(here are various posts on the subject explaining it better than i can.)
this might not be your cup of tea(sorry for the pun)
Countdown transcript
Brendan Steinhauser of the Astroturf group Freedomworks claims,
“I just don‘t see racism in the Tea Party much movement, and racism
is something we‘re absolutely opposed to.” He added, “the NAACP
has more of a political agenda now, but I would hope that they would
appreciate the fact that the Tea Party movement has a lot in common
with the civil rights movement. I‘m personally inspired by what the civil
right movement did. And I want them to know that.”
Joining me now, MSNBC contributor, columnist for “The Nation,” and associate
professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University,
Melissa Harris-Lacewell. Professor, good evening.
MELISSA HARRIS-LACEWELL, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Good to see you.
OLBERMANN: There are videos, photographs, documented incidents and polls.
How would you answer Mr. Steinhauser and the others who claim to not see
any racism in the Tea Parties?
HARRIS-LACEWELL: Well, I wouldn‘t quite go as far as you would, which
is to assume or assert that simply because they‘re predominantly white
or almost exclusively white institution or organization that that necessarily
means they‘re racist. We want to leave room for the fact that there can
be groups of people who are of the same race who are not necessarily racist.
But what I do want to suggest is that he may, in fact—Mr.
Steinhauser and others, might be honest when they say, we don‘t see racism.
And what I mean by honest about that is that there is, in fact, a deep perceptual
gulf—and I really mean not just attitude, but perception—between black and
white Americans in the United States. It‘s one of the most durable findings of
social psychology, of political science, of sociology, is that white and black Americans
really do see the world vastly differently.
And again, not just attitudes like support for affirmative action or support for
the Democratic or Republican party, but things like the fact that many white
Americans misperceive the percentage of African-Americans that are in the
country, will say things like, about 25 or 30 percent of the country is black, when,
of course, we know that that is a massive over-representation. You know, it makes me t
hink that sometimes maybe the reason that a white woman grabs her purse
when a black man is walking towards her is because she really sees four
of them instead of just one
ne.
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"I told you before stay away from door." (Read 3,469 times)
