John Gibson: Not a Racist, Just a Xenophobe

Gibson whines about the lies, the lies:

My concern was simply that I didn't want America to become Europe, where the birth rate is so low the continent is fast being populated by immigrants, mainly from Muslim countries, whose birth rate is very high.

[...]

I said, fine, but it was also a good idea if people other than Hispanics also got busy and had more babies. Those people would include both blacks and whites. I suppose Asians, too.

[...]

If you look at the demographic trends, as I have, you could conclude, as I have, that 50 years from now, Europe will be brown and Muslim, and America will be brown and Christian. I am fine with that, America, and I've said so many times. I'd rather live with the Christians here than live in -- under Sharia law in Europe. Of course, I won't be alive anyway, but I hope you get the point.

The overall point here today is to say people are wrong if they say I am urging white people to have more babies because I'm afraid of more brown people and I'm a racist. Couldn't be farther from the truth. Not that the truth matters when people want to lie about you for their own personal and vicious motives, which seems to happen a lot lately. That's "My Word."

Asians too, huh? Gee, thanks for giving props to my kind, John.

So let me get this straight: you're not a racist because you don't have a problem with brown people, as long as they're not Muslims?

Carpetbagger Report calls the b.s.:

Of course, now I understand. Gibson wasn't being bigoted, he simply didn't want white people in the United States to be outnumbered by people from Muslim countries. How could anyone find prejudice in such a sensible concern?

Digby calls it, too.

Question: How come racists thrive in the Republican Party?

Answer: Because they find a receptive audience there. Instead of being denounced as they should be, their bigotry becomes part of the conservative mainstream screed.

These racial demagogues peddle their wares and conservative extremists lap it up, according them legitimacy to such an extent that they actually make a living out of it.

Like Feministe says:

Sure, there are some conservatives and wingnuts who aren’t racist. And there are absolutely many liberals who are quite racist. But you just don’t see liberal publications and talking heads preaching white superiority quite the same way that you do on the right side of things.

Take, for an easy example, right-wing poster-Barbie Ann Coulter, who asks “Where are the skinheads?” and then the next week, essentially finds and supports them. Then we’ve got Bill O’Reilly, who laments the waning power of “white Christians” in the face of a “rainbow coalition.” Boo hoo. John Gibson tells white people to make more babies to counter all the brown people being born — and then follows it up by saying that Muslims are a problem, too. Rush Limbaugh bizarrely compares a letter written by the Iranian PM to activism to “liberal Hollywood Jewish people.” Dick Cheney goes on his show the next week. The White House Press Secretary uses the term “tar baby” in his first press briefing — albeit in an odd context.

What's even more absurd, Gibson's screed is not only xenophobic but based on fallacious fearmongering. Time:

Gibson is, of course, wildly wrong and not just because he rounds 45% up to "half" or conflates all racial and ethnic minorities with Hispanics. The Hispanic population is growing more rapidly than the white population, but nothing like what he fears. According to a projection released last year by the Census bureau, in 2030 the Hispanic population of the U.S. will be about 20.1%. Fifty years from now, the majority of Americans will still be white and 24.4% will be Hispanic.

I think you'd better sit down, shut up and let the adults do the talking, John.

Image from mediamatters.org.

+Save/Share | |