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WHAT IF THE TEA BAGGER FLOCK WASN'T WHITE?
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.
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 shit we do, on a daily basis.
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So, I just had Pete read this article and he said, "Yeah okay, it's well written maybe, but the premise of the whole thing is flawed. Not EVERYBODY thinks the Tea Bagger Party is great, or is doing great things." I said, "That's not the POINT, and you know it." But, that was the entire conversation about it, and I was dismissed. No mention of "what a douche-bag Ted Nugent is, wow..." or anything. GRRRRR. He really irritates me sometimes. It's all about RACISM, and how would the white people like it if all this BS was being carried on by people of color in our country? Yet Pete can sit there and read SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS like Babylon 5, all day long, and totally GET the whole "racism" thread that is weaved through THOSE...and he can talk your EARS off about it for HOURS....but when it comes to reality, he's not so open minded or tolerant. I took a community racism course in Michigan several years ago, which was very interesting, and it echoes some of these very same phrases this author used, like "white privilege." White people, like you and me, can simply flick a switch, ON or OFF, if we want to think about racism or not. We can wake up, enjoy our day, never once think of the word, the definition, or anything regarding racism, all day long. We have that privilege. Black people, however, do not. They live it, all day, every day, 24/7, 365 days a year. It is a constant in their lives, just as Obama is living now. President Obama not only has VOLUNTEERED, but was ELECTED to be the JANITOR president, cleaning up after GW Bush's mess--but in addition to a very stressful job, that doesn't pay enough, he also has to try to focus and work while listening to a bunch of "good ole boy white men" surrounding him and telling him "he missed a spot," or "he's not doing it right," or "we don't like the way you're cleaning up that mess." But, if he were WHITE, they wouldn't blink an eye, they'd pat him on the back, tell him he's doing fine, and give him the "good ole boy" membership pin on his lapel. Doesn't matter what party he'd be. In my opinion, Colin Powell would have been an excellent president, but he is just too damned SMART to take on that job. He doesn't have the same naivete that Obama has. After all, he's been in war zones for many years. He knows how unfair life and people can be to each other, based on stupidity. Obama hopes to rise above all of that, but they just keep grabbin' hold of him to drag him down again, whenever he tries to. It makes me sick. Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts on this day, the day before Valentines' Day, which has been boring as hell. We've all been feeling sick, so I've been laying down napping on the couch, putzing around the house, not doing much. I did bake some cupcakes though, for Valentines' Day. That's the most exertion, besides vacuuming Florence's bedroom, that I've had all day. It's been 40 degrees---a veritable HEAT WAVE I tell you!---all day long, and I took Sassy out to play fetch with some sticks for awhile. But now I'm very tired. Oh, if you want to read more funny stuff on the internet, (and you can't fool ME, Mr. Perry, I know you sit and play on the internet, maybe not on your own web site or Journey-related sites, but you DO know how to Google. Seriously, I do not underestimate you, I know you're smarter than you pretend to be)! Try this... www.damnyouautocorrect.com It makes fun of actual text-conversations people have, where their iPhone automatically corrects the spelling of a word, and makes the whole sentence turn out hilarious. Like, if I try to spell the word "HELL," it gives me, "he'll" every time. Drives me NUTS. Anyway, hope you have a great Valentines' Day tomorrow. I don't think we'll be doing much of anything really, until this "creeping crud" (sinus congestion, cough, sneezing, etc)., goes away. I'll be thinking aboutcha as I eat my heart-shaped chocolate though!! hehehe Bye for now. Love, Rebecca |
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