The publication of conservatism has been having a race problem and they are finally taking notice:
Following the uproar over John Derbyshire’s racist rant that led to his firing last week, National Review ended its relationship with another racist writer today. Robert Weissberg, who was a contributing writer to the magazine for years, was fired for his ties to the white nationalist group American Renaissance.
“Unbeknowst to us, occasional Phi Beta Cons contributor Robert Weissberg (whose book was published a few years ago by Transaction) participated in an American Renaissance conference where he delivered a noxious talk about the future of white nationalism,” National Review editor Rich Lowry said in a post today. Though National Review may not have known, Weissberg’s involvement with the group is clearly stated on his Wikipedia page. And the fact that National Review’s vetting process is so weak that they routinely published two openly racist authors for years raises serious questions about who else they may be publishing and what ideas those writers may share.
It’s interesting that this is all taking place in an election year, when the minority vote is so important. Add to that the war on women the right has been engaging in and it looks like the publication of William H. Buckley is trying to improve the image of the movement he was a fonder of.