The Dallas Tea Party is fighting back against charges they are a racist group with no minority representation. They are using YouTube and the racial diversity of their own membership to release their message.
A number of liberal commentators and media members have tried to characterize the Tea Party as an all-white organization with racist tendencies. On January 5, 2010, MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews said on his program "they're all white, all of them, every single one of them is white." On March 20, 2010, several reporters, including ABC's David Kerly and anchor David Muir reported as fact several rumors that Tea Partiers used racial slurs against African-American congressmen, even though several videos of the incident recorded no such statements.
In contrast, none of these same individuals have chosen to characterize radical, left-wing anti-capitalism protesters (who often protest at meetings of the G-8) as an "all-white" group, although they would certainly come close to filling that description. The implications (and direct accusations) of liberal members of the media is clear, and designed to minimize their influence and appeal at a time when most Americans have become disenchanted with the Obama Administration and the Democratically-controlled Congress.
It was a rant by Keith Olbermann, however, that inspired the Dallas Tea Party to respond. During a rant on his low-rated MSNBC show, Olbermann challenged Tea Partiers "let me ask all of you...how many black faces do you see at these events? How many Hispanics, Asians, gays? Where are these people? where are they?"
To answer Olbermann, and combat the accusations and stereotypes, the Dallas Tea Party called upon their own members to create a YouTube video in which minority Tea Partiers, including African Americans and Latinos, countered Olbermann's claim. The video included a number of photos of minorities participating in past Tea Party events that seem to have escaped the notice of Olbermann and MSNBC. The video also correctly points out that, while MSNBC claims the Tea Party has no diversity, their own programming lineup does not include a single racial minority. Every single anchor and host on their network is white.
Olbermann mocked the Dallas Tea Party video, claiming it only showed a total of nine minorities, and again asked "where are they?" The former ESPN sportscaster turned pundit then tried to address the lack of minority representation at MSNBC, claiming there are dozens of minorities in their employ.
It may not matter what Olbermann says: it appears no one is watching. Fox News routinely averages three times the audience MSNBC does. On March 22, Olbermann's program had only 1.4 million viewers. His competition on Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, had nearly 4 million viewers. Perhaps the real question should be: if Keith Olbermann calls you a racist, does anyone really hear him? Or care?
Sources: Chris Matthews quote, TV News ratings
Comments
Echoing recent polls from Gallup, the Winston Group, CNN and Quinnipiac, the Multi-State Survey of Race and Politics found that the Tea Party is a merely the GOP's strongest brew. Its thousand person survey in Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and California revealed:
30 percent of respondents had never heard of the tea party, but among those who had, 32 percent strongly approved of it. In that group, 56 percent of Republicans strongly approved, 31 percent of independents strongly approved and 5 percent of Democrats strongly approved.
(It should be noted that the survey sample doubtless skewed Democratic, involving 494 whites, 380 blacks, 77 Latinos and 64 members of other races.)
But on questions of race, Professor Christopher Parker's polling suggested that initial assumptions about the motivations of some Tea Party members may not be far off the mark. Among white respondents, southerners are 12 percent more likely to support the Tea Party than those
in other parts of the country. And tellingly:
Approximately 45 % whites either strongly or somewhat approve of the movement. Of those, only 35% believe blacks to be hardworking, only 45 % believe blacks are intelligent, and only 41% think that blacks are trustworthy. Perceptions of Latinos aren't much different. While 50% of white tea party supporters believe Latinos to be hardworking, only 39% think them intelligent, and at 37%, fewer tea party supporters believe Latinos to be trustworthy.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!