Danielle Beach-Oswald, in her excellent discussion of anti-immigrant xenophobia (ID 12/16) cites Patrick Buchanan as an example. Her comments about Buchanan and about xenophopia in general are so well written that it is difficult to add anything to them. I would only mention in addition that Buchanan's statement, quoted in her comment, implying that "Euro-Americans" should "take back" America is not only xenophobic, but openly racist. It is just another way of saying that America belongs to white people only. It is also far from the only statement Buchanan has made to this effect over the years.

For those of us who have been following Buchanan's career for a long time, it is also noteworthy that Buchanan has often been accused of being anti-Semitic, even by right wing commentators who agree with him on most other issues. While Buchanan denies being anti-Semitic, he has a long record of defending various Nazi war criminals. This is not exactly a way to promote religious or racial tolerance in America.

Buchanan's example should also be a lesson for people who think that hatred against Mexican immigrants, which so many politicians, including all the major Republican candidates, are using in one form or another to gain votes, can be limited to the unpopular minority du jour. It cannot and is not. Scratch someone who hates Latinos (or Muslims), and there is a good chance that you may find a person who also hates Jews, African-Americans, Asians, or whichever other minorities also come to mind.

America is a country of minorities. There are few of us whose ancestors were not the targets of prejudice or hatred because of their background, including immigrants from almost every part of Europe. We should bear this in mind before attacking the latest groups of people to come to our shores.