What if Tea Party was BLACK?

[yurbud]

The author makes great points, and you have to look no farther than the Black Panther movement to see what would happen: their leaders would be http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hampton#Death_following_Chicago_police_raid">shot dead by the cops in their sleep.

That tells you more than anything that this is an astroturf movement meant to serve not challenge the financial elite.

"Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black" - 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 protester — 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 shit and I told him to suck on my machine gun.” Because that’s what rocker Ted Nugent said recently about President Obama.

http://ephphatha-poetry.blogspot.com/2010/04/imagine-if-tea-party-was-black-tim-wise.html|FULL TEXT>

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R. Excellent points.

And I don't think that anybody would be laughing. :-(

[pscot]

2. There would be blood in the streets

just like there was during the 60's.

[yurbud]

3. The Revolution will not be televised unless it's astroturf.

[burning rain]

4. For sure, tea would be less popular at FR, more at DU.

.

[yurbud]

7. If the ideas were as incoherent and dopey as the white version, I don't think so.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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[yurbud]

9. so mumia killed these people from death row?

[yurbud]

11. So because you disagree about whether Mumia is guilty, you think progressives turn a blind eye

to all crimes by black people?

Or do you put Mumia with that unrelated murder case to prove that black people are dangerously violent?

What are some of the of other reasons Fox News told you to be afraid of blacks?

[jgraz]

5. Wait... would Samuel L. Jackson be in charge?

Then I'd be cool with it.

[yurbud]

6. ''git your motherfuckin' teabag out of my motherfuckin' mouth!''

[Chisox08]

10. They would have been killed, arrested or exiled just like the Black Panthers