Imagine if the tea party folks were…mostly black:

Let’s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.”
The way it’s played is simple: we’ll envision recent happenings in the
news, but then change them up a bit. Instead of envisioning white people
as the main actors in the scenes we’ll conjure - the ones who are
driving the action - we’ll envision black folks or other people of color
instead. The object of the game is to imagine the public reaction to the
events or incidents, if the main actors were of color, rather than
white. Whoever gains the most insight into the workings of race in
America, at the end of the game, wins.

So let’s begin.

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon
Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol
and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition.
And imagine that some of these protesters —the black protesters — spoke
of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict
in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government?
Would these protester — these black protesters with guns — be seen as
brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most
whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans?
Because, after all, that’s what happened recently when white gun
enthusiasts descended upon the nation’s capital, arms in hand, and
verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country’s
political leaders if the need arose.

Imagine that white members of Congress, while walking to work, were
surrounded by thousands of angry black people, one of whom proceeded to
spit on one of those congressmen for not voting the way the black
demonstrators desired. Would the protesters be seen as merely patriotic
Americans voicing their opinions, or as an angry, potentially violent,
and even insurrectionary mob? After all, this is what white Tea Party
protesters did recently in Washington.

Imagine that a rap artist were to say, in reference to a white
president: “He’s a piece of **** and I told him to suck on my machine
gun.” Because that’s what rocker Ted Nugent said recently about
President Obama.

Imagine that a prominent mainstream black political commentator had long
employed an overt bigot as Executive Director of his organization, and
that this bigot regularly participated in black separatist conferences,
and once assaulted a white person while calling them by a racial slur.
When that prominent black commentator and his sister — who also works
for the organization — defended the bigot as a good guy who was
misunderstood and “going through a tough time in his life” would anyone
accept their excuse-making? Would that commentator still have a place on
a mainstream network? Because that’s what happened in the real world,
when Pat Buchanan employed as Executive Director of his group, America’s
Cause, a blatant racist who did all these things, or at least their
white equivalents: attending white separatist conferences and attacking
a black woman while calling her the n-word.

Imagine that a black radio host were to suggest that the only way to get
promoted in the administration of a white president is by “hating black
people,” or that a prominent white person had only endorsed a white
presidential candidate as an act of racial bonding, or blamed a white
president for a fight on a school bus in which a black kid was jumped by
two white kids, or said that he wouldn’t want to kill all conservatives,
but rather, would like to leave just enough—“living fossils” as he
called them—“so we will never forget what these people stood for.” After
all, these are things that Rush Limbaugh has said, about Barack Obama’s
administration, Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama, a fight on a
school bus in Belleville, Illinois in which two black kids beat up a
white kid, and about liberals, generally.

Imagine that a black pastor, formerly a member of the U.S. military,
were to declare, as part of his opposition to a white president’s
policies, that he was ready to “suit up, get my gun, go to Washington,
and do what they trained me to do.” This is, after all, what Pastor Stan
Craig said recently at a Tea Party rally in Greenville, South Carolina.

Imagine a black radio talk show host gleefully predicting a revolution
by people of color if the government continues to be dominated by the
rich white men who have been “destroying” the country, or if said radio
personality were to call Christians or Jews non-humans, or say that when
it came to conservatives, the best solution would be to “hang ‘em high.”
And what would happen to any congressional representative who praised
that commentator for “speaking common sense” and likened his hate talk
to “American values?” After all, those are among the things said by
radio host and best-selling author Michael Savage, predicting white
revolution in the face of multiculturalism, or said by Savage about
Muslims and liberals, respectively. And it was Congressman Culbertson,
from Texas, who praised Savage in that way, despite his hateful rhetoric.

Imagine a black political commentator suggesting that the only thing the
guy who flew his plane into the Austin, Texas IRS building did wrong was
not blowing up Fox News instead. This is, after all, what Anne Coulter
said about Tim McVeigh, when she noted that his only mistake was not
blowing up the New York Times.

Imagine that a popular black liberal website posted comments about the
daughter of a white president, calling her “typical redneck trash,” or a
“whore” whose mother entertains her by “making monkey sounds.” After all
that’s comparable to what conservatives posted about Malia Obama on
freerepublic.com last year, when they referred to her as “ghetto trash.”

Imagine that black protesters at a large political rally were walking
around with signs calling for the lynching of their congressional
enemies. Because that’s what white conservatives did last year, in
reference to Democratic party leaders in Congress.

In other words, imagine that even one-third of the anger and vitriol
currently being hurled at President Obama, by folks who are almost
exclusively white, were being aimed, instead, at a white president, by
people of color. How many whites viewing the anger, the hatred, the
contempt for that white president would then wax eloquent about free
speech, and the glories of democracy? And how many would be calling for
further crackdowns on thuggish behavior, and investigations into the
radical agendas of those same people of color?

To ask any of these questions is to answer them. Protest is only seen as
fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing
themselves as prototypically American engage in it. When the dangerous
and dark “other” does so, however, it isn’t viewed as normal or natural,
let alone patriotic. Which is why Rush Limbaugh could say, this past
week, that the Tea Parties are the first time since the Civil War that
ordinary, common Americans stood up for their rights: a statement that
erases the normalcy and “American-ness” of blacks in the civil rights
struggle, not to mention women in the fight for suffrage and equality,
working people in the fight for better working conditions, and LGBT
folks as they struggle to be treated as full and equal human beings.

And this, my friends, is what white privilege is all about. The ability
to threaten others, to engage in violent and incendiary rhetoric without
consequence, to be viewed as patriotic and normal no matter what you do,
and never to be feared and despised as people of color would be, if they
tried to get away with half the **** we do, on a daily basis.

Game Over.


Tim Wise


http://tinyurl.com/34owmml
--
The Tea Party's teabaggers are just the Republican base by another name.

On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:20:17 -0400, hk
wrote:

Imagine if the tea party folks were…mostly black:


the white right would call out the national guard if this happened.

On 4/24/10 6:27 PM, bpuharic wrote:
On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:20:17 -0400,
wrote:

Imagine if the tea party folks were…mostly black:


the white right would call out the national guard if this happened.



You betcha...

--
The Tea Party's teabaggers are just the Republican base by another name.

Herr Krause. Imagine not playing trivial mind games and look at the
reality you may be facing:

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/04...in-government/

On 24/04/2010 4:58 PM, TopBassDog wrote:
Herr Krause. Imagine not playing trivial mind games and look at the
reality you may be facing:

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/04...in-government/

Looks like the two party system isn't working for most. Try three.
Maybe more competition for those fat cat jobs in DC is needed.

--
Socialism and statism are great as long as someone else pays for it.

On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:20:17 -0400, hk
wrote:

Imagine if the tea party folks were…mostly black:


just learned about these guys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacons...se_and_Justice

On 4/25/10 9:07 AM, bpuharic wrote:
On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:20:17 -0400,
wrote:

Imagine if the tea party folks were…mostly black:


just learned about these guys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacons...se_and_Justice


I know a bit about those guys...more than a bit.


--
The Tea Party's teabaggers are just the Republican base by another name.

"Canuck57" wrote in message
...
On 24/04/2010 4:58 PM, TopBassDog wrote:
Herr Krause. Imagine not playing trivial mind games and look at the
reality you may be facing:

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/04...in-government/

Looks like the two party system isn't working for most. Try three. Maybe
more competition for those fat cat jobs in DC is needed.

--
Socialism and statism are great as long as someone else pays for it.


Fortunately, you're not involved.

--
Nom=de=Plume

On Apr 25, 8:18*am, hk wrote:
On 4/25/10 9:07 AM, bpuharic wrote:

On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:20:17 -0400,
wrote:

Imagine if the tea party folks were…mostly black:

just learned about these guys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacons...se_and_Justice

I know a bit about those guys...more than a bit.

--
The Tea Party's teabaggers are just the Republican base by another name.

Are you a member of the *Deacons*, Herr Krause?