How many believe that at least 50% of Tea Partiers harbor racist views?

I'm not satisfied with the poll choices but of them I would say that a majority are somewhat but don't really know what they are doing. From what I have seen is I think there is a very small percentage that is actually straight up overtly racist. There are some that harbor and express stereotypical views but these aren't deep and there are some that just go along with rhetoric wihout any reflection.

The racism that I mostly see in the Tea Party is less direct but more of an expression of cultural views and also on lack of thought to the rhetoric. I don't think the people calling Obama a "lyin African" are necessarily racist but are not thinking about how such rhetoric can be interpreted as being racist.

 

it already doesn't mean anything. Liberals have spent that past 3 years branding anyone who disagrees with them as racists, in an effort to intimidate and shout them down. it won't work, their lies have been exposed, and everyone can see that the Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers has no clothes.

 

This an example of what I mean by that many of the Tea Party may not be racists but are not fully aware of how their rhetoric can be interpreted as such. They are thoughtless or callous about their rhetoric in regard to the issue.

 

maybe if liberals were likewise thoughtful in their rhetoric, other folks would be as well.

 

1. I asked for evidence substantiating your "opinion."

2. It takes more than two minor polls to "school" giddyup!

 

You expressed an opinion back by a statistic with no footnote... what's to doubt?

The language in the poll is not nearly so inflammatory. You say "lazier," "less capable," and "lower" while the poll says "unmotivated" and something else... I forget now.

 

Is that a fact, Sweet Lou? Jeez O pete, that "black, lazy, can't get a job" line hasn't changed in 50 years. You really need to come up with something better and more convincing than that.

And you, Mr. B.Jones, aren't you a perceptive and clever little pot.

 

I don't believe it's as high as 50%. I do believe that some who hold racist views, don't believe they hold racist views though.

 

What you posted is a difference without distinction.

 

I would think the world in general.

 

So like a motley crew of frustration?

 

I'd say the more dangerous thing is when any opposing viewpoint is immediately called racist. It causes people to be afraid of expressing their opinions and at the same time diminishes how harmful real racism can be.

I'm not anti-immigration. Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, all that good stuff. It's what made America great. But I am anti-illegal immigration. I definitely think we need to tighten our borders, and recognizing that doesn't make me or anyone else racist.

There's racism in every party, every platform, every institution. But that doesn't mean that every party, platform, and institution is racist itself.

 

Folks, please take the time to hear this interview. I want you to actually listen to it.

http://conservativeblogscentral.blogspot.com/2010/07/michael-savage-interviews-andrew.html

 

There's that new pet phrase of yours again....

Unmotivated would include lost hope as a missing motivator. That's very different from lazy.... for example... so I don't agree that there is no distinction.

 

Some awesome posts in this thread.

I really hesitate to bore people with my personal stories, and this is kind of a long post, but here goes...

I really do try to keep an open mind and give the tea party people the benefit of the doubt, but my close-and-personal example really, really does not help at all.

Today my parents just, absolutely lit into me because they found a couple books, one "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan and one called "Why Evolution is True" by Jerry Coyne.

My mom told me she "cried for hours" last night when she found these books. So, 1) incredible guilt trip, 2) apparently these books are evil?

In my parents' view, reading and learning are very dangerous. My dad says "You know what happens to those people who start reading heavily about science and philosophy? Many, many people start drinking and doing drugs and turning away from God."
me: "I like reading. I like learning new things, I love understanding these things"
my mom (crying): "It just hurts so much that we send you and your sister away to college and you're...just...BRAINWASHED (sobbing) by those professors that hate God."

other nuggets of wisdom from my dad on various topics earlier today:

"Ronald Reagan was the most conservative and the best president this country has ever had. He was a democrat before, but he realized the evil ways of the liberal movement and became a Republican!" (I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with civil rights)

"So-and-so relative HATES the Obama Administration, I tell ya, he's about to get really, really angry. You know, he's a second amendment fighter, and if this administration keeps destroying America, you better believe he's going to take a shotgun and take some people out."
me: "That's very Christlike."
him: 5-minute nonsensical screaming rant about how Jesus said it was OK to protect yourself if it's in self-defense, and how we must be "Defenders of the Constitution and Bill of Rights" (so if I'm getting this straight...Jesus said it was ok to KILL people because you disapprove with the government...? i asked him that, he said yes).

"Let me tell you something about progressive Christians. God is very conservative. He said he will spit the lukewarm liberals out of his mouth."
me: "Don't you think Jesus had a social justice message?"
him: (screaming) "YES BUT YOU HELP PEOPLE OUT BY GIVING TO CHARITY, NOT A SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT THAT WANTS TO RUN OUR LIVES AND TAKE THE LORD OUT OF OUR COUNTRY!!!!!!" (no amount of exclamation points could suffice).

Anyways, look, I try not to judge people, but my parents and all their wingnut friends are just insufferable, and that's all I see. So much so that I don't think i'm going to be able to ever have a normal relationship with them. Both of them have disowned or do not talk to probably 80% of their family, because either they drink, smoke cigarettes, aren't conservative, aren't religious, etc. I am seriously worried they will stop talking to me at some point (right now they only suspect I'm an atheist...I just deny deny deny...not worth it). The tea party has galvanized many people, and I haven't seen one good thing come of it, from all I've experienced. I used to think my parents were reasonable people, but when you view reason itself as evil, it's tough to even have a civil conversation. They believe Obama is seriously going to "destroy" America, whatever that even MEANS! Ask them what that means and you'll get a bunch of Rush Limbaugh/Glenn Beck talking points.

If I ever come off as abrasive toward conservatives or religious people, on this forum or to anyone in real life (FFB...if you're reading this...), I really am sorry. I never want to offend people. But dealing with this kind of crazy just makes me really bitter. If I could meet more tea partiers who were less hating of intellectualism, I would love to have a conversation. I really haven't met any in real life, though.

I firmly believe that at least 50% of the tea partiers are racist. And not even that subtle, either. I will change my mind when I meet some tea party supporters that are different. Everyone sane person I know who was involved with the tea party eventually left the movement, one libertarian went so far as to say "because everyone was just a racist bigot."

Wow. Thank you for this post. I seriously relate to every single bit of it.

Wow! That's exactly what my father always does...in ANY restaurant, or anywhere really, if he talks to someone of another race he's always so obviously overcompensating. One minute he'll be telling Carlos down at Los Cucos about how he knows and loves Mexican culture so well, and then later that evening I'll listen to him and my mother have a 3-hour-long conversation about how much they hate Mexican people and they can't stand Spanish and the illegals are sucking our country dry and the hispanic race is expanding too fast. drives me nuts.

 

Probably, but...

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/usB_IAt3EYg&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/usB_IAt3EYg&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

 

So are you then admitting that your rhetoric is thoughtless and racially tinged?

I agree there are liberals who are callous and thoughtless in their rhetoric too but this thread is about the Tea Party and its supporters.

 

No seriously, rep for a great read. I'm still in a kind of doubt and that you made the stories up though. I am having a hard time accepting that people think like that. So Jesus said it was ok to kill people because you disapprove of your govt....your pops actually said yes to that....wow