Tanton said in 1986.
In 1993, Tanton said “I’ve come to the point of view that for European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that.”
Stein himself, who has worked at the organization since 1982, said he believes America’s immigration laws, which he regards as too permissive, are an effort “to retaliate against Anglo-Saxon dominance.” He said that the current generation of immigrants is engaged in “competitive breeding” and that “[m]any of them hate America, hate everything the United States stands for.”
Stein was also involved in the publication of The Social Contract, a journal published by Tanton, that featured white nationalist authors.
Stein recently suggested that, if America does not crack down on immigration, it will lead to an insurrection. “The immigration issue is going to be dealt with one way or the other. Now, it’s either going to be dealt with responsibly and reasonably, or it will be decided in the streets, because the public is going to get so frustrated with total inaction,” Stein said in July.