The WA S H I N G T O N washingtonspectator.org JULY/AUGUST 2021 vol. 47, no. 4 issn 0887-428x SPECTATOR © 2021 The Public Concern Foundation washingtonspectator.org delivered the largest and most reliable slice of the Trump elector- What’s Missing From ate. Dozens of featured speakers this year included Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn, Ron DeSantis, Lindsey Graham, Popular Discussions and Madison Cawthorn. I came away from my listening experience in Kissimmee with of Today’s Christian a few surprises—or at least a few takeaways that may challenge some of the narratives that prevail in the center and on the left Nationalism about America’s Christian nationalist movement. The first is By Katherine Stewart that any Democrats who take comfort from the thought that demography is destiny are probably deluding themselves. The received wisdom on the center-left is that America’s homegrown f you want to know where the Republican authoritarian faction is an affair largely concentrated on an older, Party is headed, you need to set aside your assumptions whiter base that is just now exiting the stage of history with loud I and simply listen to grievances in hand. But what its leaders and activ- that’s not how the lead- ists say—especially when ers of the movement see they’re talking amongst things—and the broader themselves. As a reporter picture may indeed be a and author on the reli- bit more complex. gious right beat over the Of the many reli- past dozen years, I’ve gious-right strategy made a point of attending gatherings I’ve attended such meetings, especially over the years, this was those that focus on the among the most ethni- religious right leadership cally and racially diverse. and strategists who com- “I am pleased to be able mand the movement’s to report that we have voter turnout machine. 200 African American Lately, I’ve been hear- pastors and community ing things that might sur- organizers who are here prise—and alarm—those this week and over 500 who see the movement Stills selected from the Road to Majority’s 2o21 promotional video Hispanic pastors and only from a distance. community organizers, and A good venue to catch up on the latest thinking inside the we are going to keep going until this movement embraces the full movement that wants to “take America back” to a place that diversity of our country,” said Ralph Reed. By my count, over 30 never existed is this summer’s Road to Majority convention, an of the roughly 70 speakers were Black or Latino. annual gathering of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, which was The diversity on display at the conference reflects the fact that held this year at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center the religious right has been making a sizable effort to cultivate in Kissimmee, Florida. conservative-leaning Latino and Black voters of faith. Much of In recent the action starts by attracting religious leaders from communities ALSO INSIDE: years, the of color, who are often drawn into larger pastoral networks such convention as Watchmen on the Wall and Ministeros Hispanos. An aspect of 4 Robert Alvarez on Steve Wing has brought the diversity push, to be sure, is merely performative, a means 6 Steven Pressman on inflation together the of reassuring white voters that they aren’t racist after all. But the 8 Barbara Koeppel on the death penalty big Repub- strategy works with a nonnegligible number of voters of color, 10 Joseph Mangano on radioactivity in baby teeth lican names too. Between 2016 and 2020, Trump made substantial gains with the on- among Latino voters in particular. 13 Letter from Oppenheimer to Fermi the-ground In Kissimmee, the speakers, and especially the speakers of activists who color, had a unified message about race, and it was one that 1 Illustrations by Edel Rodriguez july/august 2021 The Democratic strategists might wish to note as they have the public read something crazy in the news- WASHINGTON craft their own messaging and outreach in the run- paper and immediately think ‘critical race theory.’ SPECTATOR up to the 2022 midterm elections. Speaker after We have decodified the term and will recodify it to speaker at the Road to Majority Policy Conference annex the entire range of cultural constructions that Legal Affairs Correspondent Andrew Cohen asserted that they believe in an America where race are unpopular with Americans.” Digital Editor doesn’t define you—where opportunity is there for At a Conservative Political Action Committee Sophia Fish Copy Editor all who strive for it. (CPAC) conference the following month the drum- Kirsten Denker Never mind the Republican Party’s efforts to beat continued. “What are our parents around the Contributing Writers promote McCarthyist laws that restrict discussions country doing to stop critical race theory from tak- Robert Alvarez Cyrus Cassells of the history of racism and other supposedly “divi- ing over our schools, what are we doing to stop Autumn Hayes sive concepts” in American schools; or its lead- them from taking over our corporations, taking over Barbara Koeppel Anne Nelson ership’s denigrating characterizations of political sports, even taking over the military?” said David Steven Pressman leaders of color with whom they disagree. And who M. McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth. Dorothy Samuels here really cares that the Republican Party has “Martin Luther King had a dream: that we would Katherine Stewart Circulation Management championed voter suppression and gerrymandering judge or be judged by the content of our character Circulation Specialists LLC that disproportionately affect voters of color and and not the color of our skin. But radical Marx- Design Point Five, NY others in democratic-leaning districts, or that some ists have taken over this movement they call criti- Illustration Edel Rodriguez Republican leaders toler- cal race theory that shames Editor and Publisher Hamilton Fish ate or even court the sup- This movement is getting ideologically our children, treats them port of white supremacists? harder, hotter, and more extreme in every differently and punishes Subscription inquiries way as it moves forward into the future. The Washington Spectator is being The fact is, this message has them based on the color of published bi-monthly during Covid presumably convinced some their skin. And tells them as a digital edition only. To add your name to our free distribution people—including those at the gathering in Kis- America, our country, our capitalist free markets, list, sign up at trypico.com/ washingtonspectator/registration. simmee—that their party is the one on the side of our constitution are evil and irretrievable.” We'll notify you as soon as we resume equality and justice for all, while the other side is According to a June report in Media Matters, our regular publication schedule. the one that insists on characterizing everybody by in the prior three and a half months, “critical race For questions relating to your the color of their skin. theory” was mentioned on Fox News nearly two subscription or for queries on editorial matters, please contact us C.L. Bryant, a right-wing television and radio thousand times. By comparison, in November 2020, at [email protected]. host, made the point with an anecdote about a there were just four mentions. Letters to the editor Email to long-ago confrontation with his grandfather over The second surprise on my listening tour was [email protected]. Please include your full name and his “Afrocentric” style. “He said these words: more of the I can’t believe this is actually happening postal address and whether the letter ‘Sonny . I didn’t go through all that I went variety. Over the past two decades, the imminent is intended for publication. Letters, if published, may be edited for clarity through so that you could be Black. I went through demise of the religious right has been predicted and space. Hard-copy letters may be sent to: Washington Spectator— all that I went through so that you could be free.’” with casual confidencemany times, and the often Letters, 105 Hudson Street, Suite It’s a message that has a strong appeal to some unspoken assumption is that the movement will 407, New York, NY 10013. immigrants, as Jennifer S. Carroll, a former Navy turn watery as it fades away. But that isn’t what the The Washington Spectator (ISSN commander born in Trinidad who served as lieu- people at the Road to Majority conference or CPAC 0887-428X) is published bi-monthly by the Public Concern Foundation Inc, tenant governor of Florida, made clear at a panel think at all. This movement is getting ideologically 105 Hudson Street, Suite 407, New titled “Majority Minority.” “I wanted to give back harder, hotter, and more extreme in every way as it York, NY 10013. © 2021 in the U.S. to my country because my country gave myself and moves forward into the future. my family so much,” said Carroll. “And that’s what Two decades ago, an ideology called “Seven FROM THE immigrants are all about. Recognizing that this Mountains Dominionism” was considered so fringy country is a special place. The only place in the land that it was never allowed near the podium with EDITOR’S that can give a person like me the ladders to climb Republican political leaders. Now, that very same DESK if I choose to climb it.” ideology is a heartbeat away from everything that Carroll delivered her comments with passionate happens in the Republican Party. This year, in fact, Sign up for our free email sincerity. But as one speaker after another offered the Road to Majority featured a breakout session newsletter by visiting the same caricature of “critical race theory” as the titled “The Seven Mountains of Influence.” washingtonspectator.org.