Burnt Orange Report

Racist Group Runs Attack Ads Against Frost, Sessions is Silent

By Byron LaMasters

The organization "The Coalition for the Future American Worker" is about to run attack ads on Dallas-Fort Worth Television stations attacking Martin Frost. Big deal, huh? Everyone runs attack ads. Sure, but take a look at who these guys are and where they get their funding, via Center For New Community (PDF file):

The Coalition for the Future American Worker is one of the many fronts created by national anti-immigrant groups to conceal their agenda. The so-called Coalition is actually the creation of the two largest anti-immigrant organizations, the Washington DC-based anti-immigrant group FAIR and the Virginia-based American Immigration Control (AIC).

Together, AIC and FAIR have received more than $1.4 million dollars from the white supremacist foundation known as the Pioneer Fund.

The Pioneer Fund was founded in 1937 to further the cause of purifying the American gene pool by encouraging the descendants of white colonialists to procreate. Since that time the Pioneer Fund has become a centerpiece in keeping scientific racism alive through allocating grants for pseudo-academic studies. The Pioneer Fund serves as a primary supporter of the eugenics movement and has given it both the space to grow and the chance to politicize its research and theories.

The spokesperson for the Coalition for the Future of the American Worker is Roy Beck, head of the anti-immigrant group NumbersUSA. In 1997, Beck was a featured speaker at the annual conference of the Council of Conservative Citizens, the largest white supremacist organization in the United States.

The Dallas Morning News gives us a preview of the ad:

The advertisements, which are scheduled to run into next week on Dallas' ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC affiliate stations, feature dark images of black and Hispanic people with an off-camera voice stating that Mr. Frost supports legislation that would allow immigrants to crowd schools, drive down worker wages and deplete the job pool.

They do not mention Mr. Sessions, nor do they allude to the congressmen's congressional race in Texas' 32nd District, which political experts rank among the most high-profile and potentially expensive in the nation.

Federal records show that the Coalition for the Future American Worker's member organizations receive financing from other organizations, such as the Pioneer Fund, which studies racial differences and counts Nazi sympathizers among its founders.

These guys have run attack ads before against Republicans and Democrats. They attacked Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM) in 2000 and she said the following in response:

"This group's agenda has nothing to do with high-tech workers and helping Americans...These guys have a clear record of being a far right-wing group, and their leaders have made several racist statements in the press. I don't think they're anything I want to be associated with. Their agenda has everything to do with an anti-Hispanic, anti-Catholic agenda that has nothing to do with New Mexicans."

In fact, stations across the country have refused to run ads from this organization. However, when contacted, WFAA-TV considered the ads "appropriate":

Mr. Frost on Tuesday also called on all television stations to pull the advertisements. Kathy Clements, president and general manager of WFAA-TV (Channel 8), said the coalition purchased $67,260 worth of advertisement space during its morning, midday and early evening newscasts from Tuesday through April 15.

Although the Frost campaign asked Channel 8 to remove the advertisements, the station considers it "appropriate" to continue running them, she said.

Running ads with ties to White Supremist groups is appropriate? Yikes. Even more amazing is the fact that Pete Sessions is so far unwilling to join Heather Wilson and other Republicans in denouncing the organization:

Sessions campaign manager Chris Homan said Mr. Sessions has no knowledge of the organization sponsoring the advertisements, the Coalition for the Future American Worker, and no involvement with them.

"We're not going to engage groups like this in any capacity," Mr. Homan said.

"Pete has never been someone who supports discrimination," Mr. Homan added. "He abhors those groups that do."

Personally, I doubt that there is any connection between the Sessions campaign and the organization running the ads. But why doesn't the Sessions campaign be mature about it, and call them out for what they are - racists (and I won't even go into Sessions' response as someone who never supports discrimination. Sessions said in a 2000 town hall meeting that he didn't "represent the gays"). Regardless, Sessions should join Frost in condemning the Coalition for the Future American Worker. It's inevitable, as TX-32 will be one of the most expensive and hardest fought congressional races in the nation this year that outside groups will run ads benefiting or attacking both candidates. However, when radical, extremist, racist groups try to influence the outcome of our elections, they ought to be denounced by all sides.

If you want to help, you can contact Pete Sessions and urge him to denounce this organization, here.

You can also urge DFW television stations to reject the hate speech coming from this organization:

FOX- KDFW
Comment line: 214.720.3103
Comment email: viewersvoice@kdfwfox4.com

NBC-KXAS
Direct/Comment line: 214-745-5555
Comment email: news@nbc5i.com

CBS- KTVT
Direct/Comment line: (817) 451-1111
Comment email: no direct email - use:
http://cbs11tv.com/contactus/

ABC- WFAA
Direct/Comment line: 214-748-9631
Comment email: news8@wfaa.com

Of course, you can also help out the Frost Campaign, here.

Off the Kuff and David Neiwert have more on the story as well.