Friends of Freemont,
I said that I wanted to move away from the Tea Party discussion after attending the Boston rally on April 14th along with my cameraman, Mr. Backcorner. However, it appears that over this past week the question of Tea Party racism has come up quite a bit. So, I thought it would be a disservice to the Friends of Freemont if I didn’t weigh in.
First off, I’ve given you a couple of days to analyze the below video blogs so that you could compare two very different versions of the event that occurred that day—one from a seeming insider’s point of view and one from an observer’s. I hope you were able to decipher my obvious message because I think the work speaks for itself. If you could not, I encourage you to drop my blog from your favorites and stop following me on Twitter.
I will admit that, in prepping for last Wednesday’s rally, I had a number of questions I intended to ask Tea Partiers that had to do with racism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism. However, after arriving at the Common, the first thing that struck me (as you have seen in the video) was not any absurd bigotry, but, rather, the lack of enthusiasm by the event’s attendees. What I saw that day was not racism. It was a collective sense of confusion. These are people who clearly feel like they’re being marginalized by the government. It’s just not clear to me whether they actually are being marginalized by the government.
I can’t speak for Tea Party rallies that occurred across the country, but the one I attended in Boston was very white, middle-class, and suburban (at least as far as the people I saw and spoke with). I can understand, then, why there would be a shared sense of confusion on behalf of the Tea Partiers with regards to their movement’s goals and objectives. History is certainly against you there, Tea Party Patriots. Because white, middle class, and suburban has never made for interesting protest. You may want to leave such activities up to people like me.
As to the the question of Tea Party racism: does the fact that they are predominantly white and “protesting” a black president make the Tea Partiers racists? Of course it doesn’t. I met a number of pleasant people that day who had brought their children to the event and I’m sure would have been horrified if they witnessed any blatant bigotry taking place. In fact, one of the funniest moments for me during the day was when a group of people (appearing to be predominantly black) who were dressed in yellow t-shirts that read Go Home Racists and Bigots began to march through the center of the rally. I had taken the high ground at this point and I looked on as these activists made their way across the park. And the result, Friends of Freemont, was absolutely nothing. There was no jeering. There was no rabble-rousing. There was no discernible engagement between these activists and the Tea Party patrons. I knew then that I was out of my element in a way that I never anticipated.
So, I find it laughable that liberals are once again shouting Racism! when they describe the April Tea Party rallies. This cry of racism is the same declaration of socialism that occurs on the opposite side of the proverbial picket line. Neither action accomplishes anything and neither brings forth a defined political agenda. The argument that I have continued to proclaim on this blog is not that the Tea Party movement is a group of racists, but that they are a people who stand for nothing and have produced nothing. And when liberals stand up and yell Racism! is when they become as politically unproductive as their Tea Party counterparts. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time these ignorant, PC liberals morphed into their worst nightmare without realizing it. And it won’t be the last. That’s why I’ve always warned you to be careful, Friends of Free, not to paint yourself into a corner when describing your politics because you don’t want to fall into the empty abyss of nothingness that circles this country.
I’d like to end by bringing up the fact that, despite being very close up to the stage when Sarah Palin was speaking on Wednesday, I could barely hear her speech. I was told after the event by friends that she was miked perfectly when they saw the local television coverage. This, again, is my point about the Tea Party—they are not a real movement; they are nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The best way I can explain the Tea Party is that it’s a group of people who embody a piece of the social consciousness who are representing it unconsciously. As such, I would encourage both he right and the left to come back into the world of the living— a place where I exist. That way, maybe we can talk some politics again.
Your Beacon of Truth,
Mr. Freemont Barrington
