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Political Physics: Is the Tea Party Just Another Organized Hate Group?
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a blogumn by Monique King-Viehland
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, nonprofit civil rights organization that monitors hate groups and racial extremists, the number of organized hate groups in the United States is on the rise. “Currently there are 932 known hate groups operating across the country, including neo-Nazis, Klansman, white nationalists, neo-Confederates, racist skinheads, black separatists, border vigilantes and others.” And since 2000, the number of hate groups in this country has increased by 54 percent.
The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that the “surge has been fueled by fears of Latino immigration and, more recently, by the election of the country’s first African-American president and the economic crisis.”
As the year-long (truly decades-long) debate on health care drew to a dramatic close, Tea Party protesters rallied outside of the Capitol. According to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Representative John Lewis, D-Georgia, and Andre Carson, D-Indiana, both members of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that Capitol Hill protesters fighting healthcare reform hurled racial slurs and another lawmaker said somebody spit on him.
But do random acts of bigotry by select members of the group point to a larger movement within the Tea Party? According to party leadership, the answer is no.
Terri Linnell, Director of the San Diego Patriots, said, “the Tea Party believes in three basic things. Fiscal responsibility, we just simply can’t continue a tax, borrow and spend agenda that’s going on, and we believe in a constitutionally limited government.” Linnell contends that assertions that their group is racist or a hate group is absurd.
Richard Rider, Chair of the San Diego Tax Fighters, noted, “the Tea Party movement is a political movement. That’s the core issue here. Is this a group that is a threat to people? Are there assassination teams running around? Is this a Symbionese Liberation Army or is this the Black Panthers or the Weather Underground, all of which, of course, were on the other side. Would we say that the civil rights movement was a terrorist org – or was leaning towards violence because there are groups like the Black Panthers and no, of course not.”
And Tea Party members point to the diversity of their own membership as proof positive that they are far from a racist organization. According to Ed Morrissey’s of Hot Air, “Gallup’s demo[graphics] of the Tea Party look very close to that of the overall American demos on ethnicity … The educational background of Tea Party followers almost exactly matches that of the general population … Low-income earners (less than $30K) make up 19% of the Tea Party, as compared to 25% of the general population, and those making more than $50K are 55% of the Tea Party rather than the 50% of the general population, but that’s not much of a difference.”
So if the Tea Party looks just like you and me, then they cannot be a racist organization right?
Maybe not, but according to the Southern Poverty Law Center there’s still reason for concern.
The Southern Poverty Law Center notes the fine line that the Tea Party walks between political movement and hate group. Heidi Beirich, Director of Research for the Southern Poverty Law Center says, “Although the tea parties and similar nascent groups are not fairly described as extremist, they are laced with extreme-right ideas, conspiracy theories and racism, in part thanks to certain ostensibly mainstream commentators and politicians. One example: One politician who was invited to the convention and did speak — his talk was the gathering’s first — left little doubt about his own racism. Tom Tancredo, a former Republican congressman from Colorado and possibly the most rabid anti-immigrant politician in America, told the convention: “People who could not spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House — [his] name is Barack Hussein Obama.”
According to Dennis Bakay from philly2philly.com the events that transpired during the health care debate are (1) irrefutable and (2) not the first time racial slurs or racists actions have been taken by the Tea Party. According to Dennis Bakay, “It has finally happened. The Tea Party movement has shown its ugly colors yesterday as members of its movement hurled racial epithets at several black congressman during their so-called health care protest yesterday in Washington D.C. And, as the House votes on Healthcare Reform today the Tea Party’s message has been thwarted by racism.”
To be fair, Dennis Bakay noted that the majority of Tea Party members are not racist (and I agree). However, “[although] the Tea Party protests started out as part of the anti-tax Tea Party Movement. Now, these protests have disintegrated into nothing more than hate mongering and white pride displays for many of their members who direct their hatred toward President Obama because of the color of his skin. And, despite what the ardent supporters will try and tell you, this isn’t the first time it’s happened.” Dennis Bakay goes on to share several images and video clips from several Tea Part rallies where members are yelling racial slurs, holding racist signs, etc. (see philly2philly.com to watch the videos for your self).
And Dr. Dipak Gupta, Fred Hansen Professor of World Peace, San Diego State University adds, “All the ideas that the Tea Party movement are promoting are absolutely legitimate. They are – they should be of concern to everybody. But what we have to worry about are those people who are using this movement and the frustration and anger and the fear of the people at times of economic distress, whether they’re channeling it against some individuals and groups.”
The actions of a select group of Tea Party members during the final days of the health care debate were not just random acts of a few select members.
But does that mean that the Tea Party Movement is racist, no.
However, there are hate groups and extremist organizations (not to mention several radical members of the Republic Party) that are using the movement to spread a message of hate and extremism, in effect silencing the true anti-tax message of the movement. And there is leadership within the Tea Party that is well aware of what is happening and they’re turning a blind eye.
As the number of hate groups and extremist organizations in the country continue to rise and as violence erupts in the wake of the health care vote, we need to ask ourselves if we can afford to provide these groups with more public opportunities to spread their hatred or more venues to recruit members.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let me know what you think in the comments section.
*sigh*
Ok. I am a registered Libertarian, and we have had the same issue that the Tea Party faces. Libertarians tend to be people who want to be left alone. Groups for people who want to be left alone are usually heavily populated with the "weird" members of society. Gun nuts, pot heads, polyamorous, etc, etc. And so the media, for a long time, ignored the fact that those people were members of a larger movement that includes a lot of "non-weird" people who believe that government should play a very limited role in the lives of the people being governed to focus on the "weird" people and their beliefs and actions that really had nothing to do with the politics itself. I kind of think that news programs have stories about the outliers of the LP held in store for when it's a slow news day so they can pop on a story about the polyamorous man who was arrested for pot possession and was found to have 47 uzis in his house when the cops searched it for evidence. It makes for good tv.
As I am a Libertarian, you might think that the Tea Party movement would appeal to me. And I'll admit that when I saw the first YouTube video calling for people to mail tea bags to their senators, I laughed in a, "Harhar, clever" sort of way. But I didn't actually mail any, and I never attended any rallies or voiced support for the movement. Because very early on in the movement, the "weird" people started pouring out of hiding to make comments that were clearly the byproducts of racist attitudes and too much time spent listening to fear-mongering pundits who will say any asinine thing it takes to keep themselves in a job.
In my Libertarian incarnation, I can accept that some will assume I'm a gun nut (I'm not, but if they think I am, maybe they will stay away from my house during the zombie apocalypse?) or that I want to marry three other men in addition to my husband (I don't). I can accept that people assume those things because while I don't agree with them personally, the fact that there are people like that doesn't really bother me. The Tea Party movement, despite the fact that there are plenty of "normal" people who are part of it who aren't in it for racist reasons, has so many members who do seem so motivated by paranoia and hate that there is no way I could ever align myself with them. I can't say, "Well, I'm not racist like them, but I can see how they have the right to be."
Anne, in coming back to Christianity I had some of the same fears. It feels that the perspectives of only the most extreme evangelicals has been allowed to overshadow the more reasonable voices of faith. So it becomes, \”oh, you're a black Christian, then you MUST hate gays.\” Actually no, but I can see why you would think that since the MSM makes it seem like black Christians in particular are all rabidly homophobic evangelicals. Why would I want to align myself with a group that is perceived so poorly in the news. Well, b/c I am black and I am a Christian, and if I and my likeminded sister and brothers don't represent for acceptance and inclusion w/N those two communities, then the people spouting hate win. So I would argue that it's important for you to represent for your beliefs, just so people know that the picture that the MSM is trying to spin about Libertarians is not complete.
I think the problem with the TP movement is that it's young and all we're hearing from is the nutjobs. I'm sure that there have to be some non-racist, reasonable Tea Partyers, but they're not making their voices heard.
I agree that not all Libertarians or Tea Party attenders are alike, but I think the concerns Monique raises are about more than dealing with some "weird" people. I actually have no problem with people who might want to be in a relationship with 3 different people at the same time, but I do have a problem with people spouting violence, spitting on members of Congress, and sending death threats to our public officials because through a democratic process a law was passed.
While I support healthcare reform, I can get behind the idea of pushing our government to be more fiscally responsible and it is sad that the underlying message of the Tea Party "Movement" is getting lost behind all the other stuff. I put movement in quotes because I don't think it should be called a movement yet, mostly because I have, as a political scientist, ingrained in my head all the things needed for something to seriously be considered a "movement" and this ain't it. It might get there, but I don't think its there now.
*sigh*
Ok. I am a registered Libertarian, and we have had the same issue that the Tea Party faces. Libertarians tend to be people who want to be left alone. Groups for people who want to be left alone are usually heavily populated with the "weird" members of society. Gun nuts, pot heads, polyamorous, etc, etc. And so the media, for a long time, ignored the fact that those people were members of a larger movement that includes a lot of "non-weird" people who believe that government should play a very limited role in the lives of the people being governed to focus on the "weird" people and their beliefs and actions that really had nothing to do with the politics itself. I kind of think that news programs have stories about the outliers of the LP held in store for when it's a slow news day so they can pop on a story about the polyamorous man who was arrested for pot possession and was found to have 47 uzis in his house when the cops searched it for evidence. It makes for good tv.
As I am a Libertarian, you might think that the Tea Party movement would appeal to me. And I'll admit that when I saw the first YouTube video calling for people to mail tea bags to their senators, I laughed in a, "Harhar, clever" sort of way. But I didn't actually mail any, and I never attended any rallies or voiced support for the movement. Because very early on in the movement, the "weird" people started pouring out of hiding to make comments that were clearly the byproducts of racist attitudes and too much time spent listening to fear-mongering pundits who will say any asinine thing it takes to keep themselves in a job.
In my Libertarian incarnation, I can accept that some will assume I'm a gun nut (I'm not, but if they think I am, maybe they will stay away from my house during the zombie apocalypse?) or that I want to marry three other men in addition to my husband (I don't). I can accept that people assume those things because while I don't agree with them personally, the fact that there are people like that doesn't really bother me. The Tea Party movement, despite the fact that there are plenty of "normal" people who are part of it who aren't in it for racist reasons, has so many members who do seem so motivated by paranoia and hate that there is no way I could ever align myself with them. I can't say, "Well, I'm not racist like them, but I can see how they have the right to be."
Anne, in coming back to Christianity I had some of the same fears. It feels that the perspectives of only the most extreme evangelicals has been allowed to overshadow the more reasonable voices of faith. So it becomes, “oh, you're a black Christian, then you MUST hate gays.” Actually no, but I can see why you would think that since the MSM makes it seem like black Christians in particular are all rabidly homophobic evangelicals. Why would I want to align myself with a group that is perceived so poorly in the news. Well, b/c I am black and I am a Christian, and if I and my likeminded sister and brothers don't represent for acceptance and inclusion w/N those two communities, then the people spouting hate win. So I would argue that it's important for you to represent for your beliefs, just so people know that the picture that the MSM is trying to spin about Libertarians is not complete.I think the problem with the TP movement is that it's young and all we're hearing from is the nutjobs. I'm sure that there have to be some non-racist, reasonable Tea Partyers, but they're not making their voices heard.
I agree that not all Libertarians or Tea Party attenders are alike, but I think the concerns Monique raises are about more than dealing with some "weird" people. I actually have no problem with people who might want to be in a relationship with 3 different people at the same time, but I do have a problem with people spouting violence, spitting on members of Congress, and sending death threats to our public officials because through a democratic process a law was passed.
While I support healthcare reform, I can get behind the idea of pushing our government to be more fiscally responsible and it is sad that the underlying message of the Tea Party "Movement" is getting lost behind all the other stuff. I put movement in quotes because I don't think it should be called a movement yet, mostly because I have, as a political scientist, ingrained in my head all the things needed for something to seriously be considered a "movement" and this ain't it. It might get there, but I don't think its there now.
DENNIS BAKAY (CFO of Philly2Philly.com) is a complete moron, and nothing he says should be taken seriously. here's an example of the genius at work:
http://www.philly2philly.com/politics_community/t…
comments were closed after one hundred or so people told him how much of an idiot he was.
DENNIS BAKAY (CFO of Philly2Philly.com) is a complete moron, and nothing he says should be taken seriously. here's an example of the genius at work:
http://www.philly2philly.com/politics_community/t…
comments were closed after one hundred or so people told him how much of an idiot he was.