Hate in America is alive and well

Time for a history lesson:

The Pioneer Fund was incorporated on March 11, 1937, started by Wickliffe Preston Draper. Draper was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. With the exception of a bit of dabbling into the military during the first world war he never held a real job. His father was a very rich man, and young Wickliffe inherited enough money to fund his worldly lifestyle.

In the late 1920’s Draper developed an interest in Sir Francis Galton's now debunked eugenics movement that was popular with America's privileged whites of the day. In 1935 Draper accompanied Dr. Clarence Campbell, one of the movement’s glibbist orators, on a trip to Nazi Germany. Dr. Campbell would be delivering a talk at the International Congress for the Scientific Investigation of Population Problems. One line of Dr. Campbell’s talk was particularly notable:

“The difference between the Jew and the Aryan is as unsurmountable [sic] as that between black and white. … Germany has set a pattern which other nations must follow. … To that great leader, Adolf Hitler!”

There was a lot of Hitler love in this country at the time, but not many of the would be Nazis had Draper's money.

Two years following the Germany trip, Draper established The Pioneer Fund; an organization still in existence today. Draper remained Chair of the fund until his death in 1972, and during his tenure the organization displayed some remarkably racist inclinations. Some of the Pioneer Fund’s most notable efforts were contributions to groups advocating for the repatriation of blacks to Africa, and in 1963 the fund contributed $215,000 to the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission’s opposition of school desegregation. Shortly following the SCOTUS ruling in Brown V. Board of Education, Draper’s fund promoted the “Impeach Earl Warren” campaign.

The wanted poster is remarkably similar to the one appearing in the Dallas Morning News Friday morning, November 22nd, 1963. That one was a paid advertisment funded by John Birch Society members.

Although Draper is long dead, his legacy lives on. In 2005 the Pioneer Fund issued a grant to help form a new political "think-tank,” innocently called the National Policy Institute. NPI was the brainchild of far-right publisher William Regnery. The institute's mission statement describes it's goals as:

"...elevate the consciousness of whites, ensure our biological and cultural continuity, and protect our civil rights. The institute ... will study the consequences of the ongoing influx that non-Western populations pose to our national identity."

Regnery’s publishing house is the source of the infamous “swiftboating” of John Kerry and the publisher of the 2004 book, Unfit For Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry.

One would think that racism and bigotry would eventually fade, but thanks to the efforts of the early pioneers (pun intended,) it is alive and well. Friday, September 9th of this year... just last week... a forum by the National Policy Institute was hosted at none other than the prestigious  National Press Club. Speakers included white supremicist talk show host James Edwards, and author Jarad Taylor. On the agenda but not showing was Peter Brimelow, author of the self proclaimed anthem to the American renaissance, Alien Nation.

The occasion was the release of an NPI report titled "The Majority Strategy: Why the GOP Must Win White America" [PDF]. Summarizing the report, NPI states that the Republican Party is already "effectively the White People’s Party," with 90 percent of its votes cast by whites. A winning strategy would be to "reach in" to its majority base rather than "reach out" to minorities. Instead of shirking its identity the GOP should embrace it by advocating immigration restriction, an end to civil rights and hate crime legislation, and to all forms of affirmative action.

Of the 100 people in attendance only one was non-white. When that individual rose to ask a question of James Edwards, Edwards responded "There is no hatred in my heart," "...all we want is the freedom to associate only with our own kind, to not be forced to deal with you."

Jared Taylor argued that "individualism is a white Protestant value and that the only way to protect it is to preserve the white Protestant tribe." 

So there you have it. Racism and bigotry is not only alive and well... it has reached a rather lofty perch.

###