Saturday, July 17, 2010
NAACP not invited to the Tea Party?
With my aforementioned political ideology, I bring into play a conversation that is reeling in the media and political realm, alike: discussion of the Tea Party (and its proclaimed acute conservatism). I’ve never been the most politically keen or politically engaged but in my newfound affiliation with the NAACP (I’m the president of the newly formed UT Student Chapter); I do try to follow with the most trending of topics, especially those directly regarding the African American community. It’s in this spirit that I found this article, “Hartigan: Is the Tea Party Racist?” in the Statesman, concerning the Tea Party and the NAACP’s resolution about their “bigoted elements within the Tea Party”. What I found most openly appealing and in-line with my political ideology is the fact that the element of “racism” is removed from the front-line of the conversation. We are allowed to digest elements of race and America’s avoidance and aversion of the issue of race in our nation. What I found most interesting about the article are the statistics about the Tea Party that are so pervasive and enlightening, showing us that race is an ever-present issue in our country that often times is over-looked in social and political dialogue. In the Tea Party, almost 90 percent are white, predominantly male, and noticeably ”better off economically than the nation at large”. I like that this article addresses this without attributing the “racist” stigma over the T-party’s head. It’s a good introductory read if you wish to delve into the issue of race regarding the T-party and the NAACP without jumping too deep into the meat of the situation, as it’s often convoluted with rhetoric and biased judgments.
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Darian, I'd like to respond to your article, NAACP not invited to the Tea Party?, especially in regard to my own article, Tea Party Racism. I would definitely agree with you that the Tea Party socioeconomic statistics are pretty damning. There is clearly a bias towards whites in the Tea Party, and, judging by the statistics, in conservative movements on the whole.
ReplyDeleteYet despite the hidden racial prejudice present in the Tea Party, I believe their intent is to comment on and create change politically, and not simply to expose their racism. As Michael Gearson wrote in the article I expounded upon in my own article, "In the long, tense months until the November congressional elections, a little sanity will be needed [from members of the Tea Party]." If they want to have any kind of impact on American politics, they have to put aside their racism, and maybe even confront it within themselves.