Jack & Jill Politics

It’s really good question. I agree with him — there would be a lot of people shot, arrested and killed for waving guns around. If Fox News is freaking out about TWO (2) “New Black Panther Party” members at one 2008 polling place, one of which was actually arrested on the spot for brandishing a nightstick — you know if black folks were behaving like the Tea Party that it would not be pretty up in here. I mean, we’d be talking MOVE Philadelphia-type stuff on the local level. The Tea Party has attracted some dangerous McVeigh-like elements and use code words, dogwhistles and race-baiting as its invisible pillar and organizing platform. Here’s Jasiri X’s take (hip hop video above):

A few months ago, Tim Wise wrote a widely circulated article called, “Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black “ which challenged America to take a close look at the hypocrisy of the Right Wing. Now, a Pittsburgh rapper is accepting his challenge in true Hip-Hop form.

Jasiri X has released a video called “What if the Tea Party was Black?”

The Hip Hop artist says that he got the idea when Paradise,a member of the pro-black rap group X-Clan, forwarded him a copy of Wise’s article. “I saw the article and I liked the concept,” says the rapper. So Jasiri hit the studio with producer Cynik Lethal while Paradise grabbed his video camera and they went on their mission to defeat the Right Wing propaganda machine.

What if the tea party was black
Holding guns like the Black Panther Party was back
If Al was Rush Limbaugh and Jesse was Sean Hannity
And Tavis was Glenn Beck would they harm they families
If Sarah Palin was suddenly Sistah Souljah
Would they leave it with the votes or go and get the soldiers
Yall know if the tea party was black
The government would have been had the army attack

What if Michael Baisden was on ya FM dial
For 3 hours every day calling the president foul
Would they say free speech or find evidence how
To charge him with treason like see he’s unamerican now
What if Minister Farrakhan prayed for the death
Of the commander in chief that he be laid to rest
Would they treat it as the gravest threat or never make an arrest
Even today he’s still hated for less
What if President Obama would have lost the election
Quit his job so he could go talk to the left and
Bash the government for being off of direction
Fraught with deception
And told black people they want all of our weapons
And we want our own country and called for secession
Would he be arrested and tossed in corrections
For trying to foster aggression
Against the people’s lawful selection
Our questions

Note that CPL here at JJP also commented on Tim Wise’s astute observation that the Tea Party would be viewed differently in the public eye if it was a mostly black phenomenon, quoting Wise:

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters —the black protesters — spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protesters — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? Because, after all, that’s what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation’s capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country’s political leaders if the need arose.

Imagine that white members of Congress, while walking to work, were surrounded by thousands of angry black people, one of whom proceeded to spit on one of those congressmen for not voting the way the black demonstrators desired. Would the protesters be seen as merely patriotic Americans voicing their opinions, or as an angry, potentially violent, and even insurrectionary mob? After all, this is what white Tea Party protesters did recently in Washington.

Imagine that a rap artist were to say, in reference to a white president: “He’s a piece of shit and I told him to suck on my machine gun.” Because that’s what rocker Ted Nugent said recently about President Obama.

[…]

Imagine that a black pastor, formerly a member of the U.S. military, were to declare, as part of his opposition to a white president’s policies, that he was ready to “suit up, get my gun, go to Washington, and do what they trained me to do.” This is, after all, what Pastor Stan Craig said recently at a Tea Party rally in Greenville, South Carolina.

[…]

In other words, imagine that even one-third of the anger and vitriol currently being hurled at President Obama, by folks who are almost exclusively white, were being aimed, instead, at a white president, by people of color. How many whites viewing the anger, the hatred, the contempt for that white president would then wax eloquent about free speech, and the glories of democracy? And how many would be calling for further crackdowns on thuggish behavior, and investigations into the radical agendas of those same people of color?

If you’re somehow disturbed that a black man became President despite the fact that the majority of white people in this country voted for the white guy (hey — and here’s a fist-pumping shout-out to the 43% of white people who did pull the lever for the Prez), and if you’re one of the 24% of Americans (mostly white & conservative) who sincerely believes that Barack Hussein Obama somehow faked his birth certificate and all evidence of his birth in Hawaii, then the Tea Party might have some like-minded folks asking the same questions you are.

I’m guessing most Tea Partiers are reasonable people. However, there are certainly dangerous messages coming from their various organizations. Messages that must be monitored for incitement to violence, terrorism, hate speech & treason. I highly recommend reading JJP blogger Casey Gane-McCalla’s piece: How Neo-Cons, Neo-Nazis And Neo-McVeighs Crashed Ron Paul’s Tea Party.

BTW, it infuriates me to see the media find the one Black Tea Party member to interview — like they are representative of the actual demographic and without ensuring people know the actual composition of Tea Party members…Mainstream media, we’d appreciate it if you were more responsible in your reporting…