More Misinformation from the Media:
The connection between the Trump Administration and white nationalist language and rhetoric has become stunningly clear in the first 100 days of his term in office. This makes this administration the greatest threat to Latinos in generations. . . . Attorney General Jeff Beauregard Sessions delivered a speech on the border. . . . He decried “criminal organizations that turn cities and suburbs into warzones, that rape and kill innocent citizens and who profit by smuggling poisons and other human beings across our borders. . . . “
Curiously, the prepared speech hosted on the Department of Justice website included a sentence that he left out of his remarks. The sentence reads, “It is here, on this sliver of land, where we take our stand against this filth. . . . Sure, you could say he was technically referring to drugs and criminal gangs. But this is the same border thousands try to cross. . . . Why should a statement conflate the border with ‘filth.’ . . . The groups that propelled Trump to the presidency are no less aware of the significance of this language and the cues it relays in communicating their values. — Opinion: The Border, ‘Filth’ and White Nationalism, Stephen A. Nuno, NBC News, 4/12/07
Fact Check: The hysteria of this article is truly astounding. Is President Trump really “the greatest threat to Latinos in generations?” Certainly this doesn’t apply to the great majority of Latinos who are citizens and legal residents. The president has made it clear on a number of occasions that he considers Latino citizens to be as American as anyone else. And he has never said anything to disparage legal Latino immigrants.
Trump’s problem is with illegal aliens, many of whom are Latino, but certainly not all. The president has a particular disregard for those among them who greatly harm innocent Americans, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, feels the same way. The word “filth” in its context refers to such criminals as rapists, murders, and drug smugglers. Nuno concedes this is “technically” correct, and offers no reasons—other than his unfounded suspicions—as to why it isn’t correct period. Admittedly, it sounds harsh to call them filth, but many would say that an expression of official outrage against these crimes by uninvited foreigners is long overdue.
The real false conflating here is what Nuno tries to do when he conflates concern about lawlessness with racial and ethnic hostility. Typically, as many people on his side do, he plays the “race card” to divert attention from the wholesale violation of our immigration laws.
And do some of these card players have a racial agenda of their own? Quite often it seems so. Genuine white nationalists are pretty scarce in modern America, and they have little clout or influence. That is not the case, however, with what one might legitimately describe as “Latino supremacists,” i.e., Latinos who view unchecked illegal immigration as a means to build up the political clout of their group at the expense of other Americans. This lawless quest for power is the essence of supremacism and the antithesis of respect for civil rights.
Latino supremacists have a number of powerful advocacy groups to promote their interests. These organizations receive large sums of money from corporations and foundations. One example is the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). La Raza in Spanish means “the Race.” It usually receives favorable coverage in the media. Often the media refer to the spokesmen of such outfits as “civil rights advocates.” The absurdity is overwhelming. What they really are is race card sharks who deal from a stacked deck.