How to Defeat the Xenophobes According to Bloomberg’s New American Economy

The Hill published an opinion piece yesterday by the Yalie who runs Michael Bloomberg’s ‘New American Economy,’ Jeremy Robbins, entitled:

How to end xenophobia for once and for all

The gist of the piece is how Bloomberg goes into certain selected cities and Congressional districts and pours money into propaganda to change the minds of elected officials and business leaders about the need to import and welcome ‘new Americans.’  He has been at this for ten years already!

Now he wants to be sure to get all you xenophobes to see the light. By the way, the reason he has to use the word xenophobia instead of racism is that, as we have been chronicling for years, many black ‘new Americans’ don’t like our longtime African Americans (and vice versa).

The same goes for African Americans and Hispanics. Nor is there any love lost between Asians and African Americans.

On the Left, while the anarchists are busy tearing down America and American culture, moneybags like Bloomberg are working away as Robbins describes:

President Trump has expanded his immigration ban to affect vital U.S. industries like tech, manufacturing and hospitality through the end of 2020. The latest executive order signed on June 22 further restricts immigration, following a less drastic measure made in April. This will slow our recovery with states now reopening, but it’s no surprise.

His platform of cracking down on immigration has been unflinchingly consistent. He has blocked immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries, dismantled our refugee resettlement program, separated migrant children from their parents and attempted to end DACA.

But here’s the ugly truth that Americans forget: Blaming immigrants for bringing diseases, taking our jobs, making us unsafe and threatening American culture has been part of our politics since the country’s founding. It doesn’t matter that none of these impending immigration disasters have come to pass. Or that immigration is America’s greatest global competitive advantage. With each generation, new leaders claim that today’s immigrants are somehow different — less able to assimilate, more likely to take our jobs or commit crimes. And we believe them.

So why do we keep getting duped?

Both the social science literature and forward-looking leaders in deeply conservative parts of the country have an answer: It’s a mistake to focus just on President Trump’s most anti-immigrant rhetoric. We also need to focus on the millions of Americans — and not just the most xenophobic ones — who think the president may have a point.

As a country, we’re broadly in favor of immigration, but we’re also incredibly nervous about changes to our culture and our communities. When we’re unsure of what to believe, we look first to our local networks. Studies show that when we’re given information that contradicts what our friends and neighbors believe, we actually double down and become more strident. The more facts we throw at our opponents, the more polarized we become.

How we beat Rep. Steve King:

A prime example is the conservative Iowa district, which had been represented for 17 years by Congress’s most stridently anti-immigrant member: Steve King. To change the tenor of the debate at home, local residents took the initiative and formed a group called One Siouxland to “welcome and support every Siouxland resident” and help all “understand, appreciate and embrace our changing demographics.”

Together with New American Economy, One Siouxland wrote a strategic integration plan to establish community resource centers, a leadership development academy, small business loans and dozens of other programs and policies focused on giving underrepresented populations a seat at the table.

Most recently, One Siouxland used locally produced art to host dialogues between Trump voters and non-Trump voters about American identity. This welcoming attitude has allowed more businesses of all types to invest there, including some of the food processing plants [Meat packers changing America!—ed]now keeping our food supply chain functioning.

And now a district that was the stronghold of the anti-immigrant movement has said enough, and the business community successfully backed an opponent who recently defeated King in the Republican primary election.

Read it all. 

See how Bloomberg’s money is working to change your minds while he and the hundreds of businesses he represents are changing America by changing the people.

Go here to see if the New American Economy is doing its propaganda work where you live.

See also my tag for New American Economy .