Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere – Los Angeles
Council Of Conservative Citizens
Controversial Anti-immigrant Group Attends Immigrant Rights March
01 year ago
by Stephen Piggott
in American Renaissance, Americans For Immigration Control, Council Of Conservative Citizens, Federation For American Immigration Reform, Hate Campaign, Immigrant Rights, Immigration, Jared Taylor, John Tanton, Numbers Usa, Numbersusa, Politics, Roy Beck, White Nationalists, White Supremacist
Today in Washington D.C., Roy Beck, the executive director of the anti-immigrant organization NumbersUSA will be on the National Mall debating with immigration reform marchers who are flooding to the capital from all across the country.
NumbersUSA will be streaming the event live on its website as part of a four day anti-immigrant hate campaign which began on Friday. NumbersUSA’s campaign has so far failed to live up to its own high expectations with less than one percent of its alleged 900,000 members signing its most recent “anti-amnesty” petition, a key part of the four day campaign.
Throughout the campaign, NumbersUSA has updated its twitter page constantly. On many of the tweets there is the term “#AFIRE.” This term refers to Americans for Immigration Control and Enforcement, a “National DC based office in conjunction with Americans for Immigration Reform and Enforcement (AFIRE) made up of FAIR and Numbers USA.” According to this statement on the Utah chapter of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), we can see that NumbersUSA and FAIR are actively working together. This is just another example of two John Tanton Network groups teaming up to bash immigrants.
NumbersUSA’s finances and ties to white nationalists are very disturbing. Roy Beck, the group’s executive director spoke at a 1997 Council of Conservative Citizens conference, something that has haunted Beck ever since. Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC) is a white supremacist hate group. Its conferences have hosted a who’s who of the white nationalist hierarchy over the years, including Jared Taylor, founder of American Renaissance.
Beck is paid a colossal amount of money each year by NumbersUSA to spew anti-immigrant rhetoric. Beck was compensated a whopping $274,500 in 2007 alone, Beck’s paycheck is more than five times the net income of an average American.
Beck has also begun to think about the future of NumbersUSA and who will replace him at the helm when he finally retires. One of Beck’s right hand men at NumbersUSA is Chad MacDonald, the Director of Social Media Marketing for NumbersUSA. Chad recently spoke with Roy Beck and Tom Tancredo at the National Tea Party Convention, telling the crowd that each tea party group should have an “immigration expert.”
MacDonald has been busy in recent weeks in preparing for the four day anti-immigrant campaign. He has appeared in many videos, on both NumbersUSA’s website and YouTube page, discussing the immigration reform march and NumbersUSA’s anti-immigrant response to it. MacDonald is a much younger and more likable alternative to Beck, making him an ideal candidate to be the new face of NumbersUSA.
NumbersUSA’s Three Branches of Financial Shadiness
01 year ago
NumbersUSA, the grassroots mobilizing arm of the John Tanton Network, has had a long history of lies and deceit. Executive director Roy Beck has long denied his connections to white nationalists. Beck spoke at the 1997 Council of Conservative Citizens National Conference, a fact he denied on numerous occasions until recently. At a recent event in Glenarden, Maryland, Beck told the crowd that he hadn’t been invited back since, in reference to the 1997 Conference.
NumbersUSA’s financial information is as murky and misleading as its leader. The group itself is split into three arms: NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation, NumbersUSA Action, Inc., and Americans for Better Immigration. According to financial documents, all three share offices and personnel with one other. NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization which means its lobby for legislation powers are limited. NumbersUSA Action, Inc. and Americans for Better Immigration are 501(c)(4) organizations meaning they have unlimited lobbying ability.
First let’s compare the income of NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation and NumbersUSA Action, Inc. According to its 2008 financial documents, NumbersUSA Action, Inc. received over $1.5 million in direct public support, NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation received over 8 million.
According to Open Secrets, NumbersUSA.com spent a whopping $630,000 on lobbying in 2008. NumbersUSA.com is the website listed on both NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation and NumbersUSA Action, Inc.’s 2008 financial documents.
Recently, Roy Beck wrote to NumbersUSA supporters asking them to donate money to help them pay the $90,000 a month they spend on “faxing, internet activism and grassroots mobilization programs.” Beck went on to say that NumbersUSA “doesn’t get a penny from any foundation or the government.”
This is yet another example of Beck possibly stretching the truth. According to its 2008 financial documents, the Sarah Scaife Foundation paid NumbersUSA Research and Education $50,000, but because it shares office space, personnel and a website with NumbersUSA Action, Beck’s statements are suspicious.
According to the Colcom Foundation’s 2007 financial documents, they gave NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation over $2 million. According to its 2008 financial documents, the Weeden Foundation gave NumbersUSA $25,000.
Roy Beck and NumbersUSA have a history of distorting the facts. There is a clear lack of transparency in this organization.
Though NumbersUSA’s financial information is very murky, its connections to the John Tanton Network are as clear as day.
Anti-immigrant Bill Dies in Mississippi
01 year ago
So what’s got me smiling today? Could it be the “surprised kitten” YouTube clip floating around the office? No, as sweet as that is, I’m most excited about Tuesday’s civil rights victory in Mississippi which saw the state’s legislature kill the so-called “Immigration Reform Act of 2010” (SB2032).
The bill, which initially passed the senate, died in a house committee despite being promoted by the anti-immigrant group, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) and a last minute endorsement by the white supremacist hate group, Council of Conservative Citizens.
This alarming and fiercely anti-immigrant bill (co-authored by Senators: Michael Watson, Chris McDaniel, and Lee Yancey) called for severe penalties for undocumented immigrants caught with false identification. It also included 287(g) provisions for local and state law enforcement and language which would have created a “new crime” to “transport” or “harbor” undocumented immigrants in the state of Mississippi.
Of course, the transporting part got my attention too. Especially, because according to the bill, one can “conceal, harbor, or shelter from detection” an immigrant in “any building or means of transportation.” This, unfortunately, would have opened the door to a whole new dimension of racial profiling and meant offenders would see over $1,000 in fines and at least a year in prison.
The Council of Conservative Citizens, the reconstituted old White Citizen’s Council, which has referred to blacks as “a retrograde species of humanity” and opposes “all efforts to mix the races of mankind” promoted SB2032 on their website this week writing, “Please call your representatives and urge them to keep this bill alive, pass it, and continue to drive illegal immigrates (sic) out of our state.”
In order to “drive immigrates (sic) out of (their) state” those writing the bill (see above) would have had to include penalties which were sufficiently scary and extreme. Indeed, had it passed, SB2032 would have drastically changed existing state laws by charging undocumented immigrants (21+), found in possession of false identification, with a felony. This felony charge would include a $10,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison. To put this into perspective, the existing laws in Mississippi state that a U.S. citizen convicted of manufacturing false identification (i.e., those people in the business of making fake ID’s) can only face a $5000 fine and/or up to 3 years in prison.
Furthermore, the 287(g) provisions in the bill would have given greater power to state and local law officials to enforce immigration laws – which has led to abuses of power in the past – most notably, Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s extreme actions in Maricopa County, Arizona.
However disturbing, it is not surprising that language found in the bill is similar to model legislation promoted by the Immigration Reform Law Institute. IRLI is the legal arm of the John Tanton Network and primarily pushes legal causes which unfairly target immigrant communities. On their website, IRLI offers model legislation for policymakers interested in “planning state and local enforcement of immigration law.”
In one such model – Model Ordinance I – it states that it is not lawful for a business or person to provide safe haven for an immigrant “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of the law.”
SB2032 states similarly that it would be against the law for anyone in Mississippi to “shelter from detection” any undocumented immigrant whether “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the alien has come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law.”
It is not clear whether the Immigration Reform Law Institute played a part in the development of this legislation; however, it is frightening that legislation like SB2032 fits so nicely within the ideology of groups like IRLI and CofCC.
With despicable and discriminatory legislation such as SB2032 (so willingly pushed by those in state legislatures), I worry that an anti-immigrant and white nationalist vision of America may move forward right under our noses. It’s enough to wipe the smile right off my face.
Anti-immigrant Network Uses Faith to Mask Hateful Agenda
01 year ago
by Jill Garvey
in American Free Press, American Renaissance, Catholics for a Moral Immigration Policy, Charles Martel, Conservative Political Action Conference, Council Of Conservative Citizens, Father Patrick Bascio, Immigration, Immigration Policy, James C Russell, John Tanton, Politics, Wayne Lutton, White Nationalist, Willis Carto
Fr. Bascio at Tanton event
The John Tanton Network has debuted its newest spin-off group. This time, instead of targeting environmentalists or progressives, they are trying to win over faithful Americans to their anti-immigrant agenda.
The group is called Catholics for a Moral Immigration Policy (CMIP). The public face of the organization includes a priest who, keeping with the Tanton Network’s history, has ties to controversial organizations like American Free Press – founded by notorious holocaust denier Willis Carto, and the white nationalist journal, The Social Contract, founded by John Tanton.
In fact, Social Contract’s bigot-in-chief, Wayne Lutton, personally helped Catholics for a Moral Immigration Policy (CMIP) get started at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C. this past Friday. In addition to releasing racist publications, Wayne Lutton is also a Board of Director for the Charles Martel Society, an anti-Semitic organization that publishes the Occidental Quarterly. Lutton was also active with the overtly racist magazine American Renaissance and the flagship publication of the Council of Conservative Citizens. The Council of Conservative Citizens is the reconstituted, segregationist White Citizens’ Councils.
Catholics for a Moral Immigration Policy, which is also staffed by James C. Russell, may appear at first glance to be run by a few harmless, Christian academics who just happen to have a lot in common with the Tanton Network. However, CMIP has been strategically orchestrated by Tanton’s anti-immigrant movement to distract the public from some of its decidedly un-Catholic activities.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time James Russell or Father Patrick Bascio have dabbled in hate.
James Russell’s book, The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity: A Sociohistorical Approach to Religious Transformation, I found was cited by several racist online publications, including Vdare.com and The Occidental Quarterly. Coincidentally, one of the only gushing reviews of Father Bascio’s book, On the immortality of Illegal Immigration, came from VDARE.com’s Brenda Walker. VDARE is named for Virginia Dare, allegedly the first white child born in the U.S. Brenda Walker is a prolific anti-immigrant blogger who uses racist and xenophobic outlets to spread her views. Walker was a featured presenter at last year’s “Preserving Western Civilization” conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The annual conference gathers a group of racist academics and anti-immigrant activists who focus on how the “massive influx” of “third-world immigrants” allegedly threatens American and European cultural values, as well as the dangers of Islam, and alleged racial differences in intelligence.
In 2009, Father Bascio’s book was sold on Amazon.com under the publisher American Free Press – the same publisher that persistently peddled anti-Semitic conspiracy theories post 9/11. Now it is sold as a revised edition under a different publisher. But the first few pages are filled with praise from a veritable all-star list of Tanton Network players. Otis Graham, an old friend of John Tanton and a board member for both organizations founded by Tanton, FAIR and Center for Immigration Studies, calls Bascio’s book “invaluable”. Leah Durant, the head of another Tanton front group, Progressives for Immigration Reform, says Bascio makes a “compelling case”. The book lists Vernon Briggs as a Cornell University professor, but conveniently omits that he is a board member with Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) and The Social Contract. Maybe that’s because the book’s other admirers include CIS fellow James R. Edwards, board chairman Peter Nunez, and former director David Simcox.
John Tanton, the founder of FAIR, has financially supported platforms to debate pseudo-scientific research (racial eugenics) purporting to show that African Americans and Latinos are mentally inferior to whites because of their genetic makeup. While the false science of racial eugenics lost respectability after the crimes of Nazi Europe in the 1940s, Tanton still clings to these beliefs. In The Case for Passive Eugenics, Tanton does not overtly distance himself from Adolf Hitler’s application of eugenics to “cleanse” the German population. He writes instead that “Hitler’s reign in Nazi Germany did little to advance the discussion of eugenics among sensitive persons.”
Then of course, there is long-time FAIR representative Rosanna Pulido who is well-known for her anti-catholic diatribes. As we reported in January, Pulido stated at a public forum in October 2007, “The Catholic Church is not Catholicism. It has nothing to do with Christianity or the Bible.”
Of the Catholic Church and immigration she stated at the same forum, “What better way to fill your pews and fill your offering coffers than with inviting in and giving sanctuary to illegal aliens.”
In March 2009, Pulido harshly criticized Chicago’s Cardinal George for his appeal for humanity on behalf of immigrants. She told ABC news, “Cardinal George is responsible for every illegal immigrant who dies while crossing the border coming over here because he is luring them.”
It is clear that CMIP is merely John Tanton and Co.’s latest puppet show. America’s Catholic communities have proven time and again that they reject anti-immigrant bigotry. Catholics for a Moral Immigration Policy does not speak for America’s faithful.
Anti-Immigrant ‘Progressives’ Embrace Hate
02 years ago
by Eric Ward
in American Renaissance, Council Of Conservative Citizens, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Federation For American Immigration Reform, Immigration, John Tanton, Leah Durant, Neo Nazi Organizations, Politics, Progressives for Immigration Reform, Social Contract Press, Summit Ministries, Wayne Lutton, White Nationalist Movement
Back in 1963, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream where . . . “little black boys and black girls” would “be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” I’m fairly sure Dr. King wasn’t envisioning Leah Durant, executive director of Progressives for Immigration Reform (PFIR) joining group shots with prominent leaders tied to the American white nationalist movement.
For nearly a year Leah Durant has been working overtime in an attempt to convince the public that PFIR is a legitimate progressive organization concerned about the issue of immigration. Recently in a discussion on AlterNet Durant argued that the fact that she was African American should be proof enough of PFIR’s progressive bona fides. Ironically Durant makes this statement after arguing that her organization was not “concerned with race.”
PFIR is the latest front group of the anti-immigrant John Tanton Network. Before assuming her present assignment Durant was a staff attorney for the Tanton Network’s Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). In 2007 FAIR was listed alongside klan and neo-Nazi organizations as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
A recent photo of Leah Durant is yet another example highlighting that PFIR politics are progressive in name only. The photo is a group shot of Leah Durant (right) with PeterGemma (center) and Wayne Lutton (left). Durant, Gemma, and Lutton were attending the 33rd Writers Workshop put on by The Social Contract Press (TSCP) an organization founded by John Tanton. TSCP is well known for its peddling of racist publications and writers.
Wayne Lutton is the editor of Social Contract Press. Lutton got his start at the homophobic Summit Ministries based in Colorado. Lutton was also active with the anti-Black magazine American Renaissance and the flagship publication of the Council of Conservative Citizens. The Council of Conservative Citizens is the lineal descendant of the white citizens’ council organization that opposed Dr. King in the South during the 1960s. Lutton now writes for the anti-Semitic journal The Occidental Quarterly.
Peter Gemma, like Lutton, also writes for the anti-Semitic Occidental Quarterly. Gemma who interviewed Durant in the pages of TSCP in the summer of 2009 writes for Middle American News (MAN). MAN’s earliest leadership included white nationalist Samuel Francis (now deceased). Gemma participated with the extremist Council for National Policy and spoke at a white nationalist event alongside the famous neo-Nazi David Duke. In 2003 Gemma spoke at a Council of Conservative Citizens event addressing “The Attack on White Culture.” Other presentations at the event included defending Mississippi symbol of the Southern Confederacy. Gemma regularly posts at the website VDARE named after the first alleged white child born in North America.
Lutton, Gemma, and The Social Contract Press have nothing in common with progressive politics. If one is known by the company they keep the same probably goes for Leah Durant and Progressives for Immigration Reform. PFIR is nothing more than a cheap attempt at dressing up anti-immigrant bigotry in the garb of progressive politics. Durant’s activities don’t resemble The Dream of Dr. King rather the nightmare of racist bigotry that he stood against.
I guess at the end of the day one could still consider Progressives for Immigration Reform “progressive.” If you’re a Nazi that is.
Republic Broadcasting Network: Safe Haven for Hate
02 years ago
When I came across Republic Broadcasting Network, billed as “The most provocative programming on the internet”, I immediately thought it was going to be another conservative talk network like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. But after digging deeper and finding the list of shows and hosts, I came to the conclusion that Republic Broadcasting Network was not just “provocative” but rather extreme.
The network features a whole slew of extreme right characters, not to mention its weekly ad in the anti-Semitic newspaper, American Free Press. Two current American Free Press employees, Michael Collins Piper and Mark Anderson have their own radio shows on Republic Broadcasting Network. Both men have strong connections to anti-Semites. Piper and Anderson both spoke at a recent 1st amendment conference that featured famous anti-Semites David Duke and Texe Marrs as keynote speakers. Anderson is also spearheading the anti immigrant segment of American Free Press. Its August 10, 2009 issue, Anderson reported from the border in south Texas, spending a day in the company of the South Texas Minutemen Project. Michael Collins Piper, like many of his American Free Press colleagues has a long history of anti-Semitism. One of his many racist books, “The New Jerusalem: Zionist Power in America,” was on sale at the now famous Holocaust Conference in Iran in 2006.
A few former hosts on the Republic Broadcasting Network are also noteworthy. The most famous of these is James Edwards. Edwards, tapped by many as a rising star in the white nationalist community, runs the radio show Political Cesspool which used to air on Republic Broadcasting Network. Besides running Political Cesspool, Edwards is also serves as a board member for the racist Council of Conservative Citizens and the American Third Position Party, which also boasts anti-Semite professor Kevin MacDonald as a director. Political Cesspool’s guest list is also full of hate. The list includes anti-Semites such as David Duke and Willis Carto, as well as Nick Griffin, the leader of the white-only UK political party, the British National Party. Edwards has also had many anti-immigrant guests on his show, such as Virginia Abernathy – a self-described white separatist who once shared the podium with Rick Oltman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Edwards also hosted two other guests with strong connections to FAIR, Jim Staudenraus, a former FAIR spokesman and Wayne Lutton, the editor of The Social Contract, a quarterly journal published by John Tanton’s financial umbrella, U.S. Inc. FAIR is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center
Another former host on Republic Broadcasting Network is William Gheen. Gheen is the founder of Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC), an anti-immigrant group. He is described by Anti-Defamation League as an “anti immigrant leader” while the Southern Poverty Law Center call him a “nativist” and quotes Gheen in reference to the immigrant population: “Call me old fashioned, but people should be able to shop at Wal-Mart without worrying about catching [t]uberculosis.”
It is clear that Republic Broadcasting Network is extreme. Several of its past and present hosts are white nationalists, anti-Semites and anti-immigrant activists. It is comparable to David Duke Radio and Stormfront Radio as a venue for hate.