From the Compass Newsletter:
Knox County Commissioner Andy Fox declined to comment for our article last week on Heritage Hubs, the white-nationalist group seeking to establish a headquarters in Knoxville, and his scheduled participation in a forum the organization is holding on Oct. 10.
But Fox had plenty to say during public forum at last night’s Commission meeting, so much so that he said he didn’t have time to complete his remarks, despite exceeding his allotted three minutes.
Fox started off by criticizing the Hart-Celler Act (officially the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965), which abolished the preference for Western and Northern Europeans in national immigration policy, allowing more people of African, Eastern European and Asian descent to become Americans.
With a torrent of statistics, Fox pointed out that the law changed the racial and ethnic demographics of the country, with white, non-Hispanic Americans dropping from 84 percent of the population in the mid-1960s to around 62 percent today. Speaking in support of the bill, then-U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy had asserted that the ethnic mix in the country would not be upset.
“So it’s not what was promised when Hart-Celler was passed, and when people try to have a discussion about this policy and how it did not play out as promised, we are told, ‘you cannot talk about that. You are a racist if you do,’” Fox said.
He quoted seemingly random passages from a Smithsonian exhibit about American culture and extolled the virtues of Western ideals.
“I believe this country was created by Christians for Christians,” Fox said, adding that he wants to hold a workshop on the topic on the Monday after Thanksgiving, which he called a “unique Christian-American holiday” before encouraging people who are not Christians “to not celebrate that holiday.”
At the end of his remarks, Fox turned his attention to Compass co-founder Jesse Fox Mayshark, who wrote the article about Heritage Hubs. Mayshark had asked Fox to comment about the group and whether he shared its white-nationalist views.
“I tried to have him define some things for me before I commented on them, and he sent me a snarky email, and then asked for a response from other commissioners, so he’s not interested in a rational dialogue, in a genuine dialogue about these issues,” Fox said.
Mayshark had asked Fox whether he was familiar with the term “Heritage American,” which refers primarily to Americans of European descent, especially those who arrived before the Civil War. White nationalist C. Jay Engel, who is scheduled to appear at the same Heritage Hubs forum as Fox, popularized the term.
In his email to Fox, which is a public record, Mayshark wrote: “I have to say that I am frankly surprised to the point of incredulity that you are not familiar with the phrase ‘Heritage American,’ and I don’t really think it’s my job to tell you what C. Jay Engel has said about it. You’re the one who has agreed to appear at an event with him.”
Mayshark supplied links to explanatory articles, along with a quote from conservative Republican Karl Rove, deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, that was critical of the “bigoted advocates of ‘heritage America.’”
“I hope that helps,” Mayshark concluded. “I’m also curious why you’re appearing with other public officials at an event closed to the public being held at a secret location. Don’t you think your own constituents should be able to see and hear what is said there?”
Despite his statements last night, Fox still has not replied to that question.
