A few thoughts about the racism in the tea party movement

[proud2BlibKansan]

First of all, there is a reason this movement attracts only white people. Sure there have been a few rallies where a few African American and Hispanics were in attendance. Not here where I live though. The city where I live is a good sized metropolitan area with a significant minority population. It's nearly impossible to attend an event here that draws 1000 people without seeing minorities in the crowd. In fact the only event I can think of is a tea party. We have had several that attracted large crowds. I was also outside the arena where Karl Rove and Sean Hannity appeared last weekend. All white people.

There's a reason for that. If the tea partiers want to shed their racist image, they need to figure out why their message doesn't resonate with non white folks. And I think it's the images and the verbage on signs they bring to these events.

About those signs - I have attended more gatherings, rallies, marches, etc for peace all over this country than I can count. Going back several decades. And other than the large marches, there is never any threats of violence or racist images. And there is a reason for that.

The best example I can think of is Camp Casey. Tens of thousands of people came to Crawford, TX to join Cindy Sheehan. And there was NEVER any threats of violence against the president or racist images at Camp Casey. Never. It wasn't because there were no people who came with wishes of violence against Bush or signs promoting violence. The reason those images weren't there is because there was a deliberate effort to keep them out. You couldn't get on the grounds of Camp Casey without going through security. And security at the gate let you know that there were no guns, drugs or alcohol allowed. If you got caught on the grounds with a gun you had to leave. If you threatened to harm President Bush, you were asked to leave and security notified the police. If you wanted to drink a beer, you were encouraged to go to the bar down the road and have your beer. But not at Camp Casey. And we had very few problems.

If the tea partiers really wanted to exclude racists from their gatherings, they could do so. But they are not. That failure speaks volumes. And as long as their gatherings are attended by only white people and some of those white people bring signs that have pictures of our African American president dressed up as an African witch doctor, the racist label will fit.

[BunkerHill24]

1. Thank you...you said it well...

K&R

[Ohio Joe]

2. You are correct but it will not change

Because the teabaggers are racists.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. I agree it won't change

But I am sick of hearing them whining about being labeled racists.

[RKP5637]

3. Excellent post! n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Thank you!