On Tuesday I wrote about John Derbyshire’s firing from National Review over a racist screed he authored for another publication. I also noted that prominent white nationalist Peter Brimelow, of VDARE.com and Alternative Right, was rallying support for Derbyshire. Brimelow has posted an update on VDARE saying that he’s spoken with Derbyshire, who “has agreed to start a weekly column for us as soon as his health allows—maybe as soon as next week! Help us pay him as much as possible!”
Brimelow himself served as senior editor at National Review from 1993 until he was purged in 1998 for his white nationalist views. He then founded VDARE as safe-space of a different sort – one where racists, bigots, and hereditarians could meet and share their views. It’s no surprise then that Derbyshire, who was also purged for white nationalist views, would land at VDARE.
What is surprising is that Brimelow is still writing for Dow Jones’ MarketWatch, whose management knows full well about Brimelow’s other activities. You may recall that Brimelow made a controversial appearance in February at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Conference organizers preemptively distanced themselves from Brimelow, who spoke out against both illegal and legal immigration:
Brimelow participated on a panel discussion called “The failure of Multiculturalism: How the pursuit of diversity is weakening American Identity” at CPAC on Thursday. During the panel discussion, Brimelow and other panelists said immigration is polluting America. […]Brimelow, an immigrant from Great Britain, said he’s opposed to not only illegal immigration, but legal immigration too. He said it is creating a “Spanish speaking underclass parallel to the African American underclass.”“These are people who are completely dysfunctional. They’re on welfare; they’re not doing any kind of work – at least not legal work – and their children are having a terrible time. They’re dropping out of school; there’s an increase in teenage pregnancy,” Brimelow said. […]California is “rapidly turning into hispanic slum.” He said California used to be “paradise” but is now “totally overrun by barrios of illegal immigrants.”
Following the panel, Mark Lacter of LA Observed and Joe Weisenthal of Business Insider both asked aloud why MarketWatch was employing a white nationalist organizer as a columnist. Both then reached out to MarketWatch about Brimelow and said they’d update their posts when they heard back. That was in February. As of today – there are no updates, and Brimelow is still writing twice weekly for MarketWatch:
.png)
Brimelow’s MarketWatch column focuses on the stock market, gold prices and economic forecasting, and it must be said that Brimelow was once a full-time financial journalist. In fact, he was as an editor for years at Fortune, Forbes, Influence and the Financial Post and served as economic counsel for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). But in the early 90s he transitioned from business to politics, serving as senior editor at National Review, and by the late 90s he was a professional white nationalist.
Once Brimelow made that transition, he lost legitimacy and found that previously open doors had been closed. National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru wrote in 2007 that “Brimelow regularly whines about his justly stalled career.” Stalled, that is, with the exception of MarketWatch.
The question – already asked by Business Insider and LA Observed – remains: Why is Dow Jones’ MarketWatch employing a white nationalist? And not just any white nationalist, but a national racist organizer who is riding to the rescue of John Derbyshire, who was fired by the right-wing National Review for penning a “nasty and indefensible” column about why whites should avoid contact with blacks.
UPDATE: Ask MarketWatch directly at @MarketWatch
