Guilty of Working While White: The Tom Kawczynski Interview

By Russell James

On Friday afternoon January 19, after what seemed like an interminably long two-hour drive from my home on the coast to Bangor, I finally pulled into a parking spot outside the small Irish pub where I had previously arranged to meet Tom Kawczynski. We had spoken over the phone a few times and been interacting on social media for a few months, and for the last several weeks we had been trying to work out a time and place to meet, but since we lived about four hours apart – on opposite sides of the state – this was the first chance we had to do so.

I walked in and immediately absorbed the old-country feel, the distressed wooden tables and the smell of beer and cottage pie in the air. I didn’t know what Tom looked like, but I recognized a voice that belonged to a man sitting at a small back table with his back to the door, animatedly talking on a phone. Little did I know, I had just walked into a media firestorm, in which the national media had sparked an attack on Tom’s character in an effort to get him fired from his job as the town manager of Jackman, ME a — tiny but growing tourist hub in the northwestern part of the state.

I sat down at the bar and ordered a Murphy’s Stout, when the waitress inquired if I wanted a menu, I explained that I was waiting for a friend and thought I recognized his voice, and asked if she would see if the man at the back table was waiting for someone named Russ. She came back a few seconds later and said he was. I moved to the seat across from Tom and caught his side of an intense conversation. That was the start of an establishment witch-hunt to prevent yet another White Rights Advocate from working while White. Here’s his side of the story:

Russell James: Before we begin the interview proper, why don’t you tell the readers your story, starting with the first MSM attack on you and ending with you resigning as the Jackman, ME town manager.

Tom Kawczynski: I knew a story was brewing around 1:00 pm on Friday, January 19th when I got a phone call from a freelance journalist calling me about a story he was working on for the Bangor Daily News, a left leaning daily rag. Interestingly, the reporter had a New Jersey number, but he called asking me questions about certain posts I had made through my social media account at www.gab.ai as well as at my website on www.newalbion.org. I could tell from the leading questions he was asking that a hit piece was incoming, which was interesting because I had always kept my personal advocacy separate from my professional responsibilities as Town Manager of Jackman, Maine. That first story broke about 3 hours later, and everything that followed in the media was largely a recapitulation of the initial story.

As I would later come to understand, there was a dedicated team that went through all the social media posts of not just myself, but also my wife across the whole of the internet (sic). It has always been very curious to me how they have such resources to invest on a town of 862 people in the rural fringe of western Maine, but I’ve come to realize firsthand both how much power the media has and how deceitful the mainstream truly is. In the interests of protecting my good name, I tried doing several interviews over the next 48 hours to offer clarification of my views. As was clearly stated on the New Albion website, I maintained a cultural movement that was inclusive but dared to be White-friendly.

For that, I was painted as a bigot and a separatist, even as the stories written beneath the misleading headlines continued to paint me in the most unsympathetic light. While that was happening, a team of people worked to intimidate every business in my town into a siege mentality, and someone paid to bring up activists to threaten private property up here and place signs and placards against me. Around this time, I spoke with the Town Attorney, knowing this needed to be resolved quickly, and we agreed to meet with the Select Board to whom I reported Tuesday morning.

By mutual consent, the Board and I were both determined to resolve affairs quickly to relieve the town from the outside pressure being placed upon us. As their lawyer conceded and as my dismissal paper clearly states, I was “terminated without cause” so I was offered and accepted a $30,000 settlement in lieu of filing suit in defense of my First Amendment rights. Although serving as Town Manager was a great honor, the reality is the community had become divided between my supporters and detractors, and it had become time to move on.

I proudly used my moment of media attention to offer a strong defense of White civil rights, observing how we are not permitted to defend our rights and interests as such, and that we are given lesser legal status and consideration by the government and media alike. I am continuing and expanding the New Albion project in defense of Western Civilization in response to popular demand. So now, I am taking a moment to reflect and in preparation to write a book about my experiences before the next challenge arises.

RJ: A friend emailed me a link to an article, “Confronting Hate in Maine“, written by Andy O’Brien, in which he claims that he “broke the story”. Is he the freelancer who first contacted you on the 19th?

TK: No, the gentleman who contacted me was the reporter who wrote the piece for the BDN. However, I think it probable he was fed the story by O’Brien and others.

RJ: Interesting. What do you think of the headline “Confronting Hate in Maine”? After reading the piece, I was left thinking that rather than “confronting hate,” the author was promoting it — specifically against Whites.

TK: I agree with you. It is a most curious thing to define love of one’s own race as inherent hatred, especially considering the people who wrote that article would certainly argue is not such when done by any other group.

Their attitude is part of a systemic attitude of discrimination that exists throughout the United States, where Whites are allowed to be considered as a non-entity, functionally making us into second class citizens.

The only way they can perpetuate this hypocrisy is through employing force and intimidation, calling censorship tolerance, and threatening the personal and financial welfare of those who dare to call them out.

RJ: It’s always stunning the incredible force of shock and intimidation they can muster in a few hours, in which the media, public officials, and violent left-wing “activists” all move in the same direction with the same goal. Who do you think “they” are and how do you think they are able to do that?

TK: Given the quotes which were already in the BDN article before I was even consulted, it’s obvious multiple groups had worked together with the “free” press to attempt to take me down.

We have a media establishment which, in conjunction with friends in academia and non-profits bankrolled by high finance, serves to defend a certain politically correct orthodoxy. For expediency, I leave to others the opportunity to draw the connections between those who push a global agenda where the only diversity ever encouraged is to lessen the wealth and stability of the countries of the west. It is the question.

But as important as that question is, I’m more concerned with working to remove the tools by which such control is exerted, which means building a positive sense of White identity, offering a full defense of Western values, and developing that awareness into a force that can begin to remove the tools being used to suppress our traditional American culture. I feel strongly that is how I can best use the platform I have now and how we expand awareness of these questions to new people.

RJ: Worthy goals. It seems every other group in America is not only allowed, but encouraged to express their identity. For example there’s another situation in northern New England that has received national attention during the same news cycle as your story.

A small-town high school, Montpelier High in Vermont, has decided that they are going to celebrate “Black Lives Matter” next month and they’ve received nothing but praise from the very same establishment that harried you out of office so unceremoniously. Can you explain the dissimilarity in treatment between your case and Montpelier High?

TK: I can only conclude the Establishment media values White lives less than Black lives. This being the case, it’s incumbent upon us in the White community to begin organizing for our own defense and self-interest.

The risks are much greater and the resources are much scarcer, which is why those who choose to protect their privacy need to help support people like myself and publications like this which are fighting your fight.

RJ: That creates a nice segue to my next question. Do you plan to use any portion of your settlement with the town of Jackman for the cause? If so, how would that work?

TK: Right now, the first priority for my wife and myself is to make sure we can sustain ourselves. We want to thank the many people who have given to our account at https://freestartr.com/project/support-White-civil-rights-in-america/, and thank those especially who are giving $5/month to support us at Gab.ai. Those contributions add up quickly, and the more people help, the more freedom I have to speak openly about pro-White and pro-Western causes.

New Albion has attracted many new members with the national attention and I will be working to integrate their skills, talents, and resolve into a stronger network. I feel strongly we need to professionalize our efforts, take on a greater presence, and I will invest time, effort, and money into accomplishing these ends.

If you follow either the website or social media, details will be forthcoming. But one thing I would stress is we need external support to compete, because we go against people who get millions to harass us and put out their toxic ideology. I’m most interested in people who understand this and who want to work with a pragmatist like myself to reverse these trends.

Where others are talking in extremes, both New Albion and my personal advocacy for White civil rights are rooted in the strongest of American tradition with a time-honored legacy going back to the Founding Fathers and the European Enlightenment. We work to mainstream ideas so the next person speaking up for these causes doesn’t have to choose between their job and their identity. I have the message, but need your support.

And, having committed my life now to this effort, I will invest as wisely as I can to bring this noble goal to fruition.

RJ: Speaking of your family, do you plan to move? If so, what areas are you considering?

TK: We moved to New England with a purpose, and have no intention of being threatened away from our home. Despite the public outcry, we have heard the support from hundreds of families who want us to keep fighting to preserve our culture, defend our people, and protect the small towns and unique heritage of this region.

Our plan is to remain in Maine, though we have not yet decided where specifically we will move, as there are many factors we must consider. One thing you can be assured of is we will not be intimidated into silence.

RJ: Above, you said that you want to build “a positive sense of White identity, to offer a full defense of western values, and to develop that awareness into a force.” How do you propose to accomplish those goals?

TK: We continue to work by connecting families into support networks so we can help one another. Our movement remains true to our cultural roots, to our folk, and to understanding the way to change society most meaningfully goes beyond arguing about particular policy points, but rather in bringing people together in meaningful social embrace.

Look for chapters to open up in communities throughout New England designed to foster discussion about what our issues are and to have efforts organically arise from those conversations to both change policy and to help within the different communities.

Our model is flexible and pragmatic; we advocate a public demonstration We are precisely the opposite of a hate group.

RJ: Very good. I think that about wraps it. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

TK: Thank you for the opportunity to share my story, and I want to encourage everyone to hold true to your beliefs. We have more support than we know, and we are changing the narrative.