April 24, 2010

"Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black"

A pretty good little intellectual exercise.
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 protester — 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?
I think we know how that would be viewed.

4 comments:

Bob said...

I saw this earlier today.

Great freakin point.

If these groups were black all the Confederate crazies would want the f'n national guard called out to "put them in their place."

Monk-in-Training said...

Having talked to a former KKK'r who participated in the Tulsa Race Riot, I can attest, that Bob is exactly correct, except in one point.

It wouldn't just be the neo-Confederates, whites all around the country would be howling for that dangerous movement to be 'put down'.

Can anyone say Black Panther? How many of those guys ever existed, really? Compared to this crowd?

leighton said...

Yeah, I have family members who are becoming more and more involved in the Tea Party movement and giving up pacifism in favor of assault rifles. I am going to believe there are people buried somewhere under those oscillating bundles of chemical rage, even though I don't have any direct evidence of that anymore. So I guess atheists (some, anyway) do have faith after all.

Bob said...

"It wouldn't just be the neo-Confederates, whites all around the country would be howling for that dangerous movement to be 'put down'."

Keep in mind that I have been generally referrng to all Far-right Republicans these days as Confederates.

That said, you are right, the uproar would not be limited to the south. I was raised in a Michigan town known for its racism and presence of KKK leaders. These folks would come unglued.

You raise another good point. How many people who called themselves black panthers were there?