I have seen racism with these two eyes in the Tea Party signs. Multiple times. I'll believe civil rights giant John Lewis any day over a liar like Andrew Breitbart when Lewis says the "N" word was hurled at him in a Tea Party rally in D.C. And I heard them use the "F" word against Barney Frank. Inside the halls of Congress! Even common civility would dictate that people should behave themselves with dignity within our government buildings. I do. But then again, I do not consider government the enemy nor "tyrannical" in any way.
I Look at the crowd in the picture and see a lot of white faces. That is not the face of America. Never was.
Not being at the specific DC rally on the eve of the health care reform vote with which you're referring to, I can not say whether or not those things were yelled. And although I have great respect for what John Lewis accomplished in the civil rights movement, I do not trust solely his word. Just like I do not trust solely Eric Cantor's word that his office was shot up during the same time. I distrust Andrew Breitbart more than those two. I trust facts. I can only say that at either of the tea paties that I have attended, there has been NO racist posters, racist chants, and if there was, I would have no part of it. Another point, at our tea parties, and also in the many interviews with black or hispanc tea partiers I have seen, why would ANYONE be apart of an organization that supports, condones, or fosters racist actions towards you? Doesn't make sense, because it isn't true. The tea party as a whole is not racist. Are there extremes, yes. There is in any organization, community, religion. But it doesn't make a fair characterization of the rest of us.
"see a lot of white faces. That is not the face of America"
According to the US Census webiste, their 3 year estimate of 2006-2008 the percentage of Americans that are "white alone" is 74.34%. "Black alone" is 12.32%. "Some other race alone" is 5.82%. To name a few. I point that out not to diminish the importance of diversity, a cultural melting pot. I only wanted to point out that of course you see "a lot of white people", because that is the reality of America.
Isn't it interesting that in a country that self-identifies as about 75% white, a significant portion -- not a majority -- are phobic about black and Latino people? That's the story: Why are they so threatened by an African American president?
(Incidentally, there are many more “white” people of mixed blood, including African American, Native American among these 75%, than they are willing to acknowledge. We can begin with Thomas Jefferson's African American descendants, who only recently were allowed by his “white” family branch to take part in family reunions. It wouldn't surprise me if "white" people in the Tea Party have African blood, because that's the reality of America too.)
As for what you witnessed, I have no reason to doubt you. Last I read, there are about 78 Tea Party organizations throughout the country. It’s not a cohesive movement. That much is understood. And that is why the NAACP urged the Tea Party to reject any manifestations of racism from its ranks. As resolutions go, I thought it was pretty evenhanded, considering what we’ve all seen. Pictures don’t lie; videotape footage doesn’t lie. The monkey posters, the Hitler posters, the witch doctor posters, the white face joker posters, the gun posters, all disgusted those of us who abhor this kind of racism. It’s up to the organizers to clean this stuff up, otherwise they’ll be properly labeled as including racist elements.
The black and Latino participants in any Tea Party event can be counted on one hand. Who knows what motivates them? There were a handful of Jews who collaborated with the Nazis, too. Of course, in the minds of some Teabaggers Obama = Hitler. Nice, and oh such an accurate historical analogy.
Final thought: If you get your “facts” from Fox News or Glenn Beck you’re getting lies, distortions, revisionist history, and downright paranoid fantasies (Beck) from wingnut conspiracy theorists. I think it’s great that Tea Partiers are studying the Constitution and have suddenly decided to become involved citizens after the election of our first African American president. But then go to the library and read your history, as long as it’s not Alex Jones or Glenn Beck.
As a liberal Democrat I am proud of the Democratic Party’s record with social transformational legislation: Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Civil Rights/Voting Rights, financial reform. Nothing makes me angrier than to see Tea Partiers carrying signs that say “Hands off My Medicare” without even acknowledging who it was that gave it to them in the first place. They don’t have to vote Democratic; but it would be nice if they recognized what Democrats have done for them. That kind of attitude is downright un-American.
I find it interesting that in all that I have written, I haven't cited Glenn Beck or FoxNews. And you mentioned Rachel Maddow. I enjoy watching her program. She is witty, and entertaining. It might be shocking for you to come into contact with a conservative who not only watches MSNBC, but CNN as well as Fox. I not only visit Drudge, but also Media Matters. I find it intersting to see how both sides spin facts into proving their agenda. BOTH sides. MSNBC has stories that Fox doesn't cover, vice versa. Why not watch both and "then you decide"?
I agree with you about the irony of the "Hands off my Medicare". Besides the Civil Rights Act, the things you are proud of being apart of the Democrat Party are expansions of the Federal Govt. I disagree, hence why I am a conservative. Agree to disagree.
However, if you look at the voting records of the Civil Rights Act, the Republican Party had an average 81% "yea's" in both House and Senate compared to the Democratic 64% average. On average (house and senate), 34% of Democrat representatives (95% of those were from the South) were opposed to it, compared to 19% of Republicans. You can not credit the Democrat party for bringing about the Civil Rights legislation, just because it was President Kennedy who signed it into law. Do I need to point out that the majority of the malicious southern Governors were democrats? Wallace?
BOTH parties can be blamed for horrible politics, and can take credit for moving our country forward through appropriate legislation.
Agree to disagree. You know what they say about statistics: "There are lies, damn lies, and statistics."
You're absolutely right about Republican support for Civil and Voting Rights. But they were Kennedy-Johnson initiatives, passed by a Democratic Congress and Senate, and signed by a Democratic President, Lyndon Johnson. If it weren't for a great Republican senator, Everett Dirksen, the bill might not have passed. The final vote was:
Senate: 73-27
Democrats: 46-21 Republicans: 27-6
House: 289-126
Democrats: 153-91 Republicans: 136-35
Those were the days when a historic vote could muster 27 Republican votes. Today, with this wingnut version, we're lucky to get 3 votes.
At the time, President Johnson said, "There goes the South." He was right. In the last modern realignment of the parties, the so-called "Dixiecrats", the Southern Democrats defected en masse to the Republican Party ... ergo Nixon's "Southern strategy", ergo today's practically Confederate Republican Party.
I'm glad to hear you watch all these shows. But if you watch Fox News, and read Media Matters, you must know that Fox LIES consistently. Garbage in, garbage out. Why watch the media empire owned by an Australian mogul with majority ownership held by a Saudi prince?
Correction: It's DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Not "Democrat Party." The world's longest continuing existing political party, whose roots date back to Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson deserves to be called its correct name.
I've noticed that is a pet peeve! Do I correct my ways, or use it against you... hmmm, since I'm an evil conservative, maybe I'll continue saying Democrat Party... :)
6 comments:
I have seen racism with these two eyes in the Tea Party signs. Multiple times. I'll believe civil rights giant John Lewis any day over a liar like Andrew Breitbart when Lewis says the "N" word was hurled at him in a Tea Party rally in D.C. And I heard them use the "F" word against Barney Frank. Inside the halls of Congress! Even common civility would dictate that people should behave themselves with dignity within our government buildings. I do. But then again, I do not consider government the enemy nor "tyrannical" in any way.
I Look at the crowd in the picture and see a lot of white faces. That is not the face of America. Never was.
Not being at the specific DC rally on the eve of the health care reform vote with which you're referring to, I can not say whether or not those things were yelled. And although I have great respect for what John Lewis accomplished in the civil rights movement, I do not trust solely his word. Just like I do not trust solely Eric Cantor's word that his office was shot up during the same time. I distrust Andrew Breitbart more than those two. I trust facts. I can only say that at either of the tea paties that I have attended, there has been NO racist posters, racist chants, and if there was, I would have no part of it. Another point, at our tea parties, and also in the many interviews with black or hispanc tea partiers I have seen, why would ANYONE be apart of an organization that supports, condones, or fosters racist actions towards you? Doesn't make sense, because it isn't true. The tea party as a whole is not racist. Are there extremes, yes. There is in any organization, community, religion. But it doesn't make a fair characterization of the rest of us.
"see a lot of white faces. That is not the face of America"
According to the US Census webiste, their 3 year estimate of 2006-2008 the percentage of Americans that are "white alone" is 74.34%. "Black alone" is 12.32%. "Some other race alone" is 5.82%. To name a few. I point that out not to diminish the importance of diversity, a cultural melting pot. I only wanted to point out that of course you see "a lot of white people", because that is the reality of America.
Isn't it interesting that in a country that self-identifies as about 75% white, a significant portion -- not a majority -- are phobic about black and Latino people? That's the story: Why are they so threatened by an African American president?
(Incidentally, there are many more “white” people of mixed blood, including African American, Native American among these 75%, than they are willing to acknowledge. We can begin with Thomas Jefferson's African American descendants, who only recently were allowed by his “white” family branch to take part in family reunions. It wouldn't surprise me if "white" people in the Tea Party have African blood, because that's the reality of America too.)
As for what you witnessed, I have no reason to doubt you. Last I read, there are about 78 Tea Party organizations throughout the country. It’s not a cohesive movement. That much is understood. And that is why the NAACP urged the Tea Party to reject any manifestations of racism from its ranks. As resolutions go, I thought it was pretty evenhanded, considering what we’ve all seen. Pictures don’t lie; videotape footage doesn’t lie. The monkey posters, the Hitler posters, the witch doctor posters, the white face joker posters, the gun posters, all disgusted those of us who abhor this kind of racism. It’s up to the organizers to clean this stuff up, otherwise they’ll be properly labeled as including racist elements.
The black and Latino participants in any Tea Party event can be counted on one hand. Who knows what motivates them? There were a handful of Jews who collaborated with the Nazis, too. Of course, in the minds of some Teabaggers Obama = Hitler. Nice, and oh such an accurate historical analogy.
Final thought: If you get your “facts” from Fox News or Glenn Beck you’re getting lies, distortions, revisionist history, and downright paranoid fantasies (Beck) from wingnut conspiracy theorists. I think it’s great that Tea Partiers are studying the Constitution and have suddenly decided to become involved citizens after the election of our first African American president. But then go to the library and read your history, as long as it’s not Alex Jones or Glenn Beck.
As a liberal Democrat I am proud of the Democratic Party’s record with social transformational legislation: Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Civil Rights/Voting Rights, financial reform. Nothing makes me angrier than to see Tea Partiers carrying signs that say “Hands off My Medicare” without even acknowledging who it was that gave it to them in the first place. They don’t have to vote Democratic; but it would be nice if they recognized what Democrats have done for them. That kind of attitude is downright un-American.
I find it interesting that in all that I have written, I haven't cited Glenn Beck or FoxNews. And you mentioned Rachel Maddow. I enjoy watching her program. She is witty, and entertaining. It might be shocking for you to come into contact with a conservative who not only watches MSNBC, but CNN as well as Fox. I not only visit Drudge, but also Media Matters. I find it intersting to see how both sides spin facts into proving their agenda. BOTH sides. MSNBC has stories that Fox doesn't cover, vice versa. Why not watch both and "then you decide"?
I agree with you about the irony of the "Hands off my Medicare". Besides the Civil Rights Act, the things you are proud of being apart of the Democrat Party are expansions of the Federal Govt. I disagree, hence why I am a conservative. Agree to disagree.
However, if you look at the voting records of the Civil Rights Act, the Republican Party had an average 81% "yea's" in both House and Senate compared to the Democratic 64% average. On average (house and senate), 34% of Democrat representatives (95% of those were from the South) were opposed to it, compared to 19% of Republicans. You can not credit the Democrat party for bringing about the Civil Rights legislation, just because it was President Kennedy who signed it into law. Do I need to point out that the majority of the malicious southern Governors were democrats? Wallace?
BOTH parties can be blamed for horrible politics, and can take credit for moving our country forward through appropriate legislation.
Agree to disagree. You know what they say about statistics: "There are lies, damn lies, and statistics."
You're absolutely right about Republican support for Civil and Voting Rights. But they were Kennedy-Johnson initiatives, passed by a Democratic Congress and Senate, and signed by a Democratic President, Lyndon Johnson. If it weren't for a great Republican senator, Everett Dirksen, the bill might not have passed. The final vote was:
Senate: 73-27
Democrats: 46-21
Republicans: 27-6
House: 289-126
Democrats: 153-91
Republicans: 136-35
Those were the days when a historic vote could muster 27 Republican votes. Today, with this wingnut version, we're lucky to get 3 votes.
At the time, President Johnson said, "There goes the South." He was right. In the last modern realignment of the parties, the so-called "Dixiecrats", the Southern Democrats defected en masse to the Republican Party ... ergo Nixon's "Southern strategy", ergo today's practically Confederate Republican Party.
I'm glad to hear you watch all these shows. But if you watch Fox News, and read Media Matters, you must know that Fox LIES consistently. Garbage in, garbage out. Why watch the media empire owned by an Australian mogul with majority ownership held by a Saudi prince?
Correction: It's DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Not "Democrat Party." The world's longest continuing existing political party, whose roots date back to Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson deserves to be called its correct name.
I've noticed that is a pet peeve! Do I correct my ways, or use it against you... hmmm, since I'm an evil conservative, maybe I'll continue saying Democrat Party... :)
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