Was President Obama’s Re-Election About Our Hopes or Our Fears?

There’s a lot to reflect and say about last night’s election. The re-election of President Barack Obama brought enthusiastic cheers from all corners of the country. But one should be cautious and not misread those cheers. They weren’t the cheers of 2008 where there was literally dancing in the streets as history was made and folks were left hopeful.

Last night what we heard were cheers of relief. It was relief that came from millions of people having to endure he humiliation of chaos at the polls , where many wound up standing for up 6 or 7 hours or were aggressively questioned by Tea Party backed True the Vote poll watchers who suspected their eligibility, and a range other widespread voter suppression efforts.

Last night the cheers were being relieved of having to deal with Neandrathrolic behavior from sitting lawmakers who felt that there was ‘legitimate rape‘ and that women should not only not be allowed to have abortions, but shouldn’t have access to birth control

Last night we heard cheers of relief, because folks were fearful of having what little safety nets were left to be immediate dismantled or repealed on the day those seeking power took office…

Like it or not, Obama won last night’s election because of widespread politics of fear..not hope. Many who voted for him, did so with lots of dissatisfaction and disappointment on an array of policies the President championed or did not champion, but what they perceived was coming down the pipe was so frightening folks quickly got in line and pulled the lever for the President..

It was clear with Mitt Romney that there was a 47% of the population that needed to be ousted. He and many of his supporters felt like many of us were ‘leeches’ and no longer needed to be seen as fellow human beings… The mean-spirited racially charged policies being proposed and brought before the floor in Congress, sent a strong message to many, that there was a helluva a lot of white folks who were not playing around and were going all out to roll back anything and everything that had progressed in the past 50 years. That frightened people and Obama was a beneficiary.

Last night Mitt Romney had a voting base that consisted of 89% white people. That xenophobic angry base and how they see the world is best personified with the remarks of Bill O’Reilly and his Fox News cohorts. Its personified with the nasty tweets sent out by singer Ted Nugent where he refered to Obama supporters as whores and welfare cheats. Its personified by the angry tweets from Donald Trump who said the election was  sham and a travesty and America must fight to stop what had just happened.. (an Obama win)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZZt3jPDvNQ

Only time will tell if what we experienced was some grand exercise of Good Cop Bad Cop with the end game of getting everyone to reinvest into a system that has constantly failed people. But for now many are happy that they pushed back on something they felt would be irreversibly catastrophic. By voting and re-electing Barack Obama many who are part of a growing demographic of folks who feel they’re constantly marginalized felt like they were standing up and pushing back on the type of attitude expressed in the O’reilly video..

Unfortunately, it’ll take more than just voting. More push back is needed. It ranges from deading citizens united which allowed unlimited money to come into politics to having comprehensive election reform that restricts deceptive practices and voter suppression tactics. Close to 5 Billion dollars was spent for this past election..

It’s gonna require push back to stop the relentless attempts by corporate giants to own and privatize everything from our drinking water to FEMA which is what Mitt Romney proposed. It’s gonna require us to push back and demand economic and social justice..

All the forces that worried folks are still here, most likely plotting and scheming on how to better advance their cause. Bain Capitol and uncaring companies like it are still around and doing business as usual. In fact that might be vengeful and economically spurn their workers because of the win.

The forces behind banning ethnic studies books in Arizona have not left. Those who wish to public education and privatize public universities are back at work gearing up for the next round of tuition hikes. Police are still gunning down Black people every 36 hours..The people who obstructed Obama and demonstrated racial hostility are still in Congress and the Senate.

The policies that Obama embraced or didn’t embrace are still in front of us..How will we get him to match the words he uttered in his speech last night that left many feeling re-charged?  How will we become partners in reshaping America so that beneficial for all vs being disposable tools who are only tapped when its election time? In short there’s lots more work to do and hopefully all of us are up to the challenge.

written by Davey D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddx8t6zGWxA

Rise Up Hip Hop Nation: 2012: A Year of Reckoning, Awakening, or Both?

One of my favorite people to build with is Professor Tina Bell Wright of Hip Hop Congress.. Her insights and political predictions are often eerily accurate and she always leaves one with lots to think about. Her mantra; ‘They don’t care about you’ is one that she says far and wide as a reminder for folks to how this system and those in power truly feel and how we must respond.. She hasn’t penned an essay in a while, but this latest one, which is actually a series of notes she plans to use for an upcoming panel discussion on Race and the 2012 Election is a keeper. It’s not a short read, but very, very necessary.. Please take some time to read it..It’s a sobering breakdown of many of social and political forces at play leading up to November and how and why the 2012 contest matters, but not in the traditional ways we’ve come to expect Will we keep counting on an ‘uncaring’ system to save us?  Its one of the realest articles I’ve read in a while.. Major props

-Davey D-

“2012: A Year of Reckoning, Awakening, or Both? — Examining White Supremacy, Corporate Fascism and the Generational Shift Defining the Political Landscape.” 

by Professor Tina Bell Wright

As you can probably tell from the title of my paper, I have a number of topics I hope to tie together. The plan is to pull together many ideas into one big theme (which is): this election matters, but not in the way it is usually framed. I don’t think this election matters politically at all, because politics as this system is now set up tells us nothing really. At best, it reflects the will of the highest bidder, or the frame of corporate media, or the effectiveness of the latest legislative tactics to manage or suppress voting (via voter ID laws or redistricting for example). Those that actually do vote do so with great skepticism, and a large percentage don’t even participate in the process at all. While the outcome of this election will not offer very different results (in terms of governance), it will illuminate two very different trajectories for this country (culturally)…and that matters greatly. That is what I want to focus on in this paper.

The Racialization of a Nation

Self inflicted wounds may be the most difficult to heal, psychologically at least. Since its inception, the United States has lived with a self inflicted wound that has defined every aspect of this society, most importantly, the distribution and control of all economic and political resources.  The racialization of this nation (or the color line as W.E.B. DuBois called it) continues to plague this country (and the globe more broadly) and the election of the first biracial president did nothing to change that reality.

But what elections won’t address, time eventually will in one way or another. As students of history, we are able to examine the effects of time and see that while it may be hard to see and feel change in the here and now, change does happen nevertheless. Historical factors are changing right before our eyes – namely the decline of the US Empire and shifting demographics. The results will define this country’s trajectory for the foreseeable future and could foster a progressive movement of the likes we have not seen in a generation. But backlash has thwarted progressive movements before, and it will this time again if the power of narrative building and cultural strategies are not properly understood

Culture Matters

After the 2010 election when the Tea Party swept into power, Colorlines.com published an interview w/ hip hop scholar Jeff Chang. The title of the article was “It’s Bigger than Politics, the Real Shift is Cultural”.

See: http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/11/jeff_chang_interview.html

Jeff Chang

In this interview, Chang argued that the culture wars were back, and basically a backlash to the election of Obama.

He also stated that culture always moves before politics.  He said:”culture impacts and often precedes political change….Or put in another way, political change is the final manifestation of cultural shifts that have already occurred.” 

Chang argues that the right understands the importance of culture and narrative building much better than progressives in either electoral or movement politics.

He states: “Sadly most progressives—whether they work in electoral politics or movement politics—have not yet figured culture into their theory of change. Unlike the right, they have no cultural strategy…..One thing progressives need to do is to understand the importance of expressing our hopes and dreams in narratives. Progressives misunderstand culture. The right is clear about it—Beck, Brietbart, and O’Reilly were long in the creation; they are the products of a four-decade long conservative movement building initiative. We need to build up an infrastructure that includes cultural strategy. We focus on facts and figures, but stories are what move the country. Culture is where ideas are introduced, values are inculcated, and emotions are attached to concrete change. It is where the national imagination gets moved. So we need cultural strategy.”

My work on hip hop and mobilization has brought me to the same conclusion.

I teach a course titled Sociology of Media and Popular Culture: Examining Hip Hop. In it, we discuss the theoretical foundation of media studies and the importance of examining media on three levels: production “the who” (who owns/produces media), content “the what” (what we get/see in media) and context “the how” (refers to the audience interpretation of media/ how audience understands media messages). That third level of analysis explains how one message can be understood very differently depending on the audience’s interpretation of it…which is a function of the (cultural – all encompassing) lens through which they view messages.

Applying the same multi-level analysis to this panel’s topic of Race and the 2012 Election, we realize that much of modern political analysis focuses on content – the “what”: elections, policies, etc.

For those that think critically, including sociologists, moving beyond the “what” level to examine “who” is in control is critical to understanding how the status quo power structure remains so entrenched. Much of our sociological analyses focus on the producers of our social woes – the corporate elite (1%), imperialists, corporate media, fascist governments, white supremacists, racists, democrats, republicans, Obama, Romney and so on.

Social structure we call it. It can change, but not easily, and definitely not overnight.  What we have not developed as well is our third level of analysis…our third eye if you will. And as they say, context is everything.  Power brokers (producers) and their power (content) may not change overnight, but how they are perceived and received can change everything. This is where a cultural strategy must come in.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

2012 is tagged the year of great transformation…apocalyptic even.  For many, the world we know ends, and if we are lucky a new and improved one begins. If we are not so lucky, it just ends or nothing changes. Interestingly enough, the fall of the US empire was not an apocalyptic event, but instead the result of a self inflicted wound that has been years in the making. Globalization and corporate fascism have weakened the nation state and the United States has itself to thank (or blame) depending on your perspective. Multinational corporations now trump the power of many nation-states …market supremacy has replaced white supremacy as the #1 global organizing principle. Everyone is in a race to the bottom which is now within reach for even middle class Americans. The concentration of wealth is in the hands of a smaller and smaller percentage every day.

The Dawn of OccupyHegemony Ends, Fascism Begins

While fewer and fewer control the world’s resources, the world has become more open in other ways, specifically due to technology. Disney was right: It’s a small world after all. 🙂 Technology has forever changed the power to control information. Propaganda is still a viable tool via media framing, but with technology, information comes quickly and much more freely via a number of sources.  The status quo power structure will have to take more drastic means to maintain its control; hence more infractions on civil liberties, police state tactics, etc.

Power via acceptance of dominant narratives is slowly eroding…people are waking up and losing faith in so-called leadership, especially politicians.

The more people challenge the system, the more police state tactics are employed. People now know better and must be physically controlled where mental control was all that was needed before. People are being beaten more because they are fighting back more.

Instead of building our own back door in compliance of a system never for us, police are forced to guard the front door with heavy artillery (see Carter G. Woodson’s Miseducation of the Negro). While it may not feel like it, this is progress. Military power is still power – a force to reckoned with to be sure…but with military power comes constant warfare – that type of power is always in danger of a coup…or a revolution…or friendly fire..a self inflicted wound that can fester and undermine its own prowess.  Hegemonic power, on the other hand, remains emboldened as long as all believe in the system as such.  Hegemonic power is not challenged if it is accepted as legitimate and right.

Shifting Demographics – Fear of a Black/Brown/Yellow/Red Planet

Census data shows us that fewer white babies are born today than babies of color. Whether the spike in hate groups and the recent mass shootings linked to white supremacists are manifestations of “white angst” over this reality or not can be debated, but much of the cultural strategy on the right seems to be a direct reaction to the shifting demographics. Nativist movements like the tea party exploit white fear to maintain a system of white supremacy in a country getting browner everyday.

So where does all this lead us with the 2012 election around the corner? Before we look ahead, let’s first look back and see how we got here.

2008 and the Election of Obama

When studies of the 2008 election were conducted, many focused on the demographic make up of the electorate…i.e. the youth vote, the black vote, the Latino vote, etc.  Three factors definitely contributed to Obama’s election in 2008. I think only the third will be a factor in 2012.

Factor #1: George W. Bush

According to some polls, many view GW Bush as one of the worst presidents in history; his two unfounded and unfunded wars and the heist of the US treasury left the mass majority ready for a DRASTIC change. Or to use the best anecdotal evidence I can cite, when asked by a pollster who he would vote for, one man from WVA or Kentucky said “I’m voting for the nigger.”

Factor #2: History

This probably was the most important factor. Most, including me placed a vote for history. This factor brought many people to the polls that would not normally go…and to be certain, many, especially young people of color will not come out again in 2012 in the same numbers.

Factor #3: The New Cultural Majority – Demographic make up of the electorate

The youth vote, the Latino vote and the black vote definitely helped Obama win the presidency. I was listening to talk radio the other day and I heard this white man admit that he even has grown tired of rich white men running everything. The New Cultural Majority represents a generational and demographic shift of this nation. In broad terms, it is less religious, more tolerant, less homophobic, and more open to diversity. The New Cultural Majority is not necessarily political, but leans more left than right, especially on social issues. George W. Bush and History will not be factors in this election. The question remains: will the New Cultural Majority show up in 2012?

Race and the 2012 Election: Cultural Strategies

Since Obama’s election in 2008, the right has relaunched their cultural strategy. With social media, the left is able to react quicker to many of the short term battles the right has waged. As well, demographic shifts and technology make it more difficult for one narrative to take hold and be the only story people get. This bolds well for short term battles, mostly the social issues. As well, with the new cultural majority, the demographic arc bends toward justice, but with ongoing economic uncertainty (with no end in sight), people’s fears can and will be exploited. Those that build the most compelling narrative will seize the nation’s imagination.

THE RIGHT: PRIVATIZE, PRIVATIZE, PRIVATIZE

The right’s cultural strategy involves both short term and long term objectives. The short term strategy consists of taking advantage of the 2010 gains at the local and state levels as well as tapping into white angst via nativist movements like the tea party. From it we have gotten a number of battles:1. Anti-immigration legislation, SB 1070 including even crazy talk about repealing the 14th amendment, 2. Ethnic study bans, revisionist history textbooks etc.2. Anti-gay legislation against same sex marriage etc…or even long lines at Chick Fil A to show support for “family values”3. All sorts of anti-abortion and anti-contraception legislation…probably the most targeted war on women since the women’s movement4. Anti-Muslim hysteria – Mosque protests in NY and TN, look up OC Hate video on YouTube, bans on Sharia law passed here and other nonsense5. Voter ID laws to suppress votes of students (youth vote), people of color (particularly black vote) and elderly (Medicare vote)

But given the generational shift, especially on social issues, the right has also embraced a LONG term cultural strategy…and that is best described by Ron’s Paul’s Revolution…Libertarianism…buzz words of anti-government, individual freedom, rugged individualism, free market capitalism, and privatization of all things.

This is a long tem strategy that keeps resources in the hands of few but promotes universal ideals that can transcend race, gender, sexual orientation, and age (generations).

In this LONG TERM strategy, the privatization of all publically controlled and resourced entities is promoted. Folks may not be ready to talk about privatizing Medicare, but Education is definitely the next major battlefield. Coming from California I have a first hand view of the war (see footnote; I have more to say on this but will leave to discussion and hopefully will have time). Again, privatization offers the right a way to control resources (and bodies) despite demographic changes.

Because the New Cultural Majority is younger and more progressive (socially at least), the window of opportunity to implement this long term strategy is closing quickly and they realize it. If there seems to be some fervor on the right to roll back civil rights or push through unpopular legislation, it is for a reason. Time is of the essence. But it is equally of the essence for progressives of the LEFT as well if we want to make sure our narrative is the one that takes hold.

THE LEFT: ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE

Succinctly stated, the left cannot depend on the weakening of the nation-state and shifting demographics alone to foster progressive social change. Demographic shift or not, white supremacy can and will manifest itself for generations to come via resource distribution and control. The LONG TERM war, the end of racialization of resources and the real healing of the wound that continues to plague this country will only be healed through changing attitudes, context, narrative building and cultural work.

The SHORT TERM strategy must include a focus on local community building and promotion of sustainable cultures. Our focus should be on localization – satisfying our basic needs within the bounds of our local environment.  But we must develop a coherent LONG TERM cultural strategy as well. If we do not, and the right is able to successfully privatize education, and subsequently Medicare and social security, game over. Or as I recommend to my students, have an exit strategy in place. You will find me in Ocho Rios 🙂

So in my view, this country heads in one of two directions on November 7, 2012.

TWO TRAJECTORIES:

Occupy v. Ron Paul’s Revolution

Democratic Socialism v. Rugged Individualism (Libertarianism)

brother’s keeper v. survival of the fittest

Saul Alinsky v. Ayn Rand

While the future is not clear, a few things are: The next generation will be more diverse; social issues will become less relevant with this next generation and hegemonic ideals that shape today’s political landscape will continue to be challenged…in other words, the younger generation is beginning to be a cultural force in politics. Does that mean the end of racialization of all aspects of this society? the end of white supremacy and corporate fascism? Not anytime soon but given the mass rejection of the political system by both sides of the spectrum, there is room for movement politics to take hold and a clear cultural strategy is required to move the movement in a progressive direction.

While demographics seem favorable for progressive change, backlash is always a powerful counterforce. The most important question = Which narrative will dominate the national imagination? If progressives do not clearly embrace a cultural strategy, I promise you the right will swoop in and push to privatize education, and instead of hailing Saul Alinsky as the example to follow to build strong people based power, and in it a more perfect union, one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all, we will be looking at Ayn Rand as the founding mother of the United States, 2.0 version…forget the union, you’re on your own, man, woman, senior, and child.

Added Footnotes.

1. Public Education: Ground Zero in Cultural War

The Privatization of Education: About Control, not Profit

In countries considered “poor”, i.e. most countries in the world, education is a luxury. In actuality, only about 7% of the global population receives a college education (college degree) and the majority of those people are in what are labeled the “developed” world (read richer nations).  Well, while education was never really treated as a right in the United States, the electorate is now being molded to accept education as a luxury that only the most affluent of the society will be able to afford (like the rest of the world). While the push toward privatization has taken on many phases (faces) over the last few years (from charter schools to anti-union measures), the next phase (face) is probably the most deceptive: student success initiatives. Budget pressures and student success task force reports provide the cover for the most dramatic changes to the public education system we will see pass through the state legislators to date. Students who are not already excellent academically or who are not economically able to afford increasing costs will be pushed out…and expeditiously. While public schools are still public, affected constituent groups (students, parents, and educators) must educate themselves on the changing laws and organize vehemently to hold THEIR public institutions accountable to the communities they serve. Education is one of the only paths of upward mobility in class based structures that define our society.  The more access to education a society’s members have, the less rigid its class system…the less access to education, the more rigid the class system. The privatization of education in a globalized system is meant to control who has access to education…the elite, and only the elite.

 Plan B: The Privatization of Prisons: About Control…and Profit

So what does a once educated country do when it stops educating a large majority of its population? Very few countries can boast a “middle class” of the sorts that once defined the United States. But with access to education disappearing, that middle class disappears also. Now what? Plan B. The prison industry has proven to be most lucrative. It should be obvious to all that middle class Americans would never be able to accept competing for slave wages in a global economy, and seeing that steep of a decline in standard of living, a forced alternative was hatched. Legal slave wages under the guise of the prison industry complex. Call it indoctrination into the global economy. Private entities can own prisons and corporations can utilize prison labor – from manufacturing products to telemarketing. Cheap labor once outsourced finds its way back to US shores. Those we are now locking out of education, can now be locked up into private prisons as bodies to fill new buildings and cheap laborers to make products.

2. Building a Sustainable Culture

In preparation for this panel, an alternet.org article was sent out via ABSdiscourse listserv titled: The 2012 Elections Have Little to Do With Obama’s Record … Which Is Why We Are Voting For Him…As always, it sparked some serious commentary, particularly about our tendency to fall into the trap of “voting for the lesser of two evils”. Most of the comments I read that expressed that sentiment, but I believe this comment offered not only good insight, but a viable path to progressive change.

 http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/2012-elections-have-little-do-obamas-record-which-why-we-are-voting-him?paging=off

Collapse

I suggest that you are optimistic about working within the political arena. I just can’t imagine any of the key players not complying with the wishes of those who finance their elections. Those that have stormed the WH (Chris Hedges, Bill McKibben) got some press and jail time but not sure there will be any movement in domestic or international policies as a result.

 What is my answer? Good question. For me, there are really only a few ways out and voting in meaningless elections isn’t one of them.

One is revolution. It’s a nasty and brutish with an outcome that is very difficult to predict. Revolutions can be hijacked just as easily as the electoral process (e.g., Libya). It would be my last choice.

Another is global economic collapse, somewhat likely given that all empires, like this one, have a tendency to overreach and eventually do themselves in. That will also be nasty with a big price to pay by all of us who have been drawn into the industrial culture where we depend on money and jobs for the basics of life (food, water and shelter). Most of us in the developed world are very vulnerable to collapse. One benefit of a near-term collapse, however, is the planet might not be totally ransacked leaving something to work with. Again, there are no guarantees that whoever rebuilds will have learned the lessons of the past. This would be my second choice.

Lastly, we can spend what time we have left creating a sustainable culture that, in the end, will undermine the mindless, heartless neoliberalism propelling us towards the brink. There will not be any single solution. Like nature, the solution needs to fit the ecological circumstances of the niches we live in. Among movements today, this is referred to as localization — satisfying our basic needs within the bounds of our local environment. It’s the antithesis of our globalized economy. It is the way our natural world works and we have clearly demonstrated we can’t improve on that. It is time to reestablish enduring relationships with our fellow humans and with the natural world. The risks of hijack are minimal and this would be my first choice.

3. See also:

http://riseuphiphopnation.blogspot.com/2009/12/disunited-states-of-america-red-white.html

http://riseuphiphopnation.blogspot.com/2010/08/white-supremacy-from-bacon-to-obama-are.html

http://riseuphiphopnation.blogspot.com/2009/08/miseducation-of-nation-unveiling.html

written by Professor Tina Bell Wright

Tea Party Candidate Says: ‘Minorities Prefer Drug Dealing’…Woman Stomped by Tea Party Supporters in Ky

Tea Party candidate Al Reynolds says minorities prefer drug dealing over college

With 6 days away from the election more and more racism and outrageous behavior is being blatantly displayed. Let’s start with this doozie. Here we have Tea Party candidate Al Reynolds who is running in the 52nd district in Illinois who during a candidate’s forum said minority men preferred drug dealing vs going to college.

“I’ve been in the city and the dichotomy of the women and the men in the minorities, there is a difference in the fact that most minority women, either the single parent or coming from a poor neighborhood, are motivated more so than the minority men,” Reynolds said, when asked what he would do to increase diversity at state colleges. “And it’s a pretty good reason. Most of the women who are single parents have to find work to support their family. The minority men find it more lucrative to be able to do drugs or other avenues rather than do education. It’s easier….We need to provide ways that are more incentive, other than just sports avenues, for the men for the minorities to want to go to college and get an education and better themselves before the women have to support them all.”

We’re not sure if he saw a BET comedy show or if watched one too many rap videos. Perhaps he overheard the rhetoric of one of those self hating token Black and Brown folks who are a part of the Tea Party. In any case, it’s an erroneous statement and quite offensive. It’s also indicative of the Tea Party and their supporters.

The big irony here is the other day after I put out my article about the parallel’s between the rise of the Tea Party and the rise of the Klan at the turn of the century when the movie ‘Birth of a Nation‘ was released, these Tea Party folks went and found a some Black guy to write a blog calling me a bonehead for speaking on their racism. My guess is he’ll defend these remarks. Thats how such folks usually do..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsIqRpEB7lQ&feature=player_embedded

The other incident that has everyone talking involves Tim Profit a volunteer co-ordinator Kentucky Senator Tea Party candidate Rand Paul and a 23-year-old woman named Lauren Valle who is a member of MoveOn.org. A video shows Valle being stomped by a group of men who support Rand. Included in that footage is Profit actually stomping on her head.

Valle explained that she was in Kentucky to bring attention to Paul being a puppet of corporate interests and she has been using street theater as a way to get her message across. The night of the debate, when Valle got beat up, she was wearing a sign and wanted to satirically give Paul and ’employee of the month award’.

Paul supporters who knew who she was had surrounded her claiming they were doing ‘crowd control’ and might have to ‘take some one out’.

Valle describes what was shown in the footage;

When Rand Paul’s car arrived a couple of them stepped in front of me so I stepped off the curb to get around them to get back out front. At that point they started grabbing for me and I ran all the way around the car with them in pursuit. The footage is after I’ve run all the way around the car and I’m in front of the car and that is when they took me down. One or two people twisted my arms behind my back and took me down… It was about two-to-three seconds after that another person stomped on my head. And I lay there for 20 seconds or so and my partner Alex came and got me up and that’s the point where there is the media clip of me speaking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsrD9NxRC74&feature=player_embedded

So what we have at the end of the day is Tea Party members stating unabashedly that Black men prefer drug dealing over education and a young 23 year old woman who wearing a sign getting stomped by a group of men. This is the same Tea Party folks who were running around just a year ago disrupting Healthcare Debate Townhalls. Have people forgotten that?  Sadly the Tea Party is reminding the world that violence is a way of life for them. In the words of former SNCC member H. Rap Brown ‘Violence is as American as Apple pie’.  If you think that assertion is far-fetched we remind you of this infamous confrontation involving the Tea Party misfits confronting a man with Parkinson’s disease.

written by Davey D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ik4f1dRbP8&feature=related

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

 

How Low & How Blatantly Racist Will These Tea Party Campaign Ads Get

David Vitter

We got a lot of response from the article we penned the other days that showed how history might be repeating itself with respect to the rise of the Tea Party and what took place during the turn of the century when the movie Birth of a Nation came out. We made the case that the rhetoric associated with the Tea Party like that landmark movie has created a climate and opened the doors for racial hatred and intolerance. Needless to say, the article didn’t sit well with Tea Party folks who insisted that they weren’t racist and that such assertions were baseless.

Of course many of us have come to see things quite differently. The examples of their intolerance have been endless. Here’s a clear case involving Louisiana Senator David Vitter who recently signed a pledge to the North Central Louisiana TEA Party Patriots where he promised to conduct himself personally and professionally in a moral and socially appropriate manner.

Well take a look at this vile ad and you can clearly see what the Tea Party sees as moral and socially appropriate. People from all over the country, including religious leaders have denounced this ad and demanded that Vitter remove it. But not the Tea Party. In fact Vitter is supposed to do some forums with them. You take a look let us know what you think. And yes if those images look familiar, its because they’re the same ones used by Tea Party candidate Sharon Angle in Nevada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uvp0Jljh6U&feature=player_embedded

check out the Colorline story on this topic.

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is the Rise of the Tea Party the Reconstruction & ‘Birth of a Nation’ all Over Again?

It’s important that we remember a couple of  old sayings 1-‘Nothing is new under the sun‘ and 2-‘If you don’t learn the lessons of history you are destined to repeat it‘.  Many people have forgotten about or never knew about DW Griffiths landmark film Birth of a Nation‘. It was taken from the book ‘The Clansmen‘ which depicted newly freed Black slaves running the government and causing the country to fall to pieces. The movie showed that this country was falling until an organization was formed that gave rise to the country and restored order. That outfit was the Ku Klux Klan‘.

The part that most people know about Birth of a Nation is the Reconstruction.. Here’s a clip and brief synopsis

Part 2: Reconstruction

Stoneman and his “mulatto” protegé, Silas Lynch, go to South Carolina to observe the expanded franchise. Black soldiers parade through the streets. During the election, whites are shown being turned away while blacks stuff the ballot boxes. The newly elected black legislature passes laws requiring white civilians to salute black officers and allowing mixed-race marriages.

Meanwhile, Ben, inspired by observing white children pretending to be ghosts to scare off black children, devises a plan to reverse the perceived powerlessness of Southern whites by forming the Ku Klux Klan. Elsie is angered by his membership in the group.

Then Gus, a former slave who became educated and gained a title of recognition through the army, proposes to marry Flora. Scared by Gus’ lascivious advances, she flees into the forest, pursued by Gus. Trapped on a precipice, Flora leaps to her death. In response, the Klan hunts Gus, tries him and finds him guilty, kills him, and leaves his corpse on Lieutenant Governor Silas Lynch’s doorstep. In retaliation, Lynch orders a crackdown on the Klan. The Camerons flee from the black militia and hide out in a small hut, home to two former Union soldiers, who agree to assist their former Southern foes in defending their Aryan birthright, according to the caption.

Meanwhile, with Austin Stoneman gone, Lynch tries to force Elsie to marry him. Disguised Klansmen discover her situation and leave to get reinforcements. The Klan, now at full strength, rides to her rescue and takes the opportunity to disperse the rioting negroes. Simultaneously, Lynch’s militia surrounds and attacks the hut where the Camerons are hiding, but the Klan saves them just in time. Victorious, the Klansmen celebrate in the streets. The film cuts to the next election where the Klan successfully disfranchises black voters and disarms the blacks. The film concludes with a double honeymoon of Phil Stoneman with Margaret Cameron and Ben Cameron with Elsie Stoneman. The final frame shows masses oppressed by a mythical god of war suddenly finding peace under the image of Christ. The final title rhetorically asks: “Dare we dream of a golden day when the bestial War shall rule no more? But instead-the gentle Prince in the Hall of Brotherly Love in the City of Peace.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynCku4c01VE&feature=related

People should take a look at some of these clips and think about whats going on right now with the anger and racial hostility attached to your modern-day Tea Party and sympathizers.  There’s a study that by the University of Washington and the NY Times that shows the motivation behind the Tea Party was ‘conservatism’ (a desire to return to the good ole days) and the election of Barack Obama. We will be doing a radio show this week where the folks behind the study will go into great detail explaining all their findings. It’ll blow you away.

The other thing about the Tea Party is, it’s a media creation. The information, tone, marching orders are all rooted in a large network of right-wing media outlets  and personalities with Fox being the centerpiece.

The word used to describe this phenom is Videocracy... the use of media to move people politically. This happened in Italy with media mogul and its current President Silvio Berlusconi. There’s a documentary called  Videocracy that focuses on Berlusconi and his 30 year media reign over Italy and the impact that’s had. Needless to say he went all out to prevent the showing of this film on his vast networks.

This concept of Videocracy was also shown in Oliver Stone‘s new film South of the Border where he shows how media corporations including our own CNN has been used to push political agendas, help launch coups and  undermine democratic process in various countries.  Berlusconi’s ascension was called a coup of sorts and if the Tea Party creation becomes politically successful it’ll go down in history as a coup as well.

Race Riots resulted in a lynching in Omaha during the Red Summer of 1919

We need to keep all this in mind when looking at the clips from Birth of a Nation and recall all the increased lynchings, attacks and race riots that took place during the first few years after this  film was released. The most notable was the Red Summer of 1919. The movie  (media) created a hostile climate that lasted for years.

We should also keep in mind that the newly formed NAACP denounced the film while filmmaker DW Griffith emphatically denied the film was racist. If that wasn’t enough then President Woodrow Wilson not only gave the film two thumbs up.  He said  ‘It’s like writing history with lightening’. He added, that  his only regret was what the movie depicted was terribly true.

It’s hard not to draw parallels with the emphatic denials of racism by Tea Party leaders while witnessing the enthusiastic endorsement of racial hostility by political leaders and media pundits here in 2010. From the racial charged remarks of radio talk show host Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh to the overtly racist remarks by politicians like Sharon Angle, Debbie Riddle and Betty Brown one can see the handwriting on the wall. All this is compounded by the fact that there’s been a rise in right-wing hate groups and hate crime. The vitriol, vandalism and attacks we saw around the proposed ‘Ground Zero Mosque‘ (Park 51)  the other month underscored that point.

The bottom line is that we now have a climate where any shortfalls or discomfort will be scapegoated to people of color who have growing political, economic social power.

The other thing to keep in mind, is that  film premiered in Los Angeles which shortly after housed the largest Klan chapters in the country. The KKK was so powerful that in early 20s the group began protesting Hollywood’s film industry because of two films ‘The Pilgrim‘ and ‘Bella Donna’ which they felt did not depict them in a good light.

The Klan bolstered by the DW Griffith film saw themselves as a reform organization and political entity that demanded legitimacy. What do we see happening today with the Tea Party and its racism which is couched in so called ‘legitimate’ political discourse?

We see them being embraced and held up as a legitimate force that is on a mission to restore America.  For them restoring America means taking away any sort of safety net for those who have have fallen on hard times or are members of groups that have been systematically denied opportunities.

Restoring America means trying to change the constitution to to deny citizenship to Brown folks born here, under the guise of  ‘terror baby‘  and ‘anchor baby‘ threats.

In short restoring America means an aging population of people, scared of change and the Blacking and Browning of America are pulling out all the stops and going full steam ahead to not only hold on to power, but to also suppress those they deem a threat… Watch the clips below and when you get time, the full length feature and you’ll see that many are pushing to have a tragic part of this nation’s history repeat itself.

-something to Ponder-

Davey D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t-7SVbLjBw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRyIndtcYU4

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Why I’m Scared of Christine O’Donnell by J Smooth

Shout out to my homie J Smooth for posting this up…Yes there are many reasons to be scared of Christine O’Donell and her Tea Party ilk.. What’s even scarier are all the people who could stop her who simply won’t for some very weak reasons..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjn6RoJBkmQ

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Sarah Palin & Her Mamma Grizzly Bears…10 to Watch Out for During the Mid-Terms

Sarah Palin is everywhere and causing havoc along the way. For the mid-term elections she has a number of Tea Party candidates vying for office who she endorsed and dubbed ‘Mamma Grizzilies‘… Here’s a break down of who they are.. They range from Star Parker to Carly Fioriona to Sharon Angle. We suggest you pay close attention to them..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoXwzm8Tdmc

The AT&Tea Party: We’re in the Business of Silencing People & Net Neutrality

These are indeed strange times we live in where even when we’re repeatedly told we should not be surprised as to what goes down, especially in the world of politics-goes down. It was surprising to learn that AT&T is one of the biggest backers of the Tea Party and together they are working overtime to try to get rid of the Democratizing concept that has made the Internet so powerful called ‘Net Neutrality‘.

I guess one shouldn’t be shocked at the hypocrisy of the Tea Party which claims it takes issue with big corporation but then generously supports their agenda. I’m more upset with Apple which uses AT&T and upset that my hard-earned money which pays for this Iphone is going to uplift a political party that many of feel are racist and in opposition to many of our concerns.

As for Net Neutrality, for those who don’t know about this concept, it essentially says all data is to be treated equal. This means the little blog in the middle of Iowa can be accessed just as easily as the NY Times in NY. All websites are essentially one click away metaphorically speaking.

What telecoms have been doing to the tune of over 100 million dollars in lobbying money in 2009 alone with AT&T leading the way is try to change the basic structure of the internet and re-create the very conditions that drove us away from traditional media to the internet in the first place.  Instead of everyone being ‘one click away’ they want to create a tiered system where websites and companies who pay top dollars are one click away while everyone else could be 2, 3, 4 or not even on the system at all.

This means if I am living in Oakland, California and wish to present additional information to the rest of the country about some important event like the tragic Oscar Grant shooting from 2009 I would no longer be on par with the mainstream outlets.  My information could be slowed down or even blocked.

Hence, someone in NY might click on the Oakland Tribune site and get the information immediately, but it might take a couple of hours or maybe even a day or two to be visible to on my website DaveyD.com or the websites Indy media SF, ColorlinesYouth Radio or the SF Bayview. The sad part is that person in NY might not even know this additional information had been slowed down or suspended by AT&T, Comcast or some other ISP that may have a political agenda that they want to carry out that is in stark contrast with your content.

The person on the receiving end of the information will do as they’ve always done since the internet been around and click on a link expecting to move seamlessly from one site to the next. When one site is slowed down or not accessible they move onto another. So again what AT&T wants to do is make sure the NY Times loads up quickly while the small blogger comes up slowly.

When one considers how so many people have been able to come up, challenge traditional media with other facts and various narratives to a story, net neutrality has leveled the playing field.  Unfortunately the big telecoms do not want this..and apprently neither do the Tea Party and several prominent gatekeeping civil rights orgs and politicians they have spent money on.

AT&T sponsored National Urban League Centennial Celebration. Was that part of their strategy to reach out to Civil Right orgs and get them to echo GOP talking points on Net Neutrality?

Initially the Net Neutrality debate was partisan with mostly conservative folks against it. AT&T decided that one of their strategies would be to use their money and influence to get key civil rights leaders to come on board. This may have included generous sponsorships they’ve given folks over the years with everyone from Jesse Jackson of Rainbow Push to Marc Morial of the National Urban League whose centennial celebration they recently sponsored.  Their defection and non-commital responses to supporting net neutrality was even welcomed and celebrated by top conservative bloggers like Andrew Breibart the man behind the Shirley Sherrod controversy .

Jackson has noted both in his statement to the FCC and publicly that he and Rainbow Push give ‘voice to the voiceless’. How does one have a voice without Net Neutrality protections?

Even more troubling is seeing members of the Congressional Black Caucus standing alongside the AT&T/Tea Party. How does this happen in 2010 where CBC members were just a couple of months ago complaining about racism where they were called ‘Nigger’ and being spat upon by the Tea Party members, are walking now hand in hand? Oh yeah that happens when big time lobbying money enters the picture. I guess folks can afford  to buy a clean handkerchiefs to wipe away the spit and ‘let bygones be bygones’ as far as the racial insults are concerned as they all stand under the money tree-lined umbrella of AT&T. Peep this article called ‘Hey, Capitol Hill: Who’s Your Daddy ? AT&T‘ to get a better understanding the pervasiveness of this telecom giant.

NAACP head Ben Jealous

AT&T and the telecoms even got Ben Jealous and the NAACP which relied heavily on the freedoms of the internet to launch a campaign to try to save Troy Davis from being executed to take a ‘neutral position on Net Neutrality. Remind me to let Ben know they spelled the word ‘endorse’ wrong in their clarification statement.

In recent days an online petition was put together by Color of Change pushing CBC members to step up and get on the right side of this issue. That would be away from the position of the huge telecoms.

It’s our hope that all of us stop and take a long hard look at what’s going on with Net Neutrality and not allow this important issue to get away from us the way it did when it came to media consolidation.  If you recall, back in the days leading up to that landmark telecommunications bill of ’96 we heard similar arguments from the big media corps on how giving them all this power would be a good thing for consumers. We also saw there were handfuls of Black and Brown folks who tried to jump in bed with the Clear Channels of the world. They were told they would have better opportunities. Have things gotten better since  the Consolidation? Turn on your local radio station and the answer is more than obvious-‘Hell Naw’.

The ‘Clear Channeling of media has been horrific. Again, its the main reason so many of us fled to the Internet. We wanted something better. We wanted our individual voices to be heard.  If we allow the telecoms to gut Net Neutrality with the help of the Tea Party and a handful of civil rights leaders leading the charge we will be talking about what a big mistake this was 15 years from now. Don’t let history repeat itself.

written by Davey D

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Wright: White Supremacy from Bacon to Obama: Are We Finally at the Moment of Reckoning?

White Supremacy from Bacon to Obama: Are We Finally at the Moment of Reckoning?

by Professor Tina Wright


A few months ago, I got into a debate online with a white woman I did not know. She was “scared to death” about the direction of this country and felt Obama and his policies were going to ruin the United States. She was worried about the “new world order” and saw Obama as the face of it. While acknowledging “problems” starting under Bush, she believed things were much worse now under Obama.

Her reasoning epitomized white privilege so I asked her one last question which i had a feeling she would not, or could not answer: When were things “better” in this country? Name one time.

as i suspected, I never heard from her again…

maybe she thought she was being set up for a history lesson…and she was. I wanted to ask her if things were better when the indigenous’ lost their land and lives? or Africans and African Americans were enslaved for hundreds of years? Or maybe during the rule of jim crow domestic terrorism? lynching? the great depression? segregation? crack? 50% youth unemployment in cities in the 80s? For her, today’s “sky is falling doomsday” is for many “just another day in the U.S.A.”.

I’m not sure she learned anything that day….but i know i did. James Baldwin’s Fire Next Time may be upon us.

“But it is not permissible that the authors of devastation should also be innocent.

It is the innocence which constitutes the crime.” – James Baldwin

Before Obama won the election, I knew his presidency would be the opportunity for reckoning. I wrote and said many times that this country was not ready for even the symbolism of a black man as head of state. White supremacists would revolt..and in many ways have (politically, rhetorically, and even in some cases, violently).

While Obama has no real power (or desire) to threaten white supremacy, the symbolism of him being the president is more than many in this country can bare. Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck have decided to employ the same strategy that has been utilized throughout this country’s existence to protect white supremacy and the status quo power structure: stroke white fears.

Bacon’s Rebellion: The Writing on the Wall

Early slavery was “indentured servitude” for many Africans and Europeans that were brought in bondage (some kidnapped). Many worked for years and then earned freedom. That is why there were free Africans in VA and other areas from early on (some of which even went on to own slaves themselves (but that’s another story). Chattel slavery “for life” as it came to be was a result of this fear of the poorer masses (white and black) coming together and threatening the planter class (elite). Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 was a symbol of their greatest fear and THAT led to “African” based “slave for life” system, and white supremacy as an ideology to keep poor whites supporting a system that never benefited them…they were taught one thing: “at least you are not black”.

And the pattern has been used ever since…Birth of a Nation was the visualization of white fear post Civil-War. Reconstruction time was a very progressive time for the African American community, including land ownership (some of which was seized from confederate former slave owners) education, & political representation (to the point we have not seen since – why you often here preface “first Black _____ since Reconstruction…etc.). Black progress was real and Black wallstreet (Tulsa OK) and Mound Bayou (Mississippi) were models of it … but white America was NOT ready and domestic terrorism as a strategy was implemented (KKK, lynching, white mobs and finally Jim Crow by law for a century). Trust me, history does repeat itself when we do not learn the REAL lesson… these days, I hear talk of repealing the 14th amendment?! exactly…

Obama’s presidency has been about nothing BUT the ongoing racial struggle in this country…it is the latest chapter if you will. I want to take a minute to give the historical context…i will use black history but this can also be done with Native Ameican History, Chicano history, and so on…

With progress made, there is always backlash…

TO secure our freedom:

1. David Walker’s Appeal (calling for enslaved Africans to secure freedom by any means)

2. Bacon’s Rebellion (class based revolt)

BACKLASH:

1. racialization of slavery (from indentured servitude to slave for life)

2. black codes for non-enslaved African Americans

THEN WE:

1. Abolition movement to end slavery (from reform tactics like pressure though press and courts to radical revolts to moral religious tactics)..led to whole free state/slave state – congressional politics of representation 3/5 clause etc.

BACKLASH:

SECESSION

THEN to secure freedom we:

POST Civil War – RECONSTRUCTION ERA

1. Federal FREEDMAN’S Bureau

2. gains in education, land, and political representation

BACKLASH:

1. Domestic Terrorism, birth of KKK

2. Legalization of Jim Crow

THEN WE TRIED:

1. Booker T. – building institutions but not fighting racism,

2. DuBois – NAACP, tried reforming system, holding to its ideals,

3. Garvey – actually inspired by Booker T., self determination, building black institutions and economic empowerment with black money not white donors like Booker T. had

BACKLASH:

1. J Edgar Hoover hired first black agent to infiltrate UNIA.

2. Black leaders pitted against each other as tactic (Washington v. DuBOis, Garvey v. DuBois)

3. Internal strife (movements brought down from within/tactic used in revolts earlier too)

THEN we HAD:

1. CRM – Emmitt Till, montgomery bus boycott – masses organizing, SNCC, BPP, etc

BACKLASH:

1. COINTELPRO

2. MLK v. MALCOLM,take sides (tactic divide and conquer which Malcolm X later rejected)

THEN:

hip hop – voice for youth coming of post-CR era

BACKLASH:

commodfied – frame one dimensional and sell for profit while reinforcing stereotypes..see BAMBOOZLED

THEN:

OBAMA

BACKLASH:

1. tea party

2. “liberal” squabbling on politics instead of organizing actions (which i argue is very purposeful and again refer to Malcolm X speech on foxes and wolves..liberals and conservatives)

3. the fear of a brown planet (immigration debate, 14th amendment, etc.)

I write all this to basically point out that we have to make sure we know not only what we are fighting for (freedom, justice, sustenance)…but WHO we are fighting for (people’s class), and who we are fighting against (elite)…because there have been many times in history we have been pitted against each other as a tactic when we could have united and been a powerful force for our own freedom…we can either learn lessons of history, or continue to repeat them…

Ms. Sherrod breaks it down plainly on why understanding and dealing with white supremacy is critical to building class consciousness…it has not only been A strategy but it has been THE strategy of the owning class since before this country formed…back to colonial days..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa4t4WLuRyI&feature=player_embedded

We cannot be free until they are free – James Baldwin

James Baldwin

For working people to come together (again – see Bacon) they must first recognize the humanity they share…and white supremacy is the roadblock denying that truth. That is what the white middle class has done for this system…people will continue to support a system that only benefits 1% until they recognize that they are not a part of that 1%…they are a part of the 99% masses across the globe of all hues…

so i say all that to say this:

If you really study the struggle of black history and the use of white supremacy to keep iniquity alive, as i have said many times before…even the symbolic aspect of a “black” man being the president of this racist empire and how it is driving white supremacists crazy was change enough for me to believe in…lol.

Obama’s presidency is an opportunity for this country if we seize it..Before Obama rattled white supremacists awake, they were able to hide behind institutional racism and now they have to come from behind the Bushes (pun intended), show their true color (pun intended) and let the fall out begin (AZ, tea party, 14th amendment now etc)…which will FORCE US to do what we have to do to …FIGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM…and THAT is what i’ve been waiting for…The Fire Next Time… it’s time and i’ve been ready..

as my son would say…LET’S GO!!

original story:   http://riseuphiphopnation.blogspot.com/2010/08/white-supremacy-from-bacon-to-obama-are.html

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Jasiri X Drops New Song & Banging Video-What if the Tea Party Were Black?

Jasiri X has released a video called “What if the Tea Party was Black?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtH7vH4yRcY

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 Were Black?

by Tim Wise

http://www.alternet.org/story/146616/what_if_the_tea_party_were_black?page=entire

Let’s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.” The way it’s played is simple: we’ll envision recent happenings in the news, but then change them up a bit. Instead of envisioning white people as the main actors in the scenes we’ll conjure – the ones who are driving the action – we’ll envision black folks or other people of color instead. The object of the game is to imagine the public reaction to the events or incidents, if the main actors were of color, rather than white. Whoever gains the most insight into the workings of race in America, at the end of the game, wins

So let’s begin.

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 prominent mainstream black political commentator had long employed an overt bigot as Executive Director of his organization, and that this bigot regularly participated in black separatist conferences, and once assaulted a white person while calling them by a racial slur. When that prominent black commentator and his sister — who also works for the organization — defended the bigot as a good guy who was misunderstood and “going through a tough time in his life” would anyone accept their excuse-making? Would that commentator still have a place on a mainstream network? Because that’s what happened in the real world, when Pat Buchanan employed as Executive Director of his group, America’s Cause, a blatant racist who did all these things, or at least their white equivalents: attending white separatist conferences and attacking a black woman while calling her the n-word.

Imagine that a black radio host were to suggest that the only way to get promoted in the administration of a white president is by “hating black people,” or that a prominent white person had only endorsed a white presidential candidate as an act of racial bonding, or blamed a white president for a fight on a school bus in which a black kid was jumped by two white kids, or said that he wouldn’t want to kill all conservatives, but rather, would like to leave just enough—“living fossils” as he called them—“so we will never forget what these people stood for.” After all, these are things that Rush Limbaugh has said, about Barack Obama’s administration, Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama, a fight on a school bus in Belleville, Illinois in which two black kids beat up a white kid, and about liberals, generally.

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.

Imagine a black radio talk show host gleefully predicting a revolution by people of color if the government continues to be dominated by the rich white men who have been “destroying” the country, or if said radio personality were to call Christians or Jews non-humans, or say that when it came to conservatives, the best solution would be to “hang ‘em high.” And what would happen to any congressional representative who praised that commentator for “speaking common sense” and likened his hate talk to “American values?” After all, those are among the things said by radio host and best-selling author Michael Savage, predicting white revolution in the face of multiculturalism, or said by Savage about Muslims and liberals, respectively. And it was Congressman Culbertson, from Texas, who praised Savage in that way, despite his hateful rhetoric.

Imagine a black political commentator suggesting that the only thing the guy who flew his plane into the Austin, Texas IRS building did wrong was not blowing up Fox News instead. This is, after all, what Anne Coulter said about Tim McVeigh, when she noted that his only mistake was not blowing up the New York Times.

Imagine that a popular black liberal website posted comments about the daughter of a white president, calling her “typical redneck trash,” or a “whore” whose mother entertains her by “making monkey sounds.” After all that’s comparable to what conservatives posted about Malia Obama on freerepublic.com last year, when they referred to her as “ghetto trash.”

Imagine that black protesters at a large political rally were walking around with signs calling for the lynching of their congressional enemies. Because that’s what white conservatives did last year, in reference to Democratic party leaders in Congress.

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?

To ask any of these questions is to answer them. Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it. When the dangerous and dark “other” does so, however, it isn’t viewed as normal or natural, let alone patriotic. Which is why Rush Limbaugh could say, this past week, that the Tea Parties are the first time since the Civil War that ordinary, common Americans stood up for their rights: a statement that erases the normalcy and “American-ness” of blacks in the civil rights struggle, not to mention women in the fight for suffrage and equality, working people in the fight for better working conditions, and LGBT folks as they struggle to be treated as full and equal human beings.

And this, my friends, is what white privilege is all about. The ability to threaten others, to engage in violent and incendiary rhetoric without consequence, to be viewed as patriotic and normal no matter what you do, and never to be feared and despised as people of color would be, if they tried to get away with half the shit we do, on a daily basis.

Game Over.

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