Politics

Tanton Memo of the Month: Passive Eugenics

Written by Sarah Viets

In 1975, John Tanton, the founder of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), wrote an interesting paper called The Case for Passive Eugenics. In the paper Tanton not only argues that Hitler’s reign “did little to advance the discussion of eugenics among sensitive persons”, but reaffirms his support of eugenics, a pseudo-science that was used to justify U.S. slavery and crimes against Jews in Nazi Germany.

Not only is Tanton a strong supporter of eugenics, his “passive eugenics” idea suggests that a woman’s childbearing years should be restricted “between the ages of 20 and 35” in order to “maximize reproductively”. Going one step further, he also suggests the number… Read more

Politics

Tea Party Future as Predictable as the Weather

Written by Sarah Viets

On the eve of Tea Party madness, hundreds of rallies are planned across the nation -nine in greater St. Louis, MO alone. In preparation for the big rally tea party goers are carpooling to Washington D.C. to participate in the second national tea party protest.

The festivities officially begin this Thursday, April 15, and will continue throughout the weekend. Currently, there are two major events planned for the day around the nation’s Capitol. Tea Party Express, Tea Party Nation, Resistnet.com, Michigan Sovereignty, along with eight other groups are hosting a “People’s Tax Revolt” at the Freedom Plaza. Tea Party Express is also starting the day off with a press conference at the National Press Club… Read more

Politics

Tanton Memo of the Month – The Promotion of Eugenics

Written by Sarah Viets

This month’s Tanton Memo of the Month focuses on John Tanton’s eugenics project, Society for the Advancement of Genetics Education (SAGE).

In the mid 1990s, John Tanton, the founder of a host of anti-immigrant organizations, including NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies, decided to develop a platform to educate the public on eugenics without using the term “eugenics.”

Eugenics was used to justify slavery in the U.S. and Nazi Germany’s crimes against Jews, and Tanton recognized that the American public had come to reject pseudo-scientific arguments that certain racial or ethnic groups were inferior to others.

Immigration

Neo-Nazi Activities Target Immigrants

Written by Sarah Viets

When I first heard about the National Policy Institute’s “Boycott the Glenn Beck Boycott,” I was a little surprised, but just a little. Due to Beck’s racially charged reporting, Color of Change launched a boycott targeting companies financially supporting Beck’s television show.

The National Policy Institute (NPI), a white nationalist organization, believes that in order for “The European identity of the United States and its people [to] be maintained, Federal decentralization and territorial separation should be recognized as legitimate and humane means of preventing and resolving divisive social, ethnic, and racial conflicts.”

Tanton Memo of the Month – U.S., Inc.

Written by Sarah Viets

This February’s Tanton Memo of the Month* details a list of nearly 30 organizations founded by U.S., Inc., John Tanton’s financial “umbrella” organization. The other day I found this document in our archives. As I plied through a variety of anti-immigrant documents, I stumbled across John Tanton’s description of his “umbrella”, U.S., Inc. For those unfamiliar with John Tanton, he’s the founder of a variety of anti-immigrant organizations, including Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), NumbersUSA, Pro-English, U.S. English, the white nationalist publication The Social Contract, and a variety of environmental and anti-immigrant projects.

Tanton has also financially supported… Read more

Politics

Sheriff Arpaio Joins Forces with Anti-immigrant Attorney

Written by Sarah Viets

Joe Arpaio has found a new friend who is just as controversial as the sheriff himself. Kris Kobach and Arpaio appeared together at a press conference yesterday afternoon to unveil a new program that trains officers to target immigrants. Kobach, a GOP candidate for Secretary of State in Kansas, works for the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). According IRLI’s website, it is the “public interest law affiliate of the Federation for American Immigration Reform” aka FAIR, designated as a hate group by the civil rights organization Southern Poverty Law Center.

Before detailing FAIR’s controversial relationships with white nationalists, let’s first examine Kobach’s colleague at IRLI, Mike Hethmon. Hethmon has worked… Read more

Immigration

Tanton Memo of the Month – Center for Immigration Studies

Written by Sarah Viets

Every month, the Center for New Community releases one of John Tanton’s personal letters and/or memos, illustrating John Tanton’s close relationships with white nationalists and the formation of today’s anti-immigrant movement. The letters and memos are a public collection at the Bentley Historical Library.

As discussions on immigration reform fill airwaves and blogs in the coming months, anti-immigrant and immigrant rights organizations will debate if immigration financially benefits American society. Currently, the John Tanton Network, a web of over two dozen organizations, is attempting to represent the interests of American workers, particularly organizations like Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). Almost every month, the Center for… Read more

Politics

Immigration, it’s Complicated

Written by Sarah Viets

It’s not surprising to see the John Tanton Network operating within white nationalist circles. Indisputable facts highlight the Network’s controversial history. Using the Tanton Network as a leading authority on immigration is unacceptable, especially since one of its editors now serves as a trustee for the white nationalist organization, New Century Foundation.

Wayne Lutton is the editor of The Social Contract, a quarterly journal published by John Tanton’s financial umbrella, U.S. Inc., both are affiliates of the John Tanton Network. According to the New Century Foundation’s 2008 tax documents, he is also listed as one of the Foundation’s trustees. In 1994, Jared Taylor founded the New Century “To study immigration and race relations… Read more

Immigration

Anti-immigration is White Nationalism

Written by Sarah Viets

After reading about the John Tanton Network’s relationship to eugenics and possibly sterilization, I finally broke down in tears. As a researcher who studies white nationalism and anti-immigration for a civil rights organization, the majority of what I read is deeply offensive. It usually doesn’t bother me; I see my work as a necessary tool to educate people about white nationalism in a post-civil rights era. But as I re-read how eugenics scholars may have advocated for the forced sterilization of non-Christian people who weren’t white, I turned off my desk lamp and went home for the night.

As Barry Mehler points out in the video, Immigration and the White Nationalist Movement, modern… Read more

The Reality of White Nationalism

Written by Sarah Viets

As an anti-racist activist, researching white supremacists, white nationalists, anti-Semites, neo-Nazis and anti-immigrant groups hasn’t always been easy, particularly when I’m trying to figure out the similarities and differences (and yes, there are MANY important differences) between each of these groups. And then there are the militia/patriot groups and those we define as “Christian identity”. (Are you confused yet?)

When I started working with anti-racist leaders I heard the term “white nationalist”, but I had no idea what it meant. Out of fear of looking stupid, I didn’t ask anyone if there was a difference between white nationalism and white supremacy. I assumed that they were the same – a huge mistake for any researcher,… Read more