There Goes the Neighborhood is a weekly series from Imagine 2050 staff highlighting upcoming nativist events.
This week, nativist events are scheduled in California, Ohio, Texas, and New York.
On Saturday, October 22, anti-Muslim writer Robert Spencer will speak at the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. Spencer’s appearance will take place during a three-day event organized by the Young America’s Foundation, the “High School Conference at the Reagan Ranch.” Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch, a project of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Spencer proliferates a viciously distorted view of Islam, describing it as “the only major world religion with a developed doctrine and tradition of warfare against unbelievers.” Such views were embraced by Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, who cited Spencer’s writing dozens of times in his manifesto. Last year, the Young America’s Foundation invited Spencer to speak at its “New England Freedom Conference” alongside then presidential candidate Ted Cruz. In August, Spencer was in The Golden State to speak at an anti-Muslim conference hosted by the American Freedom Alliance.
Also on Saturday, October 22, Clare Lopez will speak in Valley City, Ohio at a meeting of the group Medina County Friends and Neighbors (MCFN). Lopez is Vice President for Research and Analysis at the anti-Muslim think tank Center for Security Policy. MCFN previously hosted Lopez in February of this year as well as in September 2015, according to posts on the group’s Facebook page.
On Tuesday, October 25, Brigitte Gabriel, the founder and president of the anti-Muslim grassroots group ACT for America, will speak in San Antonio, Texas. Gabriel’s appearance is hosted by the local San Antonio ACT chapter. Based on her previous statements, Gabriel is expected to depict Islam as a violent monolith in pursuit of global domination. (We don’t, however, expect her to discuss this video created by the Center for New Community showing attendees of ACT’s national conference refusing to condemn anti-Muslim bigotry.)
The Homeland Security Professionals Conference and Expo is scheduled for Tuesday, October 25 and Wednesday, October 26 in Orlando, Florida. As the Southern Poverty Law Center reports, the event is being organized by the Florida-based Security Solutions International and will include a presentation by anti-Muslim speaker Ryan Mauro.
Finally, on Wednesday, October 26, Steven Camarota will participate in a debate in New York City on providing a path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants. The debate is being hosted by the organization Intelligence Squared U.S. Camarota is director of research at the anti-immigrant think tank Center for Immigration Studies. His research is often presented with selective context to foment anti-immigrant sentiment. For example, he has described birthright citizenship as “unwise” and likened it to “squatter’s rights.” Camarota’s debating partner will be Rich Lowry, Editor of the conservative publication National Review.
Additional information on these nativist events and others can be found in the map below. A red star indicates events scheduled for next week.
Know of any nativist events not located on this map? Please contact us or fill out this form: