No racial diversity in the tea party movement, eh?
01/19/10
I recently had a conversation with a friend in which he castigated, among other things, the "underlying tones of racism" is the tea party movement.
There was the case of one black tea partier who gained attention in a way I'm sure he wouldn't have preferred. That man is Kenneth Gladney:
A group of people with purple t-shirts were leaving the rally. As the group walked past me, I offered one of the gentlemen a Gadsen flag and a button. The man turned and looked at my board and said, “who in the f**k is selling this shit?”
I replied “I am Sir, would you like a flag or a button?“
He shouted at me, “What kind of n****r are you?!” Then, he grabbed my board, so I quickly grabbed it back, then the man punched me in the face and charged at me . I put my hands up to block the second blow from the large man, when two other people from that group grabbed me and threw me to the ground and started punching and kicking me. I was kicked in the head and in the back, legs and buttocks. Then a white woman ran up to me while I was on the ground and began kicking me in my head as well. A few people came to my rescue for which I am forever grateful.
Gladney was beat down by street thugs from the SEIU. Local St. Louis Democrat elected officials dragged their feet before finally filing charges, even though the whole event had multiple witnesses and was even caught on video:
But, I'll admit that this is just one example, propelled to the level of the topical by this unfortunate incident. Gladney didn't seek attention. It found him at the end of a racial epithet and a balled fist.
I just wish a news organization would do a profile piece on, say, out-spoken tea party leaders who are black.
Oh, wait. Someone did that, you say?
[Lloyd] Marcus, a black conservative who is now involved in the growing tea party movement, attributes the problems of his childhood neighborhood, his extended family and the black community in general to a "cradle-to-grave government dependency" that in the case of his cousins enabled an idle life of crime and drug abuse.
To Marcus, President Obama's policies perpetuate that dependency. That's why, he says, it baffles him and other black conservatives when the tea party movement is dismissed as somehow anti-black, as a rowdy bunch of ignorant, white protesters who have it in for the nation's first black president.
"This is the nicest angry mob I've ever seen," Marcus said. ...
William Owens, a black author and publisher who with his wife traveled on the Tea Party Express tours with Marcus and has spoken at just about every stop along the way, also came out strongly against Obama in 2008. He published the book, "Obama: Why Black America Should Have Doubts," before the election, in an attempt to address what he called a "misguided passion" toward the former Illinois senator in black America. ...
Charles Lollar, a Maryland-based tea party supporter who is black, said there's no validity to the racism charges.
"I've seen black faces in the crowd. I've seen Latino faces in the crowd. ... It's not a movement of color. It's not a movement of party. It's a movement of principle. It's a movement of America," Lollar said.
Hummm... reporting that questions the basis and veracity of a categorical denunciation of a political movement? Novel concept.
Maybe they should pose the question about these "underlying tones of racism" to a few of these gentlemen?
I can't wait for the first person to say, "well, I mean, these are REAL black people"...