From an email circulating, attributed to writer, Tim Wise...
If you have not seen this, it is so pertinent to what is going on right now. The leeway that these privileged white folks get is way out of line.
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.
--Tim Wise
Tim Wise a prominent anti-racist writer and activist in the U.S. Wise has spoken in 48 states, on over 400 college campuses. His latest book is called Between Barack and a Hard Place.
"Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black" - Tim Wise
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 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?
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 [black] 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.
Remember what happened when the President's former pastor from Chicago made remarks the media interpreted as 'anti-white' just before the inauguration? The pastor was hounded, the President was hounded, and the President broke away from his longtime pastor.
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.
UPDATED removed text and adding a little analysis, to respond to critique below that I'm not supposed to include too much of the original email - which the commenter said has been 'done to death.'
Perhaps this was 'old news' for others - but it was startling to me. I don't think this is so obvious, and found it quite interesting.
I've never been a fan of the notion of 'white privilege' and not entirely sure i see it here.
But i do see the giant tilt of the media towards these Tea Bag loonies - and think it has lots to do with their being 'like us' and not 'other.'
Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S. Wise has spoken in 48 states, on over 400 college campuses, and to community groups around the nation. Wise has provided anti-racism training to teachers nationwide, and has trained physicians and medical industry professionals on how to combat racial inequities in health care. His latest book is called
Between Barack and a Hard Place.