There were dire warnings about Steve Bannon - ugh! Bannon is a racist!

The Former Guy's chief strategist is racist. 
Bannon, the former head of the far-right web site Breitbart news, describes himself as an (evil!) leader of the ‘alt-right,’

Echo in stereo! Policy group The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights warned The Former Guy's administration about the danger of giving the ugly Steve Bannon any credibility.  

This following letter was sent to the media on November 16, 2016, and must be re-released!

Letter sent to The Former Guy- Donald J. Trump
To President-elect of the United States
Trump Tower
725 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Dear President-elect (Former Guy):

We are writing to you on behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national advocacy organizations that, together, represent tens of millions of Americans from all walks of life. 

Since its founding in 1950, The Leadership Conference has played a vital role in every debate over legislation affecting civil and human rights. We are writing today on a matter of great concern to our organizations and to the nation as a whole. 

We strongly urge you to reconsider your appointment of Stephen K. Bannon as your chief strategist and senior counselor in the White House.

As many news sources have documented in the past week, Mr. Bannon has a history of expressing alarmingly biased and uncivil views that demean women, the LGBT community, and religious groups. And as the executive chairman of Breitbart LLC, he turned the website Breitbart.com into what he described as “the platform for the alt-right,”[i] a movement that includes and is heavily shaped by white supremacists, anti-Semites, anti-Muslims, nativists, and other political extremists who are more dedicated to destroying our system than they are to improving it.[ii]

Whether – as his former editor-in-chief recently speculated – Mr. Bannon is simply pandering to a radical and extremist constituency in order to increase his political influence or whether he personally holds these views,.[iii] it ultimately makes little difference. Either way, his presence in the White House will undermine and discredit the pledge you made last week to “be President for all Americans.” (Maine Writer- Is this lie among the Lie Library in the litany of those quoted by The Former Guy?)

It is especially problematic at a time when many communities are facing a dramatic increase in hate crimes and other forms of racial and ethnic harassment.[iv]

As representatives of a coalition with a long history of working with both parties in Washington, we know very well that political opponents in this town have to occasionally put strong rhetoric aside and work together to advance the public interest or to simply keep the government running. “Strange bedfellows” can accomplish truly remarkable things in Washington. Make no mistake, our organizations have been alarmed by and will strongly oppose many of your policy proposals – on the merits, and in good faith. It is our sincere hope that we can find areas where we might be able to work together to improve the lives of all Americans.

Doing so, however, requires a certain level of trust and the belief that despite our differences, we all share certain common values: that all Americans deserve a chance to live up to their potential, that our cultural diversity is a source of strength and not a weakness, and that our government has an important role to play in improving our lives. Mr. Bannon’s record of, at best, catering to people who do not share these values will make it significantly more difficult for the communities we represent to develop trust in your administration as we move forward.

We cannot recall a previous instance in which The Leadership Conference weighed in on a presidential appointment that was not subject to the Senate confirmation process. The Bannon appointment, however, carries with it implications that go far beyond normal internal staffing matters, and will significantly affect not only your presidency but the broader interests of the American public. We strongly urge you to reconsider it.

Thank you for considering our views. If you would like to continue discussing this, please contact Wade Henderson, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference, at (202) 466-3311.

Sincerely,
9to5, National Association of Working Women
African American Ministers In Action (AAMIA)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Federation of Teachers
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Anti-Defamaton League
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
Asian Pacific Americans Labor Alliance
Association of University Centers on Disabilities
Bend the Arc
Black Women’s Roundtable I
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Responsible Lending
Coalition for Disability Health Equity
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
Coalition of Labor Unon Women
Coalition on Human Needs
Council of Korean Americans
Demos
Do Justice and Fitting the Description
Equal Justice Society
Family Equality Council
Franciscan Action Network
Globe Women Research & Education Institute
Hindu American Foundation
International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
League of United Latin American Citizens
MALDEF
NAACP
NAACP LDF
National Action Network
National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE)
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
National Association of Social Workers
National Black Justice Coalition
National CAPACD
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
National Collaborative for Health Equity
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA)
National Council of Churches
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of La Raza
National Education Association
National Employment Law Project
National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC)
National Immigration Law Center
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Urban League
National Women’s Law Center
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
Poverty & Race Research Action Council
Project Vote
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Restaurant Opportunities Center United
Sikh American Legal Defense & Education Fund (SALDEF)
South Asian Bar Association
South Asian Bar Association of North America
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
United We Dream Network
Voices for Progress
West Michigan Hindu Temple
Women’s Equality Coalition Greater Kansas City
Women’s Intercultural Network (WIN)
World Without Genocide
YWCA USA
Hindu American Foundation

[i] Sarah Posner, “How Donald Trump’s New Campaign Chief Created an Online Haven for White Nationalists,” Mother Jones, Aug. 22, 2016 at http://bit.ly/2g2oQgC.

[ii] See, e.g., “Alt Right: A Primer about the New White Supremacy,” Anti-Defamation League, at http://bit.ly/2g2rfb9.

[iii] Ben Shapiro, “3 Thoughts on Steve Bannon as White House ‘Chief Strategist,’” The Daily Wire, Nov. 14, 2016 at http://bit.ly/2g2un6O.

[iv] See, e.g., Azadeh Ansari, “FBI: Hate crimes spike, most sharply against Muslims,” CNN.com, Nov. 15, 2016, at http://cnn.it/2g2ooPI; Editorial, “Hateful acts are on the rise, and it’s Trump’s responsibility to take a stand,” Washington Post, Nov. 17, 2016, at http://wpo.st/fz0F2.