Just like raw sushi is an acquired taste, so is racism. Last week, the Tea Party convention gave lessons in one major subject. It’s called Racism 101. We learned racism is fine and doing well in America. That’s for those who didn’t know it. Unfortunately, it is a reminder we need to hear in our so called “post racial” era. The Tea Party crowd was led by teachers Tom Tancredo, a former Republican Congressman and Sarah Palin. Tancredo was the opening act. Palin closed the show.
Tom Tancredo decried that people who could not spell the word “vote” nor say it in English voted for President Obama. He boldly told the crowd we need a civics literacy test before people can vote in this country. We used to have one. It was aimed at preventing Blacks from voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed any practice denying the right to vote on account of race. This includes giving literacy tests. Unfortunately for Tancredo, the good ‘ole days are gone. But if we have literary tests now, Sarah Palin would not be able to pass it without writing the answers on her hand. Even Meghan McCain, John McCain’s daughter, called Tancredo’s comments “innate racism”. No one really knows what the Tea Party crowd really stands for. I doubt if they really know. One thing is for sure. Let’s call a spade a spade. They’re spewing racism like snakes spew venom.
It’s not surprising that the Tea Party crowd wants “our country” (which really means their white privileged country) back to the way we were. Although Sarah Palin, in her keynote speech, mocked President Obama for his “hopey changey stuff,” change has come to America. It’s come in the form of an African American president at the helm with a multi-racial, multi-cultural aiming to be all inclusive agenda. That’s what galls the Tea Party crowd the most. It’s ironic that Sarah Palin calls Obama an elitist while Tom Tancredo calls multi-culturalism a “cult”.
For the Tea Party crowd, if it looks different, acts different, talks or walks different, it must be excluded. The Tea Party is elitist. Their type of elitism is known as racism, sexism, classism, linguism, ageism, ethnocentrism and heterosexism.
Our country’s pledge of allegiance refers to “one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all”. The “for all” part is what the Tea Party crowd apparently wants to remove. I’m sure if they could, they would. Sarah Palin gave her keynote speech during a lobster and steak dinner. What they really served was raw racism.
I don’t want to silence the Tea Party crowd. Open dialogue is what this country was built on. We will just have an agreement to disagree.
What do you think? Your comments are welcome.
sore nipples says
Reports such as this makes me so unhappy, I am aware it’s cleache to say if we can all just simply get along, but how much more of this stuff are we all gonna suffer?