For decades, right-wing politicians and media have stoked racial fears, demonized immigrants and spread Islamaphobia. At the same time, they’ve driven a narrative of white victimization.
Politicians like Hillary Clinton, Jamie Raskin and Terry McAuliffe have decried the tactics, which helped drive the polarized society we see today.
Others – like former Trump operatives Steve Bannon, Rick Gates and Sam Nunberg — freely admit to the tactics.
Now, all of them — along with media experts like Brian Stelter of CNN, and Jonathan Alter of Newsweek — appear in one documentary, discussing candidly how race and religion have been used to divide America.
Steve Bannon, in “White With Fear.”
“White With Fear” was written, directed and produced by Westporter Andrew Goldberg.
After being screened in theaters across the country since March, its final showing is May 29, at the Westport Library. The film will then be available through video on demand.
Goldberg — who moved here in 2020, drawn in part by the creative sensibility exemplified by his friend Andrew Wilk, along with an open-minded vibe, strong Jewish community, amenities and beauty — is an Emmy Award-winning investigative producer.
He has directed 14 primetime documentaries for PBS, and worked with CBS “Sunday Morning,” ABC News and NPR.
But “White With Fear” is especially important, and close to his heart.
Goldberg began the project in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, when rage on both sides was at a boiling point.
“Everyone was talking about white people. I wanted to do a film on them, but the topic was too broad. What I could do was focus on how they’ve been manipulated.
“More than 50 years ago, Richard Nixon recognized that scaring white people about the fears of Black people could be his route to the presidency.” Ever since, Goldberg says, not one Democratic candidate for president has won a majority of white votes.
“Republican electoral strategy has been about racial exploitation. It’s terrifying.”
Goldberg interviewed political operatives going back decades: those mentioned above, along with a former Breitbart writer, former Oath Keepers and Republican National Committee spokesmen, the author of the Mitt Romney post-election report, and many others, on both sides of the aisle.
“A lot of them love to talk,” he says. “You ask, and they’re happy to tell you. They mean what they say.”
“White with Fear” is not, Goldberg notes, “Democrats pointing fingers at Republicans.” There are plenty of Republicans talking about their strategy too.
Stuart Stevens, former Republican campaign strategist.
While making the film, Goldberg says, he learned “how cynical that strategy is, and how central to the effort it is.
“Seeing the Trump roundup of Hispanics in the US — some of them documented, some of them not — does not make a dent in the number of undocumented people.
“But it does make headlines. It makes people feel like the administration is doing something. It keeps the party stoked and exited. And Fox makes billions of dollars scaring people.”
Among Goldberg’s interviewees: Joe Peyronnin, former Fox News president.
“No one who sees the film says ‘I already knew all that,'” Goldberg says.
Hillary Clinton.
Reviews have been excellent. It’s been called “riveting” and “masterful.” Every Rotten Tomato viewer ranked it “fresh.”
The limited theatrical run — in places like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Santa Fe and Honolulu, but not hundreds of screens nationwide — is partly because that’s the nature of documentaries.
But another part is that many theaters refused to show it.
“People in the arts community are terrified ,” Goldberg says. “Arts funding is being cut. The Kennedy Center has been taken over. Why put something on that could lead to problems?”
Which is why, he says, “bravo to the Westport Library for being bold.”
“White With Fear” will be shown at the Westport Library on May 29 (7 p.m.). A talkback with director Andrew Goldberg follows. More details are available here.
