Primary Characteristics of the Tea Party Movement

By way of TalkingPointsMemo, a recent article in Context, a quarterly magazine on sociology, discusses the fundamental cultural characteristics of the Tea Party movement.  These are, according to TPM, "Authoritarianism, Fear of Change, Libertarianism, and Nativism [or
'negative attitudes toward immigrants and immigration']".

What if the Tea Party were Black? by Tim Wise

A colleague of mine reminded me of this short article by Tim Wise.  It's a really good way of demonstrating white privilege, especially in the everyday, "normal" issues on the intersections of comfort and race.  Now I'm sure there are plenty of people who will argue that the tea party, especially its more radical, gun-toting arm makes them uncomfortable, but that's not the point.  The point is, imagine if instead of being mostly white, they were mostly black? I think anyone who thinks about this seriously and honestly will come away with the same conclusion. Imagine if a number of black men showed up at a state capital or city hall, or even a bar legally carrying firearms? There's no way that would be allowed.  People would be shitting their pants, the tea party would be cast as a crazy, radical, terrorist organization, many would be thrown in jail and some might even be shot.  We'd be seeing random video clips taken completely out of context that reveal the "real danger these people pose to the safety and security of "normal" Americans.  White folks left and right would be falling in line with the political and media constructed narratives.  Here's the link to the pdf.  Or, you can read it below.