White racism on TV

I'm sure that Bob "the Daily Howler" Somerby won't like it, because he consistently criticizing Rachel Maddow and any other liberal who brings up any issue touching on white racism. But Rachel does a good job interviewing the President of the anti-immigrant hate group FAIR and focusing on its racist track record: Maddow Eviscerates President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform Dan Stein by Heather Crooks and Liars 04/30/10.

The Arizona SB1070 anti-immigrant, anti-Latino law is straight out of the Jim Crow South of segregation days. It mandates police to take actions that will inevitably lead to racial profiling and discriminatory police actions against minorities, though some good white Amurican Republicans may be surprised to find themselves directly affected, too. This is a bad law. You can't understand this law or the movement to enact more like it in other states without understanding the elements of white racism involved.

This is a good example of how far-right and white supremacist types consistently argue in the rare occasions where they are seriously called to account for themselves in public. They usually avoid such confrontations. Stein here tries to bully Rachel Maddow into not asking questions, and responds either by not by addressing the issue raised or changing the subject to talk about something else, in this case the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). When confronted with evidence of FAIR officials with clearly racist views, he either tries to minimize their association with the group or suggest that their comments were "taken out of context". Though in these examples, it's hard to imagine how the context could have made the statements benign. And even if there is, he doesn't do it.

In the world of the far right, and in the view of many base Republican voters, this kind of confrontation with an evil librul like Rachel Maddow will be seen as raising Stein's stature. Not because what he says addresses the issues raised or even makes much sense. But because he defended his tribe (mean white people) against a lesbian star of the Liberal Media Conspiracy.

This is a big part of what American politics looks like today.

Tags: white racism