Estimates in the media seem to be roughly 100 minutemen/minutemen supporters and 50-60 folks their to protest their racism and xenophobia.

Re:Liberals Mistreat Black People

Your understanding of racism seems to be quite different from mine. Tokenism, though a nice strategy to try to cover up racism, is racism in and of itself.

I think your argument is incorrect (though I can't tell you what to think). Much of the immigration to this country on the Mexican border in the last 10 years can be traced back to NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. Eliminating "barriers to trade" included protections that helped Mexican farmers avoid the corn "dumping" that occurs now. That is, heavily subsidized US corn is allowed, or forced, under NAFTA, into Mexico without tariffs, making it much cheaper in real terms for US farmers to produce corn than those farming in Mexico. Coupled with the multinational corporation invasion that occured under NAFTA, many in Mexico were forced to leave farms in rural areas (as corn was no longer an industry would allow them to earn a living) and move to more urban areas, often taking jobs in factories (also thanks to NAFTA (and other free trade agreements), many US corporations have moved their factories abroad, both to Mexico and worldwide, where labor is cheaper (ie workers are paid less), environmental standards are looser (ie US companies pollute without accountability, killing people quickly and in the long term). However, such jobs are often akin to prison labor, with sub-poverty wages and dangerous working conditions. At least 400 women have been murdered in Mexico's "maquiladora" zones, an area home to many factories near the US border, see www.amnesty.org.uk/news/press/14788.shtml or other stories for more information. Fleeing dangerous working conditions, many have chosen to cross the border into the US. These are but some of the many causes of immigration to the US from Mexico.
Once here, immigrants are often forced into low paying jobs (and subject to racism, classism, and faced with many other obstacles) with little benefits for corporations with little accountability. It seems as though many in this country are quite eager to employ immigrants at low wages to do service sector jobs, yet racists such as the minutemen don't want to see immigrants. That, my friend, is racism.
Enforcement of laws (including immigration laws) that are inherently racist, is racism.

Personal encounters with minutemen who have claimed that immigrants "only rape and murder 'our' children" would also lead me to believe that the minutemen are racist. I would encourage you to do more research into the minutemen, what they are saying in public, what they are saying in private, and the potential consequences of their desired vision for the future.