|
July 14, 2010
The Narrative of our "National Conversation" is "SHUT UP!"
The AJC's Cynthia Tucker is getting a lot of flak for daring to suggest that it was inappropriate of the NAACP to call the Tea Party movement racist. She makes the observation that not all Tea Partiers are racist: Still, [the resolution] leaves the impression that the NAACP believes all tea partiers are racist -- a stereotype that the NAACP should abhor.My hat is off to Cynthia Tucker. For her to say what she said in the face of the left's major declaration of all-out war on the Tea Party movement was an act of bravery which is all too rare among credentialed members of the MSM. Naturally, she is being excoriated for it. This comment (from "libhomo") is a classic: The pervasive racism in the teabagger movement is a well documented fact. You should have done more research before making this ill informed and irrational critique on the NAACP.That was immediately countered by (I am not making this up) another commenter named "ConHomo": Please show me this documented racism. Have you won the $100,000 for Breitbart for providing a video of these 'racial epithets' hurled at black members of Congress?I kept scrolling in search of the "evidence" and on the way, I found plenty more anger directed at Ms. Tucker. One commenter compared the Tea Partiers to lynch mobs and even church bombers: I strongly disagree with you Ms. Tucker,"Research"? As if research should be required to connect the Tea Parties to lynchings and bombings! What the commenter means by the term is that you should simply go with the Narrative, and say they're connected! The same commenter later left a link to an article about a billboard emanating from a group which calls itself the "North Iowa Tea Party." Obama is portrayed along with Hitler and Lenin, and the group took the sign down. It's a paranoid and over-the-top comparison, IMO, and one which tends to trivialize the victims of Nazism and Communism. But precisely how is it "racist" to compare Obama (who is black) to Hitler or Lenin? I would submit that if such comparisons are racist, then George W. Bush was the victim of more racism than any American president in history. What's the rule? That it's normal political hyperbole to compare white politicians to Hitler, but racist if the politicians are black? Such logic worries me, because if it is allowed to go unchallenged, by extension it would mean it's OK to criticize white politicians but racist to criticize black politicians. As Tucker herself notes, "the very word "racist" has lost all meaning." So I kept scrolling for the "evidence" that proves the Tea Party movement is racist, and other than the usual recitations of unproven allegations, it simply wasn't to be found. However, one commenter offered a fascinating explanation as to why. The Tea Partiers carefully conceal it: There is a huge racist element in the tea party. They have learned how to hide it well so there are no valid accusations against them. Most people who have any friends or family members that are in the tea party know how they speak behind closed doors. My father in law is a good example of this. He says the most vile things when he is in the company of his family but out in public he would never have the guts to expose how he really feels about things concerning race. Anyone who claims that there aren't many people like this in the tea party is either delusional or lying.out in public he would never have the guts to expose how he really feels about things concerning race While anonymously citing a single in-law proves nothing, the commenter might have made a point there, except I don't think the reluctance to discuss one's feelings in public is limited to conservatives. Nor is it limited to race. Plenty of wealthy white liberals send their kids to all-white schools, but they're never asked to explain why or expose their feelings, simply because they're on the left. Plenty of white liberals would hate to have a gay son, and plenty are not genuinely comfortable around homosexuals. But they have an easy way to conceal this bias: obtain official "NON-BIGOTED" certification by loudly supporting gay marriage, and condemning those who don't as bigots! (By definition, such liberals cannot be called homophobic.) Commenter "steve schuster" not only asserts the Tea Partiers are racist, but he conflates libertarianism with racism by mischaracterizing the views of Rand Paul (who many have noted is not a libertarian), following which he venomously spews forth what can only be called eliminationist rhetoric -- at libertarians! Condemning the Tea Baggers, was appropriate. They are racist. It was a smart move. And it will set the stage for blacks to unite against Tea Party candidates in the coming election.The best answer to that came from "Ragnar Danneskjold": Dear Steve @ 11:09, we tea partiers defend the liberty of the leftists to teabag each other.Hear hear! Except, not to criticize Mr. Daneskjold, but I doubt most tea partiers would want to legally limit such liberties to the left. I would leave such sexual double standards to the leftists themselves to promulgate. This is America, where the right to engage in alternative sexual practices should not be conditioned on adherence to left-wing ideology! (That sort of thing fuels sexual identitarianism, and furthers only the cause of the left.) Regarding identitarianism generally, commenter "Scout" remarks the obvious: Ms. Tucker:OTOH, if Cynthia Tucker happened to be white, she would doubtless be called a racist for criticizing the NAACP. If we're having a "national conversation about race," I think it sucks. I hate even writing about it. God bless Cynthia Tucker for not shutting up. posted by Eric on 07.14.10 at 12:59 PM
Comments
Regarding Cynthia Tucker, even a broken clock is accurate twice a day bobnormal · July 14, 2010 03:19 PM When Holder made his statement about how we are cowards for not having a national discussion on race I instantly had this conversation take place in my head: Holder: We need to have a national conversation on race. White dude: I think . . . PC Crowd: Racist!! End of conversation. Let's be honest. The conversation will consist of one side lecturing and the other side taking it silently because it's been being set up this way for decades. And I know this is the height of political incorrectness, but I still haven't figured out exactly how I've been privileged simply because I'm white. I guess even coming from poor blue collar stock doesn't earn me any points or a say in how the conversation should go. If one could conceive of a better way to alienate the vast majority of whites (the vast majority of whom are/were sympathetic to the struggles of blacks) than the NAACP's resolution and other anti-tea party media voices I'd like to hear it. It only took the Obama Administration 18 months to take us from a post-racial America to this. Not that this comes as a surprise to me. Crawdad · July 14, 2010 05:17 PM The Gallup Poll concludes that Tea Partiers are Fairly Mainstream in Their Demographics. By no means are Tea Partiers as lily-white as the NAACP and assorted libs are trying to portray them. Tea Party Supporters All Americans
Blacks constitute six percent of Tea Party supporters while blacks constituted one percent of McCain voters in 2008! That is quite a difference. These numbers say that the Tea Party has had considerable success in attracting black support compared to what the Republicans did in 2008. Gringo · July 14, 2010 11:02 PM But they have an easy way to conceal this bias: obtain official "NON-BIGOTED" certification by loudly supporting gay marriage, and condemning those who don't as bigots! (By definition, such liberals cannot be called homophobic.) Eric, the irony of this statement (and it is true) is that the right is way ahead of them but no one has seen it. Ted Olson would not have taken on Prop 8 with an eventual Supreme Court date if he didn't think he had a winnable case. The reason gay marriage will prevail is that it will be presented in terms that will force people like Justice Thomas to concur, or be labeled a hypocrite. I live in a very red-neck rural community. The post-mistress is a 65 y/o who has Christian radio playing in the background at the U.S. Post Office all day. She sports a bumper sticker that says "I Want My Country Back". I had rarely spoken to her in the 20 years she's been there. Yet a week after my partner died, I got a sympathy card from her. We've become casual friends since. She's confided that Prop 8 was wrong, and that my relationship had something to do with her change of opinion. The right is about individualism, freedom, and civil equality. If they are true to their beliefs, gay marriage will become law. Frank · July 14, 2010 11:10 PM "He says the most vile things when he is in the company of his family but out in public he would never have the guts to expose how he really feels about things concerning race." There is another way in which that claim doesn't necessarily mean anything: Many liberals interpret all sorts of principled disagreements as racist. And remember all the rhetoric about how one should vote for Obama because he's black? And how anyone who pointed out that this was not exactly "post-racial" was branded a racist? The shameful truth is that the left has always relied on defamation of anyone who opposes their agendas. pst314 · July 15, 2010 09:35 AM I am rather sickened by the 'Tea Party as raaaaacist' thing, and the sheer bloody ignorance and bigotry of those who are buying into that meme and reiterating it everywhere. It's just not true, and anyone who has ever spent longer than fifteen minutes at a genuine Tea Party event knows it. But I post (for literary reasons!) at Open Salon, and the harsh anti-tea party attitude of the really ravingly lib posters there just makes me ill. There are some libertarians and conservatives at OS, and braver than I am about taking them on - but at this point, trying to make some of them listen to reason about the Tea Party is like trying to teach a pig to sing grand opera; a waste of your time and an annoyance to the pig! Sgt. Mom · July 15, 2010 09:48 AM I work with lots of lefties, many hard-core, "Bush Lied/People Died, blood for oil, Haliburton!!!!!" types. I'm pretty much a pariah on the floor, my boss had a "bushisms" calendar long after Bush was gone and she asked one guy I'm friends with how he can hang out with me, "You're such a nice guy.". So there's one fairly intelligent, principled guy I talk to, he's told me he's a socialist and doesn't think healthcare "reform" went far enough. So the point, we were talking earlier and I mentioned that there is no Tea Party, there are only tea partiers. Eh, it doesn't really matter what our social, political, intellectual and moral betters think and say anymore anyway. The tea partiers are their worst nightmare: Americans who are paying attention. Voting is going to be interesting for a few years. Veeshir · July 15, 2010 04:25 PM Post a comment
You may use basic HTML for formatting.
|
|
July 2010
WORLD-WIDE CALENDAR
Search the Site
E-mail
Classics To Go
Archives
July 2010
June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 May 2002 AB 1634 MBAPBSAAGOP Skepticism See more archives here Old (Blogspot) archives
Recent Entries
See how they run!
Jealous of the old order? Cockroach Infestation Things go better with tea © Out Of Control The Narrative of our "National Conversation" is "SHUT UP!" Data Heaven, Data Haven "he is a great father" Moralistic, pleasure-hating authoritarianism is a hard sell The Quantum Mechanic
Links
Site Credits
|
|
It seems you have made the case that to be politically correct only white people can be considered racist in the USA.