Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona signs a new law requiring law enforcement to check proof of legality for anyone they reasonably suspect of being illegally in the country. Kentucky candidate for the U. S. Senate, Rand Paul, says in three interviews [here’s a video of one with the Louisville Courier] that he does not support those portions of the Civil Rights Act that require equal opportunity hiring and non-discriminatory customer service of private business. Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin calls on other states to “emulate what Arizona has done”, referring to the state’s anti-immigrant law.
Are Jan Brewer, Rand Paul and Sarah Palin racists? Probably not, and certainly not in their own minds and public statements. Rand Paul claims he would have marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., even though he apparently rejects a large part of what King sought to accomplish.
What’s wrong with established political leaders, who do not see themselves as racists, taking these positions? The first problem is “the company you keep.” The second is the environment you create.
The Company You Keep
As an opening caveat, I will not provide organizational names or links to specific white supremacist or neo-Nazi groups. As a matter of personal conviction, I do not wish to be responsible for driving traffic to their web sites.
Arizona’s new law was sponsored by State Sen. Russell Pearce. As I reported previously, he is connected to J. T. Ready who is closely connected to white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations. Ready has called America’s largest neo-Nazi group a great civil rights organization for whites. He has spoken to, and been photographed with, neo-Nazis in full regalia, including brown shirt uniforms with a swastika flag as backdrop. See photo above with Ready, in suit and tie, at a Nebraska neo-Nazi rally. More at Crooks and Liars.
The Arizona law was written by an out of state attorney who works for the legal arm of an anti-immigration group. The group’s founder, John Tanton, has turned his private papers over to the University of Michigan. Among the private letters are references to preserving “Euro-American” dominance, writing in one letter, “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.” He is also reported to have been associated with anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish sentiments related to issues of immigration. More here.
The group itself is reported to have numerous questionable ties to white supremacist organizations and sentiments, though any direct connection has been avoided. Believed by many to be a legitimate organization on immigration issues, it has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Such notable leaders as Walter Cronkite and former Reagan Labor Secretary Linda Chavez have resigned from boards of organizations founded by Tanton when confronted with writings and questionable associations.
Among the first to sing the praises of Arizona’s new law were white supremacist groups and neo-Nazi organizations. Shortly after the law was passed, America’s largest neo-Nazi organization, the same one J. T. Ready praised, began distributing handouts calling on people in Arizona to “report an illegal today,” and demanding that Cinco de Mayo not be celebrated in the United States. The handout read in part,
“When Whites are outnumbered history shows that they have always been raped, murdered and massacred by the non Whites. If you can provide even one logical reason why this won’t occur here as well we want to hear from you. America must remain a White majority to remain America!!! Let’s give America a reason to celebrate!! Report an illegal today!!!”
It has been said that politics makes for strange bedfellows. It has also been said that, “You are known by the company you keep.”
The Environment You Create
Like any evil, racism and ethnic discrimination flourish in a conducive environment. When respected leaders take public positions, as Rand Paul recently has, that privately owned restaurants should be allowed to deny both employment and service based on race, those leaders add to an environment in which racism can flourish. The Civil Rights Act specifically addressed the segregationist practices in areas of public accommodation, hotel and restaurant practices, and private hiring, promotion and discriminatory treatment of workers. Arguing against those critical aspects of the progress we have made in the arena of civil rights opens the door to a resurgence of racism by those who would practice discrimination if they could. And there are many who would.
While Rand Paul’s views lack the imprimatur of actual legislation, recent anti-Latino sentiment suffers no such disability. The environmental ramifications of laws like those passed in Arizona produce a reluctance on the part of employers to hire those of Latino heritage, including those who are American citizens. It includes generating suspicion of all Hispanics among other citizens. It generates a fear among Latinos of law enforcement, including fear of working with law enforcement to help solve and prevent crime. That same fear on the part of Latinos and suspicion on the part of other citizens separates them, one from the other. It is the environment, the mindset, the “us and them” mentality, that is a precursor to discrimination and de facto segregation.
These pronouncements and laws may not be overtly racist in their specific words, or in the intent of proponents like Brewer and Palin and Paul, but they are the incubators in which racism and ethnic discrimination thrive and grow.
[Author’s Note: J. T. Ready was reportedly pressured by Arizona’s Republican Party not to seek an additional term as a party precinct leader in Mesa, Arizona because of his ties to white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations.]
UPDATE : Senate candidate Rand Paul has now backtracked on his earlier statements about the Civil Rights Act, saying now that the legislation is established law and should not be repealed.
Cross posted at Elijah’s Sweete Spot.
Contributor, aka tidbits. Retired attorney in complex litigation, death penalty defense and constitutional law. Former Nat’l Board Chair: Alzheimer’s Association. Served on multiple political campaigns, including two for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR). Contributing author to three legal books and multiple legal publications.