‘Charlotte’s Web’ author’s relative upset with use of title in immigration crackdown
The Trump administration is calling its new wave of immigration to North Carolina’s largest city “Operation Charlotte’s Web.”
But the granddaughter of EB White, the author of the classic 1952 children’s story “Charlotte’s Web,” said the wave of immigration arrests goes against what her grandfather and his beloved book stood for.
“He believed in the rule of law and due process,” Martha White said in a statement. “He certainly didn’t believe in masked men, unmarked cars, raiding people’s homes and workplaces without identification or summons.”
White, whose grandfather died in 1985, works as his literary executor. She pointed out that in “Charlotte’s Web,” the spider who is the main character dedicated his life on the farm to securing the freedom of a pig named Wilbur.
The Trump administration and Republican leaders have seized on a number of catchy phrases while spearheading mass deportation efforts — naming their detention facilities Alligator Alcatraz in Florida, Speedway Slammer in Indiana and Cornhusker Clink in Nebraska.
Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official currently on the ground in Charlotte, was the face of “Operation At Large” in Los Angeles and “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago, two crackdowns earlier this year. As Charlotte’s operation got underway, Bovino quoted “Charlotte’s Web” in a social media post: “We’re taking the breeze, we’re going as we please.”
