The following is taken from a wonderful post by Ankhesen Mie about the tea baggers, edited down to 500 words by me:
Protesters go spitting and hurling racial slurs and surprise, surprise, we’re told not to pay attention. It’s an “isolated incident”. It doesn’t “mean” anything.
Yeah… and we’ve never heard that one before. As blogger Field Negro writes:
Poor James Clayburn, I saw my man on CNN this evening and he still looked scared. He told Wolf Blitzer that he was having flashbacks to those civil rights days. He said that he looked in the eyes of the tea baggers and saw the same hatred he saw back then. Yeah, that kind of hate just doesn’t happen overnight with the passing of a bill, Jim. No sir, that hate has been there all along. It’s just been hiding under the surface and waiting to come out.
In the meantime, I’m having flashbacks of my own. Flashbacks to teary, screamy temper tantrums in 2008 – you all remember 2008, don’t you? Remember all the “isolated incidents and comments” back then? All that racist bullshit that wasn’t “really racist” and so we weren’t supposed to really talk about it or even show it on TV in-depth? You recall that “tiny, insignificant minority” of white folks we were supposed to simply laugh at and pretend didn’t really exist? Did you really think those people just vanished off the face of the earth?
And white people, I’m just… you know… I’m… *shakes head*… I’m actually quite proud of some of you.
If I go to Google right now and type in “tea party racist”, I will see a lot of white folks calling the Tea Party out. And they’re not talking that “politically incorrect” or “highly inappropriate” shit – they’re calling it racist and not trying to excuse or defend it in any way. And kids, that’s how you deal with racism. You call it out; you name it accurately and you expose it. You denounce it unequivocally and then you fight back.
These are not children, folks; ignoring their bad behavior won’t make it go away.
So from hereon out, white folks, I don’t want to hear any more, “Well, yeah… but you have to understand…” nonsense. Those are not fighting words. Those are roll-over-and-surrender words. So are “isolated incidents”. And “we’re not all like that” – we’re not talking about all of you. We’re talking about your racists, and we’re talking about all of them. So if you’re thinking strictly KKK, Stormfront, and neo-Nazis, you need to quit bullshittin’ and start accepting the unpleasant reality of things.
The Tea Party has revealed one of the ugliest faces of Average White America for all the world to see.
It has confirmed the often derailed testaments of POC about racism in America. It has confirmed every acrimonious observation from other nations about the so-called “Ugly American”. It has aired Average White America’s dirty laundry, flung wide its closet doors and unleashed all its skeletons.
See also:
That pic above is telling. Horrible.
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For some people, it just takes a scratch to see below the surface to the ugliness within.
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One question: what is “Tea Party”? Boston Tea Party, or…?
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“Well, yeah… but you have to understand…” nonsense. Those are not fighting words. Those are roll-over-and-surrender words.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So true and to be honest I felt like at my core when I started seeing these “patriots”, I was like screaming “this is racist, this is racist” But knew there were going to be people rationalizing this behavior. You can’t. It’s ugly and you can’t mask it with anything, not even privilege.
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I think of them as “Tea Baggers”, myself. Make of it what you will.
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Absolutly,Abagond , these are ugly racists and need to be stood up to.
Not only that, they are always implying some kind of violence thing, like they are all armed and ready to fight..
I say bring it, if it means a civil war against these pigs, its time to get it on
No one should let this pass. I consider them a serious threat.
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We shoulda let the idiots go in 1861. The south would be a black nation today and (probably) an economic dependent of the U.S.
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Absolutely! On Wednesday all the people that live on my floor had dinner together and the RA’s decided to talk about racial slurs and what people should do when confronted.
One white guy my (very handsome guy BTW) said people should basically get over it and not dwell on it. He said they should treat it as an isolated incident and people need to “prioritize” their concerns.
I told him no its not that easy. Most of the time racists say stuff directly to your face, in that case you cant just ignore it. I saw the security guard at work called n*gger, gorilla, ect just because he asked customer to move his vehicle away from the store entrance. I had a customer call one fo the cashiers a “big black bitch with an attitude”, without being provoked. When the racism is that blatant (as it often times is) it must be confronted head on.
I think it is very easy for whites to say just ignore without grasping the full effect racism has. There is no name you can call a white person to degrade them based on race. Sure you have kr*cker ect but there is no word that has the same effect as n*gger, ch*nk, sp*c ect.
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You took the words right outta my mouth, Abagond. White people need to know what is racist even if it HURTS. That’s the whole problem with most whites, they don’t want to be hurt when it comes to the ugly truths! I personally am tired of the whole “talk nicer” and “be polite” crap as well as the whole excuses B.S. Racism is racism no matter how much you sugarcoat it. Period!
Bottom line, I don’t hate white people, but that doesn’t mean I should be silent about what most of them do when it comes to racism. I applaud those whites who tell it like it really is.
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Y’know, “Race Traitor” magazine once published a really good tactic for confronting this sort of thing, if you’re white (only works in the U.S., though).
If you’re white and someone makes a racist comment around you, you should say “Y’know, you’re only saying that because you think I’m white. A lot of people make that same mistake.”
It really throws racists off and generally, you don’t have to elaborate.
Don’t claim you’re anything else, mind.
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Yes, no doubt that Teabaggers are racists. There’s no way to argue otherwise.
I believe that the Republicans’ identification with Teabaggers is just going to keep Blacks in the Democratic fold.
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Will:
Ankhesen wrote this post – I merely cut it down to 500 words, as noted at the beginning of the post. But, yes, she took the words right of my mouth too, which is why I wanted to post it.
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Ankhesen
Have you written any books? Your writing style is very enjoyable, it gets to the point without being hateful. You and abagong probably have the same views, but when you write about it sounds like you actually want white people to understand it, instead of degrading an entire group of people.
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Y said:
“One white guy my (very handsome guy BTW) said people should basically get over it and not dwell on it. He said they should treat it as an isolated incident and people need to “prioritize” their concerns.”
Spoken like a true white guy.
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Exactly Aba.
You know what funny still, I brought up the word jiggaboo and he said
“Really, is that a racial slur?”
Me: “Yes, it is used in reference to blacks, its a blacK person that smokes crack, drinks all day and is a drain on society”
Him “Oh I have a friend named Jiggaboo”
Me “No you dont, his name is something else but you call him Jiggaboo, is he black?”
Him: “Yeah he is black. Well his name is Jigboo(sp?), but we call him jiggaboo”
Unbelievable
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“Him: “Yeah he is black. Well his name is Jigboo(sp?), but we call him jiggaboo”
“Unbelievable”
Yeah a lot of white folks don’t even know very many racist slurs because they are never around other races. It is not surprising he did not know that word, out of sight out of mind I guess.
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@Ó Dochartaigh:
I don’t know about that. I grew up in a predominantly white area, and I went to school with very few minorities. It didn’t stop other children from hurling racial slurs at the minority children including yours truly.
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^^^^^
Ditto!
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I guess, I will give him the benefit of the doubt with jiggaboo. Jiggaboo is an old one that isnt used very much. However the “get over it” argument is just deflecting racist mentalities
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I didn’t know “jigaboo” was a slur… I thought it was on par with “bugaboo.” I must be out of the loop.
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I love how certain white posters love to claim that pointing out white racism is being “hateful” or “racist”. They will also try to deny your reality as a person of color by stating that racism doe not exist. They will also state that classism, athesism, etc is a bigger issue then race.
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leigh- I agree with you. I grew up in an all white town in the north and was called numerous racial slurs by children. The words they used made them sound like little klansmen
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@c:
The thing is, it makes you wonder where these children learned those slurs. It’s obvious someone, most likely their parents, taught them those words. I saw many faces that did not look like mine, but I did not go about calling them awful names.
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Yeah jiggaboo is like basically a coon, dark skinned, ugly, lazy, and addicted to substances(crack and alcohol)
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Now that I think about, I do remember the word “jiggaboo” being used in that context in this 20th century black play I was reading, can’t remember the title of it. But it was being used by a black person. Do white people use that word for black people?
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Another one is Porch Monkey, many many white people don’t know what that means, if anybody has seen the movie Clerks 2 it is a perfect example of how a lot of white people do not know racial slurs other than the N word and other well known terms. There is a big argument between two white people in the movie Clerks 2, whether or not Porch Monkey is racial term.
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Oh, I knew “porch monkey” was a slur… the meaning seems obvious.
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As are “spooks,” “crows,” etc.
Ó Dochartaigh –
Have you written any books? Your writing style is very enjoyable, it gets to the point without being hateful. You and abagong probably have the same views, but when you write about it sounds like you actually want white people to understand it, instead of degrading an entire group of people.
Yes, actually…and thanks. My first book (2007, really old work) is actually set in Appalachia, in which life here is analyzed from a multiple of perspectives (African, African-American, and students of all skintones struggling with poverty).
I do want whites to understand racism, not just for the benefit of POC, but for their own benefit (it’s along the lines of the whole “being human” thing). When writing to whites about white behaviors, I chiefly consult white analysts because that’s what a person’s supposed to do when discussing a specific group: you study their experts on them – Tim Wise, Peggy McIntosh, Robert Jensen, etc.
My methodology tends to put off a number of WP because it’s uncompromising and doesn’t cater to their privilege. What many of them don’t realize is that they don’t need hipster racism or that “control” to properly stand on their own two feet in a discussion about race. Example: Tim Wise opened up a speech in which he honored a some women enslaved by his relatives, and he honored them by name. He then proceeded to detail the history of his ancestry, back to his very first ancestor to arrive from Scotland. He explained how white privilege had benefitted his family through the generations, all the way down to him, a guy who grew up poor in the South.
Unveiling this information about himself told his audience that 1) he had done painstaking, time-consuming research to track down all this information, and 2) the process must have been deeply unpleasant for him, because he had to read about Klan members and slave-owners who’d come before him and had benefitted from their legacies.
That’s an experience no human person wishes upon on another, just FYI.
His audience was filled with POC, and upon revealing these facts with complete humility and utter honesty – no whining, no crying, no defensiveness – he got their attention. They did not dismiss what he had to say after that; his opinion had credibility after that, because he’d demonstrated insightful thinking and a rational self-awareness.
It’s sad that he gets so much hate mail from whites, though. I liken them to the folks who executed John Brown.
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Abagond,
“Eye on the Prize” is being broadcast again. Even if you have seen it, I think its worth seeing again. I also think everyone under forty five should see it. I wish there was a British edition.
I hope that in your area the first shows haven’t been run. In my area the next shows are on April 8 and 15. American Experience is sponsoring the rebroadcast.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/
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As a child, I was called an astonishing array of names: The requisite ni&&er, coon, spook jungle bunny, spear chucker, porch monkey, chimp, blackie, chocolate face(ironic as I am now a chocoholic), the list was seemingly inexhaustible. Who taught them these names? The adults around them. What I found ‘funny’ in hindsight, these are seemingly old Southern forms of name calling. In the very least, that is where they originated from. Canadians are viewed as American’s lesser cousins. Perhaps this is indicative of that since they could not create their own derogatory names for blacks. The only one they could come up with was ‘hockey puck’.
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In 5th grade, I was called an African booby-scratcher.
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Hathor:
Thanks! I saw “Eyes on the Prize” years ago. Great stuff.
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@Herneith:
I’ve heard of that term “hockey puck” used before. I was called lemon pie filling a couple of times.
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Oh, and sweet and sour.
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The name calling certainly does make one wonder about their parents. There seems to be this part of White American culture that is quite clearly being handed down but which never appears in the public part of the culture – television, newspapers, school books, etc. It makes the line “My family never owned slaves” besides the point.
Also: people say that the younger generation is so much better, but from what I hear from my sons, who go to a white school, it is still quite racist. It makes Don Imus look like a gentleman.
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^Working in urban schools, I’ve heard non-white children sling racial slurs at other children. Black children calling other black children “charcoal” or “cockroach hair,” and Mexican children “dirty immigrant.” Getting to know some of their parents, it does comes from them. Parents sometimes forget how easy it is for children to pick up on things. However, a lot of them are hearing it from the media (like comedy shows and the like) and older children.
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“The Tea Party has revealed one of the ugliest faces of Average White America for all the world to see.”
Not just them, but their predecessor Palin supporters, some of the Hillary supporters, and the The Party of No, as “no way will we support a thing that ni… uh black man.. tries.”
I’m so glad the rest of the country and the world has seen these throwbacks to the Dark Ages without their masks. If nothing else, we have learned who the haters are, and why hatred and insanity go hand in hand.
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every time i hear republicans ask that stupid question “why don’t blacks vote for republicans?” the tea baggers are the perfect reason for not supporting them. the republicans never condemn racist behavior. when it came to the dumb harry reid comment, they only wanted to cut off his head because of trent lott, not because of the stupidity in the comment.
i will never vote for the party of racism/white supremacy.
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in my opinion, only the uneducated think of racial slurs first when insulting someone. I mean is somebody that dumb that they can’t think of something beyond race when insulting someone? Better yet, whenever one does have to resort to insulting someone, it usually means they have nothing of value to say and have no facts and information to bring to the debate.
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Y, I hope you have patience with your boyfreind. He is probably anxious to not have tense feelings erupt between black and white people especialy since he is involved with you.
I beleive you can tactfully discuss it with him and bring him to some new conclusions.
These tea baggers definitly give me the creeps , they touch off a feeling of hate in me , and, it makes me realise they must be pretty insecure people.
Look for telltale signs that arnt obvious racism, like always crying about how Obama represents socialism or something, and equate him with Hugo Chavez. They have no idea what it would be like living under Hugo Chavez, with a leader with the sweep of his hand will throw down some dumb mandate to the people everyone has to live with while closing down oposition tv and radio stations and putting them in jail.
Really distrust them if they seem like they are blaming Obama for this horrible financial colapse that Bush and the republicans handed us on a silver platter. Even if they pretend to not like Bush either, if they cant get it correctly why we are suffering now in this crises, they obviosly have an agenda against Obama.
I never could get what they are against in health care, they sound just plain stupid
Again, the part I really hate is this implying anger and that they are stockpiling guns and weapons to “do what they have to do to do whatever…”….These are things that need to be confonted by the authorities that all people black, white, brown , yellow, should support.
The obligation that we all really have to do is support the authorities to supress this talk of arms and confrontation.
Herneith and Leigh, good to hear your testimonies about Canada. This is something bigger than just the USA
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leigh- that hatred that some of these children(+teachers) had for me just for being black was really terrifying.
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I also that Canada was more racially progressive then the states. I guess I was wrong
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@Ankhesen:
You must’ve attended the same school I did. I was called fried rice eating, buck-toothed dogeater. Why, I never ate a dog in my life! 😉
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I have to say that I’m a pacifist and I completely disagree with romantic notions of “identity” and “peoplehood” and all that happy crappy.
And yet… and yet…
As someone brought up in German Wisconsin with a very hardcore Rooseveldtian and abolitionist view of history, if there’s any group of human beings which make me viscerally feel like picking up the gun and going to war, it’s the tea baggers.
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Its very interesting to remember those words of Abraham Lincoln and what he said about black people , that was brought in here and we discussed it.
These teabaggers are the ones who represent this continuation of white peoples atitudes against black Americans that has just been passed down from generation to generation.
It is real and , mixed with that Roisse guys bs, John Meyer idiocy, Imus crud , it just paints a very real picture that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
In America, I guess black people really do have to be on the defensive, its not time to let up now.
I dont blame black resentment and can only look for the grey area in the middle to find common ground to at least try to take my responsibility ,as a white man from America, to ackowledge that , no, everything isnt hunky dory between the races in the USA
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@c:
I don’t doubt that. I had the same fears as a minority as well. I’m sorry you had to go through this crap.
Canada’s history of racism has been pretty much swept under the rug compared to the US. It’s still there; just not in your face.
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^^^^^
Yes, they tend to be more polite about and give off an aura of cluelessness when confronted with it.
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B.R.,
…it just paints a very real picture that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
In America, I guess black people really do have to be on the defensive, its not time to let up now.
I dont blame black resentment and can only look for the grey area in the middle to find common ground to at least try to take my responsibility ,as a white man from America, to ackowledge that , no, everything isnt hunky dory between the races in the USA.
Now see? What is that hard? *winks*
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B.R.
He isnt my boyfriend just a very handsome lad that lives down the hall.
I will have patients with him, as I do with everyone, but his ignorance is annoying nonetheless.
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@Ankhesen Mié
I was called African Booty Cleaner often sortend to ABC from mostly white kids and some Afro Carribeans.
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For sure, Ankhesen , it just shouldnt be so hard for us to admit these things.
freak exception, bingregory
He isnt your boyfreind, Y? Then go ahead and put your foot up his booty…hahahah…how is your cello playing going , by the way?
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leigh204, you wrote:
Canada’s history of racism has been pretty much swept under the rug compared to the US. It’s still there; just not in your face.
You should post some information about violent crime in Canada. The Who, What and Where of violent crime. Maybe that would explain a few things.
Then there is Canada’s special problem of how speaking French and/or English is a big legal matter. That fight correlates a little too closely with some aspects of the Nazi regime.
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Tsk, these people are complete morons. Obama is an American – and will probably carry on with the tradition of being a lying politician. Failing to see how this is a change from the usual *politicians* all over the world.
The racism absolutely baffles me. Sad to think people can be so insanely hateful and that this is hardly an isolated incident.
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That ugly white woman sho do look stupid holding up that sign. I tell ya, when white folks don’t get their way, they really sho that true high IQ intellect they really have. SMH.
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B.R.
LOL. As for my cello its at my parents house. Unfortunately there is no space for it in my dorm room.
How did you know I played, did I mention it somewhere?
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But Squee,
He’s a black politician. So if he lies, it’s like, you know…*twirls hair*…different, or whatever…
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Ha ha ,Y, yes , you did mention it, and, I am a musician , so I remembered it…..
These tea party people do provoke a welling anger inside, they think they are angry ?
i dont think these people really get that the white cream of the crust just crashed the USA into territory bigger than since the depresion…
The thought that what will get passed down to the children of our country, after these a holes raped it, is really enraging.
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@ alwaysright101
“i will never vote for the party of racism/white supremacy”
Which one? You’ve just described both republicans (obviously) and democrats (confirmed kkk members in their ranks).
*waiting for someone to say robert byrd (lower case on purpose) is an EX kkk member*
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Why do you assume that the tea party participants are all homosexuals who engage in whatever “teabagging” is? Do you have any evidence that they are homosexuals, or is this simply a drive-by lie?
Likewise, why do you repeat Ankhesen Mie’s race hoaxes?
And why do you hate white people so much?
Never mind; the questions were all rhetorical. The more you talk, the more you lie.
BTW, you can thank Robert Lindsay, who judged you accurately, for my little visit.
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Where did he judge me or what did he say?
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http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/the-world-of-the-bully-and-pc-anti-white-cultural-marxism/
I go to Abagond, and a lot of times it is chastening. I think, “Wow, so this is what we are doing that is pissing off Blacks. Ok, let’s stop doing it.”
Then I resolve to do better.
But the grievance never ends, no matter how hard to try to do better. I’m still a White racist jerk, no matter what.
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Cruising around the Black blogosphere, you note that the PC nonsense below is the standard view on race at most intelligent Black blogs. This is a classical, and typical, example ( https://abagond.wordpress.com/). And on many Hispanic blogs too. And, I am sad to say, it’s the standard view on most of the leftwing sites I read.
http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/racist/
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Nicholas & Bingregory:
Thanks.
What Bingregory quoted is kind of like what Blanc2 said on another thread: that I see everything whites do in relation to blacks as racism.
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Ooooooh! Even more material for my case files!
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100406/ap_on_re_us/us_tea_party_blacks
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Nicholas Stix…”Whitelisted” indeed.
*hearty chuckle*
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clear, if you pay any attention whatsoever, you would know that the republicans are the ones that advocate for white supremacy, just look at the tea baggers and the republican’s policy…
the only black people who would ever vote that way are the ones that want to be white and think that buy selling their soul to the devil will get them that white card they so much desire.
liberals may have their racist moments, but at least they aren’t advocating for hate as their policy.
as for robert byrd, i just don’t give a crap for him. he is basically a republican who just doesn’t want to change parties like everyone else did in the 1960s.
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To Abagond:
Protesters go spitting and hurling racial slurs and surprise, surprise, we’re told not to pay attention. It’s an “isolated incident”. It doesn’t “mean” anything.
Or these incidents might not have happened:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589776,00.html
http://michellemalkin.com/2010/03/25/prove-a-protester-used-the-n-word-win-10000/
http://michellemalkin.com/2010/03/28/whos-perpetuating/
http://biggovernment.com/abreitbart/2010/03/25/2010-a-race-odyssey-disproving-a-negative-for-cash-prizes-or-how-the-civil-rights-movement-jumped-the-shark/
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-news-releases-new-video-of-moist-yeller-confronting-rep-emanuel-cleaver/
http://www.fox4kc.com/news/politics/wdaf-story-cleaver-spitting-033010,0,2660745.story
Granted I am not a fan of either Fox news nor Michelle Malkin but if you read the links it does call both the racial slurs and spitting incident into question.
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I think the tea-party movement would have happened even if McCain Palin WON in 2008
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The picture is horrible. I can’t believe people can be blatantly rude.
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Tea Party Activists Fund Sign Linking Obama to Hitler
Kinda reminds me of a type of ‘thinking’ here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us+canada-10636746
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Every Democratic president since FDR has had to put up with shit like the tea baggers. In a line going all the way back to the DuPont family, the American Liberty League, and Prescott Bush. The Koch brother’s father, the John Birch Society in the 1950’s.
Even the militia movement upsurge under Clinton.
Obama’s race and his supposed foreign, “anti-colonist Kenyan” way of thinking is so laughable, but 20 of this country seriously believes this shit.
That group has got to be made up of the core 20% that thought Dick Cheney was a hero.
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