Comments on: Are The Tea Partiers Racists?

By: Matthew Dickinson

Matthew Dickinson — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:16:11 +0000

Lots of great comments here, presenting a nice array of perspectives. Rather than try to respond to each directly, I’m going to post a separate analysis of why I think the TP movement arose when it did. I hope this generates additional discussion of this issue. Keep those comments coming!

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:14:38 +0000

Dale and Josh (and Matt and Polemarchus),

Would you mind if I posed a question or two, in the spirit of dialogue? As you can already infer, I’m a habitual observer of Washington and a progressive — but I’m not a partisan flack. Let me also preface the questions by saying that I am certainly as turned off as you are by the childish, demeaning, obfuscatory rhetoric that we hear in politics. I know my patience wears just as thin as yours as I peer through all the televised posturing to keep tabs on how government operates.

1) How strong is your faith that the personalities at the head of the Tea Party movement, once elected to Congress, will make more effective lawmakers than the Republican Party establishment? After all, the only evidence we have so far is that these rallies are allowing everybody to vent their legitimate frustration. They’re not particularly testament to the “personal integrity” or leadership potential of people like Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann or Dick Armey.

2) Can you pick out a couple of tough decisions made since President Obama and his cabinet came to office? — Decisions when you thought to yourself, “This is just a complicated problem for anyone in a cabinet, and I give him or her credit for handling this about as well as anyone could.”

It’s my sense that it is on matters like these — How close is our government to concrete solutions? — that progressives part ways with the Tea Party leadership. We’d like better government too, but the rhetoric of the TP (replete with non sequiturs like gun rights activism at health care rallies) has been as fast and loose as it was during the most boorish partisan squabbles of the Bush Administration.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 05 May 2010 00:46:00 +0000

As another Tea Party supporter, I’m inclined to agree with Dale’s analysis to a degree. I think two things are certain when we look at the Tea Party: 1) Just like all movements and political groups (the Democratic and Republican Parties included) extremists exist. Are some of the extremists in the Tea Party movement most likely conservative and racist? I don’t think an assertion of that nature would be too far off base. I see no plethora of “tree-huggers” at Tea Party rallies around the country. However, I think it is equally clear that 2) Dale’s point is well-founded. Many liberals simply disregard the Tea Party movement and attempt to discredit it by simply labeling its members as racist. This label is simple to use and very effective; as Prof. Dickinson noted in the post above, if you ask all the racists at a cocktail party to raise their hands, you’ll get no response. Labeling a group as “racist” not only discredits it but immediately diminishes the possibility that more people will continue to join said group.

This brings me to my next point: I believe many liberals are quick to discredit the Tea Party with the racist claim because they are scared. They see a movement, a mostly conservative movement (which is a crucial characteristic) that has the potential to become a force in the American political landscape. Say what you will about the timing of the movement and the composition of Tea Party movement, its message is simple and true. Many Americans are fed up with how both Democrats AND Republicans are conducting the fiscal endeavors of this country. I dare someone to find polling data that says that a significant percentage of the American people are happy with the budget deficit and how those in Washington have conducted the fiscal side of things in Washington. If I were a liberal and a supporter of the Democratic Party, I would be scared too. The market for supporters of the Tea Party is enormous. What could prevent individuals in this market from joining a movement championing one of their major concerns? I’m sure being perceived as a racist isn’t something that will have them running to the next Tea Party rally.

By: Dale Steinacker

Dale Steinacker — Wed, 05 May 2010 00:32:54 +0000

Matthew,
Now I would like to turn to the substance of the disagreement between the Tea Partiers and President Obama and the Democratic Congress. First, let me note that President Bush’s “approval rating” in the low 20′s showed many of his former supporters were unhappy with him when he left office. Also, I remember a good deal of anger on talk radio about the planned “amnesty” for illegal aliens.
Let me turn to the anger of the older Tea Partiers. The three major concerns for this group are health card, inflation and security or safety.
We have paid Social Security and Medicare taxes our entire working lives. When the Health Care proposal was passed, it seems to us that we are being cheated. The “half-a-trillion” dollars in Medicare “savings” to be used to fund the new system is either a fraud or will come at the expense of our medical treatment. For a stronger discussion of this matter see my blog entry.
http://dalesideas.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/your-money-and-your-life/
The effectiveness of Sarah Palin’s “death squad” charge is based on the fact that denial of treatment is the main method of cost control in the system. Some tort reform with a system of co-pays designed to reduce wasteful visits would have been a better approach. Those of us who read the British newspaper websites are all too familiar with the practices of the British NICE and how it does cost control.
Increases in the cost of living have a serious impact on people with fixed or relatively limited incomes. Any defined benefit plans will lose value quickly in a time of inflation. Apparently, the horrible idea of the government taking over private IRA’s and converting them to government annuities is still not dead. If you think people are hot about health care, wait until the annuities monstrosity comes up.
The entire cap and trade system is a form of tax increases that will raise the cost of everything. I know there is talk of offsetting this with refunds but I’ll believe that when I see it.
In terms of security, the shooting of farmers in Arizona and the attempted, if botched, car bombing in Manhattan remind us of the problems with our government when it comes to securing the borders and protecting us. When I was a student, the prevailing theory was that Churchill was wise and Chamberlain had been foolish. We learned that when Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf that he wanted to kill a lot of people, he meant it. It looks from here as if President Obama is more a Chamberlain than a Churchill and, frankly, it worries us.
I have tried to write this column in a way which shows my disagreement with the President without ad hominem attacks or venom. Hopefully the conversation can continue in that way.

By: Dale Steinacker

Dale Steinacker — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:52:55 +0000

Matthew,
As someone who sympathizes with the Tea Party view, here goes.
The question “Are The Tea Partiers Racists?” is irrelevant and a diversion. Do you remember a conversation when you were a teenager and your parents commented on everything but your argument? They criticized your posture, your grammar and everything else but never listened to what you were saying?
The first problem with the progressive charge of racism is the proof of an absolute unwillingness to listen to any disagreement.
I remember a time when the epithet “N-word lover “was capable of winning arguments. People hesitated when faced with that charge. It was often used by Democratic politicians as an argument stopper. Now, fortunately we laugh at that epithet. Today, Democratic politicians use the epithet “Racist” instead. Neither epithet is a valid argument. They are merely used in an effort to silence the opposition.
By the way, I do admit to “hating” people based on color. Every week in the football season, I support the players (of all skin colors) who are wearing the jersey of my team (The Baltimore Ravens) and “hate” the players (of all skin colors) who are wearing the jersey of the opposing team.
I wish the repeated use of the “racist” epithet mattered as little as which team I root for. Unfortunately, it can have serious consequences for our society.
At the least, the “racist” epithet will lose its power. That would be unfortunate because actual racism is harmful to people and society.
At worst, we could easily end up with a Balkanized country looking wistfully back at the ideal of “E pluribus unum.”
Thomas Sowell a (black) economist and historian with the Hoover Institute at Stanford has studied and written on the clashes of cultures and ethnic groups. I would strongly recommend viewing his recent columns on Race and Politics (April 6-9, 2010). http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell
He has studied and published extensively on how the “race card” can destroy a society. His columns are sobering.