It's About Damn Time!

Critics soften their image of Minutemen

The Minuteman Project was launched this year amid fears that racist extremists would confront and possibly injure illegal immigrants crossing into Arizona.
But there were no significant confrontations - no fights and rarely any excitement - when hundreds of people traveled to the Arizona desert in April to watch for illegal immigrants and report them to immigration agents.Since then the movement has taken hold, with Minuteman-inspired organizations being launched in several states, and even critics acknowledge that the participants are more than just a band of misfits, bigots and extremists.

Nice to hear it said, nicely done AP!

Attention to immigration problems helped attract "a fairly broad cross section of middle Americans," said Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which monitors hate groups. "This is partly driven by politicians falling all over each other over an issue that they feel had some real resonance."
Potok said that, according to his group's research, "there are real strains of racism and anti-Semitism in this movement."Nevertheless," he said, "the movement has attracted people who are not Klansmen or neo-Nazis."

Talk about a backhanded compliment. I think this group did some important work once upon a time. One wonders if they've outlived their usefulness?

As hot as the media was to bust the Minutemen, this is a hell of a compliment. So I'll say it again. Thanks AP!

h/t The Minutemen Blog

illegal immigration
minutemen
southern poverty law center