Is The Tea Party Racist?

[WinePusher]

The Tea Party is a protest movement of american citizens to limit the government, government spending and the deficit. Some (Nancy Pelosi, NAACP President, Harry Reid, Practically ALL democrats and liberals) claim the organization is racist?

1) Is there any evidence that the organization is racist?

2) Is this another dishonest ploy by the left to stir up racial contreversy

3) Are organizations such as the Nation of Islam, Black Panthars and NAACP also racist?

[justifyothers]

The Tea Party is a protest movement of american citizens to limit the government, government spending and the deficit. Some (Nancy Pelosi, NAACP President, Harry Reid, Practically ALL democrats and liberals) claim the organization is racist?

1) Is there any evidence that the organization is racist?

2) Is this another dishonest ploy by the left to stir up racial contreversy

3) Are organizations such as the Nation of Islam, Black Panthars and NAACP also racist?

1) Not sure if there's evidence or not, however many conservatives are racists, in my experience. It's just political jargon - the other side says the same thing.

2) All political ploys are dishonest - from both teams.

3) Some are (the more extremists are severe haters of whitey), but not every member, most likely.

[Guest]

Is my comment on what Breitbart might do if a black person were lynched speculative? Yes.

However, they are not purely speculative as they are based on evidence from his past record, and this evidence clearly indicates he is not honest. Even Shep Smith on FOX understands this.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/2 ... 55013.html

Shepard Smith is wrong. Fox did not run the video,

FOX did run the video. I saw it. They ran more again when O'Reilly apologized. In the clip you site, they admit they aired the video and seem to think since they did it after she was fired, this makes it OK. It doesn't.

The fact that Sherrod was fired before the video may be true but is not relevant. O'Reilly called for her resignation based on the reports of the video.

You are conflating the firing issue with the honesty issue. FOX played the video without vetting it, knowing Breitbart was dishonest. They called for her resignation, perhaps not knowing she had already resigned.

They were either dishonest or grossly incompetent, and Shep did call out his own network on it.

Not only did they NOT run the video but Sherrod should have been fired. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwNBySVh ... r_embedded

If you can prove FOX played the video BE4 the firing, then I will give you $1000. Good luck with that.

[chris_brown207]

IMHO, I don't think the group is racist... I just think there are a lot of racist people who are members.

[Guest]

Here is a report about what happened on March 20, 2009 (emphasis mine)

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/201003 ... /100329990

Racist epithets fly at tea party health protest

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol, angry over the proposed health-care reform bill, shouted “nigger� today at U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia congressman and civil rights icon who was nearly beaten to death during an Alabama march in the 1960s.

The protesters also shouted obscenities at other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, lawmakers said.

Capitol Police escorted the members of Congress into the Capitol after the confrontation. At least one demonstrator was reported arrested.

“They were shouting, sort of harassing,� Lewis said. “But, it's OK, I've faced this before. It reminded me of the ‘60s. It was a lot of downright hate and anger and people being downright mean.�

Lewis said he was leaving the Cannon office building across from the Capitol when protesters shouted “Kill the bill, kill the bill,� Lewis said.

“I said ‘I'm for the bill, I support the bill, I'm voting for the bill,' “ Lewis said.

A colleague who was accompanying Lewis said people in the crowd responded by saying “Kill the bill, then the n-word.�

“It surprised me that people are so mean and we can't engage in a civil dialogue and debate,� Lewis said.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., said he was a few yards behind Lewis and distinctly heard “nigger.�

“It was a chorus,� Cleaver said. “In a way, I feel sorry for those people who are doing this nasty stuff — they're being whipped up. I decided I wouldn't be angry with any of them.�

Cleaver's office said later in a statement that he'd also been spat upon and that Capitol Police had arrested his assailant. The statement praised the police, who Cleaver said escorted the members of Congress into the Capitol past the demonstrators.

“The man who spat on the congressman was arrested, but the congressman has chosen not to press charges,� the statement said.

“This is not the first time the congressman has been called the ‘n' word and certainly not the worst assault he has endured in his years fighting for equal rights for all Americans,� the statement said. “That being said, he is disappointed that in the 21st century our national discourse has devolved to the point of name-calling and spitting.�

Protestors also used a slur as they confronted Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., an openly gay member of Congress. A writer for Huffington Post said the crowd called Frank a “faggot.�

Frank told the Boston Globe that the incident happened as he was walking from the Longworth House office building to the Rayburn House office building, both a short distance from the Capitol. Frank said the crowd consisted of a couple hundred of people and that they referred to him as “homo.�

“I'm disappointed with the unwillingness to be civil,� Frank told the Globe. “I was, I guess, surprised by the rancor. What it means is obviously the health-care bill is proxy for a lot of other sentiments, some of which are perfectly reasonable, but some of which are not.�

“People out there today, on the whole, were really hateful,� Frank said. “The leaders of this movement have a responsibility to speak out more.�

This is the point about the backlash against the tea party. This kind of behavior started in 2008 and just kept escalating, as will happen if no one speaks up. After the damage is done, it's hard to get back to the real message.

To SacredCowBurgers: I also understand your sentiment towards a "victim mentality", however, my experience has been that it is a feeling shared among a few disenfranchised poor people, white, black, and mexican, not just blacks; it is not pervasive. It may be hard not to let that bias overshadow the other, obvious problems with the Tea Party, but we should fight against the urge to go there in light of the direction that it leads us.

That was Lewis' report of the event. The entire trek, though, of Pelosi and gang to the house chambers was videotaped. There is nothing on the video to show anything Lewis said was true.

I agree though that it began escalating in 2008 coinciding with the campaign of Barrack Obama. He himself with the help of Sharpton and Jackson type activists who make a living off of the existence of racism fanned the flames and continue to do so.

[Guest]

IMHO, I don't think the group is racist... I just think there are a lot of racist people who are members.

and you "think" that why?

[chris_brown207]

IMHO, I don't think the group is racist... I just think there are a lot of racist people who are members.

and you "think" that why?

Anecdotes like those presented by Suckka, video I have watched, documentaries that were filmed inside Tea Party conventions, even acknowledgements by Tea Party members themselves. I don't think by their charter that the Tea Party is racist, but I think you would be hard pressed to prove that there aren't racist people who have flocked to this party.

Why do you question that there is?

[JoeyKnothead]

From Post 88:

The problem here is that you have an organisation dedicated to equal rights and equal social and economic opportunities, which has been operating since a time when there have been marked inequalities between those rights and opportunities granted to whites, and those granted to 'coloured' folks. Their declaration that they were seeking the advancement of non-whites in a society oriented to the service of whites, for this very reason, is not racist.

How is the statement "advancement of colored people" not a statement regarding race? As I said, it matters not whether the goals are laudable, but that the goals are based on race.

I will grant you that there may come a time when the NAACP is obsolete - and that will be when blacks and whites truly do have the same rights under the law and the same opportunities within the society under that law.

Plenty fair, but the NAAColoredP exists in the here and now.

But trying to bring about that goal by focussing attention and advocacy upon an historically (and one may argue currently, based on data such as those referenced here) disadvantaged group is simply not racist.

It is fact that an organization that has as a goal the "advancement of colored people" is a racist organization. History doesn't really apply.

I think it is counterfactual to believe that the colour-blind society we are seeking exists just yet.

Agreed, and it will never occur as long as there are organizations dedicated to the advancement of folks based on their race.

Again, this is not to say those goals can't be 'worthy of laud'.

[Guest]

IMHO, I don't think the group is racist... I just think there are a lot of racist people who are members.

and you "think" that why?

Anecdotes like those presented by Suckka, video I have watched, documentaries that were filmed inside Tea Party conventions, even acknowledgements by Tea Party members themselves. I don't think by their charter that the Tea Party is racist, but I think you would be hard pressed to prove that there aren't racist people who have flocked to this party.

Why do you question that there is?

I have read anecdotes, and watched videos and documentaries from Tea Partys. Why does yours trump mine? And your article is about Tea Party Express and a blogger named Williams. And where is the acknowledgement by its members? Please be specific.

[Guest]

This is a article from a conservative magazine, but it links to the full Sherrod video in its entirety, along with the NAACP actions and website.

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/2 ... tory-false

Apparently Sherrod is also a liar. The story she told in the video was NOT true.

[chris_brown207]

IMHO, I don't think the group is racist... I just think there are a lot of racist people who are members.

and you "think" that why?

Anecdotes like those presented by Suckka, video I have watched, documentaries that were filmed inside Tea Party conventions, even acknowledgements by Tea Party members themselves. I don't think by their charter that the Tea Party is racist, but I think you would be hard pressed to prove that there aren't racist people who have flocked to this party.

Why do you question that there is?

I have read anecdotes, and watched videos and documentaries from Tea Partys. Why does yours trump mine? And your article is about Tea Party Express and a blogger named Williams. And where is the acknowledgement by its members? Please be specific.

I never said my opinion trumped anyone - it is simply my opinion. And seeing as I just stepped into this conversation, I have yet to see any of your videos or documentaries.

The article was about a little more then just a single blogger. It was mainly about contentious behavior amongst Tea Party members, but it was also about a group of Tea Party members voting to reject the Tea Party Express for racist tirades from members. The fact they felt the need to do this to the group as a whole instead of the single blogger says a lot.

Do you propose that there are no racists in the Tea Party?