USA Today attempts to define the Tea Partiers.
They deny that bigotry or rejections of Obama because of his race are part of the movement’s appeal, a perception fueled by YouTube videos showing racist signs at some Tea Party rallies. Even so, they do have a distinctive perspective on race.
Those who embrace the Tea Party movement are much less likely than others to see discrimination as a threat to the nation’s future and a hurdle for minorities. More than three in four say racial minorities have equal job opportunities; half of non-Tea Party supporters agree. They overwhelmingly reject the notion that economic disparities between blacks and whites are mainly the result of discrimination.
Nearly half say blacks lag in jobs, income and housing “because most African Americans just don’t have the motivation or willpower to pull themselves up out of poverty.” One-third of non-supporters agree.
Tea Party supporters are much less sympathetic than others to illegal immigrants. By 4-to-1, they say illegal immigrants in the long run cost taxpayers too much by using government services rather than becoming productive citizens. That view is hardly out of the mainstream, though — it’s held by 52% of those who are not Tea Party supporters.
And, yes, they are Republicans.
Most Tea Party supporters are Republicans or Republican-leaning independents, but that doesn’t mean all Republicans share their views. Their conflict, apparent in some primaries this year that pitted establishment candidates against Tea Party challengers, could signal a battle ahead for the soul of the GOP.
Among Republicans, 57% identify themselves as Tea Party supporters; 38% do not — and the two groups have distinctly different views. Non-Tea Party Republicans are twice as likely to cite the environment as an extremely or very serious danger to the country’s future, for example, and much less likely to see the size and power of the federal government as a dire threat.
Another big difference between them helps explain the Tea Party’s muscular influence in the party: An overwhelming 73% of Tea Party Republicans say they are more enthusiastic about voting this year than usual. Half as many, 36%, of non-Tea Party Republicans feel that way.
Think black people are lazy. Really dislike immigrants. Don’t give a crap about the environment. Is it any wonder we are dismissive of their views and complaints?
Off topic but Michael Steele is a superstar, you can no longer deny it. If only he had presidential aspirations.
yup. A major superstar.
Yes, it is a wonder that you dismiss views that are hardly out of the mainstream.
It depends what you mean by “dismiss.” If you mean, “refuse to take seriously as an intellectual argument,” then, yeah, I should hope any progressive would dismiss know-nothing bigotry, “mainstream” or not, as the contemptible garbage it is.
If you mean, “refuse to acknowledge the serious harm such attitudes cause” – political or otherwise – we do so at our peril. And if you mean, “refuse to honor the humanity, and the very real concerns, of people with such attitudes,” we not only harm our cause, but betray our own values.
Words do have generally accepted meanings which can be found in dictionaries.
dismiss: To stop considering; rid one’s mind of; dispel
The Tea Party protests have centered on opposition to big government, TARP, ARRA stimulus and medical insurance for all, which have hardly been radical positions since the majority of Americans agree with them.
Therefore it is wrong to stop considering their views, even if one might oppose them. Doing otherwise exposes one to the appellation “knee-jerk liberal”, which isn’t progressive.
I’m not questioning the meaning of the word “dismiss,” but the issue of what, exactly, is being dismissed. I agree it’s a mistake to dismiss the issues you list. But that’s not what this post discussed; it discussed USA Today’s findings on, among other things how many Tea Parties have racial attitudes that could charitably be called bigoted and ignorant.
The body of people who care about the issues you list is far greater than self-identified Tea Partiers. I don’t think the Tea Party is a mainstream movement. But those are mainstream issues, and we need to engage with them. I also think we can have constructive dialogue with (and learn from) some of the lower-information citizens who self-identify with the Tea Party and who have sincere (and well-justified) concerns about many of those policies.
That said, much of the Tea Party as a movement, and particularly leaders like Palin and Beck, have come to be identified with a virulently anti-science, anti-government, and anti-human response to our innumerable pressing crises. Many of those folks are not only proudly ignorant themselves, but heap scorn on people for the “elitist” sin of being smart, educated, or informed. That’s also the strain that’s xenophobic and racist. I dismiss those as serious ideas, but I have plenty of respect and fear for the damage they can do.
The Tea Party is a beard for corporatism & deserves to be taken just about as seriously, as a cohesive ‘movement’, as a closeted gay man’s happy marriage (hence the term ‘beard’).
Racism exists throughout the society & helps to get dumb people to flesh out the illusion.