(May 20, 2011 at 4:30 pm)Minimalist Wrote: It's called "tokenism," Adrian. Modern racists usually preface their remarks with " I have a few black friends BUT......." What follows next is some really racist shit....and that would be a perfectly reasonable explanation if the links I provided you with weren't about black members of the tea party coming out to dispute the claims of racism...
I can understand how you might think white tea party members claiming to have black friends could be construed as "tokenism", but black tea party members actively denying that there is racism in their group? What is your explanation for that?
Generally speaking, racist groups tend not to have members of the race of which they discriminate. This goes for the KKK, the BNP, and countless other groups. The Tea Party Movement on the other hand, has people of all races in it. It's main purpose is to oppose the Obama administration, as well as supporting small government policies.
I'm not denying that there is racism in the Tea Party, but it is the same racism that infiltrates practically every group, and that includes Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, etc. There are racist people out there, and they have a plethora of different views; you will find them in multiple political and social groups.
The Tea Party attracts racists because the current administration is headed by a man of African descent. If Hillary had won the nomination and the Presidency, the Tea Party would still exist, although I highly doubt it would have drawn the "racist" label.
There are documented examples of racists being chased out of Tea Parties:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYfmShJe5MA
That clip by the way, was taken out of context (as were multiple others) in a Think Progress video trying to expose racism in the Tea Party. Another clip involved a guy with his African American wife, and mixed race son. "Racism"...sure...
