Imagine, if you dare…
Tim Wise plays a game called “Imagine.” As in, Imagine if the Tea Party were mostly black instead of overwhelmingly white. Imagine how our response to it would change.
Let ¢â‚¬â„¢s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called ¢â‚¬Å“Imagine. ¢â‚¬ The way it ¢â‚¬â„¢s played is simple: we ¢â‚¬â„¢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 ¢â‚¬â„¢ll conjure – the ones who are driving the action – we ¢â‚¬â„¢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 ¢â‚¬â„¢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 ¢â‚¬”the black protesters ¢â‚¬” spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn ¢â‚¬â„¢t like were enforced by the government? Would these protester ¢â‚¬” these black protesters with guns ¢â‚¬” 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 ¢â‚¬â„¢s what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation ¢â‚¬â„¢s capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country ¢â‚¬â„¢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: ¢â‚¬Å“He ¢â‚¬â„¢s a piece of shit and I told him to suck on my machine gun. ¢â‚¬ Because that ¢â‚¬â„¢s what rocker Ted Nugent said recently about President Obama.
http://andrewplus.blogspot.com/2010/04/imagine-if-you-dare.html
http://ephphatha-poetry.blogspot.com/2010/04/imagine-if-tea-party-was-black-tim-wise.html
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Response from a Face-book friend:
This is unduly emotive. Instead of analysing what is happening, it seeks to marginalise people to avoid answering their questions.
Disclaimer: While I don’t like the Democratic Party, I don’t like the Republicans much better. Both major parties leave a lot to be desired.
1. Most of the gun-carrying protesters are protesting gun laws.
1.a – They are a minority of the protesters
1.b – None of them have (to my knowledge) been amongst the threats of violence.
1.c – While I disagree with them on Gun Laws, their position is not unreasonable and they are entitled to express it.
2. Most threats of violence have (allegedly) originated from Democrat rabble-rousers trying to cause trouble. A lot of high-profile statements like “rub them out” and “get rid of them” have clearly meant “vote them out” but have been deliberately misinterpreted as violent threats.
Sadly, all groups attract some extremists and there have been some Tea-Party folks threatening violence. They deserve condemnation, but I don’t believe that the whole movement should be lumped in with a few extremists.
3. While I have no support for My Nugent, do you remember some of the things said about Mr Bush by entertainers and others?
I believe that framing this debate as black and white does it a great disservice. To most people I have spoken with, Mr Obama’s colour is of no concern at all. They want to complain about his politics; about taxes and about freedom.
Now some would say that those complaints are unfounded and that Mr Obama’s politics are for the best. *That* is the argument we need to have. To talk about current and proposed Democrat legislation and about alternatives proposed by opponents. Let’s stop using race as a proxy and talk about the political issues.
Discussion
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