Imagine if the Team Party Was Black

foo82 · Apr 27, 2010

This is an interesting piece written by Tim Wise.

http://cosmicnavellint.blogspot.com/2010/04/imagine-if-tea-party-was-black-tim-wise.html

"Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black" - by Tim Wise

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 protesters — 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 “w****” 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.

I'd like to thank Sara and Brian Brandsmeier, at ephphatha-poetry.blogspot.com, and the author, Tim Wise.

Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S. Wise has spoken in 48 states, on over 400 college campuses, and to community groups around the nation. Wise has provided anti-racism training to teachers nationwide, and has trained physicians and medical industry professionals on how to combat racial inequities in health care. His latest book is called Between Barack and a Hard Place.
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foo82 · Apr 27, 2010

Damnit, can't edit title. Meant to say Tea Party

B-Bob · Apr 27, 2010

In College, would you believe I was the Captain of Team Party?

dbigfeet · Apr 28, 2010

Dont you know Americans dont have an imagination

DonnyMost · Apr 28, 2010

Reminds me of the "what if Obama's family was like Palin's" comparison... everybody should be aware of the double standard.

mc mark · Apr 28, 2010

B-Bob said:

In College, would you believe I was the Captain of Team Party?
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it's true!

The chemistry department parties were the best! Because they always had the "good stuff"

B-Bob · Apr 28, 2010

mc mark said:

it's true!

The chemistry department parties were the best! Because they always had the "good stuff"
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But Physics Department Parties? ...

rimrocker · Apr 28, 2010

B-Bob said:

But Physics Department Parties? ...
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Those were great because physics chicks were never certain about their principles.

FranchiseBlade · Apr 28, 2010

I'm sure this guy would support those angry black marchers armed with AK-47's.

dbigfeet · Apr 28, 2010

You know, I would love to see what would happen if more minorities were "bold, brash, and in your face" about the 2nd amendment that many non-minorities are.
And why are people so at arms (no pun intended) about gun control Obama took office and he never said anything about gun control law.

pgabriel · Apr 28, 2010

^^^^
Otto is a gun dealer, I wonder how much money he made in the aftermath of the election. gun shops were actually running out of ammo. unbelievable

da_juice · Apr 28, 2010

If that was the case, they'd be called Black supremacists, and young white teenagers would join the neo-nazis and start a race war. Instead these militants are white and young white teenagers are joining.... Oh wait....

Steve_Francis_rules · Apr 28, 2010

rimrocker said:

Those were great because physics chicks were never certain about their principles.
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Nice.

Ottomaton · Apr 28, 2010

pgabriel said:

^^^^
Otto is a gun dealer, I wonder how much money he made in the aftermath of the election. gun shops were actually running out of ammo. unbelievable
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I haven't been doing it long enough that I can really put it in perspective (i.e. all 4 years I've been doing it have been better than the previous years), but reading the industry publications, it was actually the best year over year jump in sales ever by far.

I had one customer by a side by side shotgun "before Obama outlawed them". I had a whole bunch of people who bought or ordered 5 to 10 AR-15's in the week after the election. For about 6 months - between the middle of January and about June or July - I couldn't get most polymer handguns or "little black rifles" at all. It wasn't the stores running out of ammo and guns (though of course that did happen) but it was more that the manufacturers couldn't produce fast enough to keep the distributors and retailers stocked. Ammo prices in some cases pretty nearly doubled, and the hording was crazy with respect to ammo - people buying thousands and thousands of primers and stuff like that. Most of the real craziness, however, was over by about September or October.

A couple of years ago, I toyed with running an ad with an angry looking, very obviously gay man (maybe at the pride parade) holding an AR-15 in one of the "alt papers" with the caption "Their worst nightmare", but never got around to it. (I'm located in Montrose, which would be the impetus for seeking the gay demographic).

BrotherFish · Apr 29, 2010

Now, let's imagine that these same groups were the ones that colonized our country from the beginning.

Even better, what if my own native country of India were to first colonize America.

There would be no need for a Heaven; we would be living in a Heaven on Earth.

After all, it’s these “white” men that are inhibiting the progress of human beings throughout the world with their guns and religion.

Unfortunately, we are now only left with wistful dreams……..

(BTW, let me add , for those whose sarcasm meter has been broken.)

DonnyMost · Apr 29, 2010

Ottomaton said:

A couple of years ago, I toyed with running an ad with an angry looking, very obviously gay man (maybe at the pride parade) holding an AR-15 in one of the "alt papers" with the caption "Their worst nightmare", but never got around to it. (I'm located in Montrose, which would be the impetus for seeking the gay demographic).
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so close to epic...

rhadamanthus · Apr 29, 2010

rimrocker said:

Those were great because physics chicks were never certain about their principles.
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Just plain hilarious.

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