The Problem with Richard Spencer and the Alt Right

In his interviews, Richard Spencer comes across as well spoken and passionate. Spencer is obviously intelligent and educated as well. However, his political party - the Alt Right - generally promotes a "whites only" immigration policy. He pushes for a Back to Africa movement rather than the "liberal" idea of "getting along with each other." As friendly as he might come across, I find it disturbing that he focuses on race so much. As Martin Luther King so beautifully put it, judge a man not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.

Does this mean we need a "wide open door" policy regarding immigration? Absolutely not. Immigrants should have clean records, positive belief systems, a sense of humility and a willingness to learn the language of their new culture. In fact, failure to properly screen immigrants is one reason the Alt Right is becoming popular. Unhealthy nationalist movements are often encouraged an absence of border security. When criminals are willfully let into a country, taxpaying parents become rightfully enraged. And sometimes that understandable rage is misplaced in movements such as the Alt Right.

Spencer often makes the point that America started off as a white country, and that it changed identities largely because of the tragedy of slavery, which he rightfully condemns. These points definitely have truth to them. However, it's also correct to say that things change. In fact, change is built into the US Constitution. If America's founding fathers did not want America to change, they would not have allowed for Constitutional Amendments.

If I were talking to Mr. Spencer, I would suggest that it's impossible to change America back into the country it was in the late 1700's. Of course, he's entitled to his opinions, and he can rally behind candidates of his choice. But the attempt to force people of different races to leave their homes, cities and countries is absurd at best and dangerous at worst.

If Spencer wants to live in a white culture, I would respectfully say that it would be far more feasible for him to move to a country or even a city that he feels comfortable in, rather than asking entire people groups to leave. A huge percentage of the country is non-white, and most of them simply will not move back to the countries of their heritage. The caterpillar has become a butterfly, and it can never return to its previous state.