CNN Cites White Supremacist Group as Source

Yesterday, on "Lou Dobbs Tonight," CNN ran a graphic sourced to the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group deemed to have a "white supremacy" ideology according to the Anti-Defamation League.

During a piece about illegal immigrants in Utah, reporter Casey Wian said, "Utah is also part of the territory some militant Latino activists refer to as Aztlan, the portion of the southwest United States they claim rightfully belongs to Mexico."

As he said that, CNN ran the following map graphic:

As you can see in the right hand corner, the source of the map is the Council of Conservative Citizens.

For more background on the CCC outside of the ADL report, check out this 1999 W. Post piece and this from The Nation's John Nichols about Sen. Trent Lott's CCC ties.

Furthermore, the whole Aztlan boogeyman, that there's a conspiracy afoot to reclaim the Southwest for Mexico, has been debunked by David Neiwert of Orcinus, here and here.

He weighs in on the above graphic here, as does Digby at Hullabaloo, John Amato at Crooks and Liars and Matt at The Great Society. (UPDATE: Also from Daily Kos' Colorado Luis and The News Blog)

CNN should apologize to its viewers and reprimand those involved in the report. You can contact CNN at this link.

An earlier version of this post was published yesterday at LiberalOasis