Targeting People with Dark Skin So As Not to Be Racist
Sometimes, one reads statements that leave the impression that the center line of American politics is a portal from one reality — with its own intellectual and moral standards — and another. Among the (predictable) criticisms being directed toward the Providence tea party is that the vast majority of those in attendance were light skinned, and in response to a comment by Real Deal Hope, on RI Future, that it was “an issue driven rally” with an open attendance opportunity, Matt Jerzyk offers the following:
While the event was an “open invitation,” the event organizers did go around the state and speak at events, groups and businesses to drive up attendance. Anyone who has ever tried to organize an event knows that turnout is driven by specific outreach. Since my criticism apparently wasn’t clear enough, let me give you a specific example. Did the event organizers go to Rhode Island’s largest middle-class African-American church and ask for 5 minutes to speak about their event? Or the largest middle-class Colombian group in Central Falls or middle-class Cape Verdean group in East Providence? More to my point exactly, did they go on WBRU or PODER just like they went on every other radio station or did they sit down for an interview with UNIVISION or Providence en Espanol or the Providence American?
I could be wrong about this, but as far as I know, during the few weeks in which they organized the event, the RI Tea Party folks didn’t “go around the state” speaking to groups, but made media appearances. They also didn’t, I don’t believe, go on WHJY, Cat Country, or “every other radio station” that doesn’t have a news focus. If they did either of those things, I didn’t hear about it.
That’s ancillary to the point, which is the astonishing racial reductivism of Matt’s suggestion. We on the right — particularly of the issue-driven, grassroots segment — target our message based on exhibited interests. When time is limited, we’ll approach audiences that have exhibited receptivity to similar ideas and seek to work through media of general interest for the region. The assumption is that people exhibit their interests in accord with their individual beliefs and understanding, not on the basis of their skin or heritage.
To the left, tint is primary. In order to ensure that pictures of a crowd have color, they’ll approach racially populated churches about government fiscal policy. They’ll research ethnic enclaves in order to check off a hit-list of identity groups. By “racial inclusiveness,” they clearly intend to divide and allocate people according to their race and then get representatives in a group photograph to promote their ideological cause. They mean to herd people into categories in order to more easily direct and manipulate them.
Matt may be correct that the hard-sell leftist effort to promote identity politics makes such a strategy politically savvy, in the current context, but I don’t find it especially moral. And if I had skin of a darker hue, I’d be much more self-conscious about my physical appearance at a liberal rally than a conservative one, and I’d resent the effort to make me feel that I couldn’t attend an event concerned with taxation without considering whether my fellow taxpayers were palpably conscious of my race.
As I walked around that crowd on Wednesday, I saw people. Contrary to the spin, some of them had darker skin than others, but I was paying more attention to signs and t-shirts.
Justin people of color are merely political props for the left. Since we know white liberals are the single most racist group in America (they don’t believe people of color are capable of achievement on their own, they need whitey liberal to survive) let Ms. Jerzyk provide to you the racial breakdown of union leadership and union membership here in Rhode Island. Let’s look at our homegrown and long established AFL-CIO and the teacher unions. It is these union pigs who run Ms. Jerzyk’s rallies so lets see how inclusive these folks are. No question these white libs have the demographic breadown at hand because they obsess over skin pigmentation. That’s what makes their faux adoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. so comical. White liberals NEVER EVER judge by the content on ones character but strictly by the color of ones skin and they seek to exploit that skin whenever possible for political purpose. You see that exploitation up close and personal at their rallies.
Look no further than the public schools in our urban core to see first hand the genuine care and concern (lol) whitey liberal has for the minority community.
Preservation of that horrific status quo is priority number one with whitey liberal because an educated and successful urban core is the death knell of liberalism.
Excellent post, Justin.
The standard which Matt J attempts to put forward is artificial, misinformed and intended solely to diminish the success of the event.
The Stars and Stripes were everywhere. We came together simply as Americans, and that should warm any patriotic heart.
Great post Justin.
Jerzyk’s obsession with this event and his incessant attempts to minimize it are a strong testimony to its success.
Understandably, the event organizers would concentrate on gaining the support of those who have the most to lose from the liberal feeding frenzy going onin Washington. That would be those groups that are most likely to pay the most taxes.
The Jerzyk’s of the world are always engaging in a dishonest and shameful ploy to use minority group as a little tool in their game. And this is no different. What he won’t say, but I will, is the truth and that is, were the organizers to go to “Rhode Island’s largest middle-class African-American church and ask for 5 minutes to speak about their event? Or the largest middle-class Colombian group in Central Falls or middle-class Cape Verdean group in East Providence?,” it would be an utter waste of time.
Don’t waste your time calling me a rascist because I don’t care one bit.
Jerzyk knows damn well who pays the taxes and who sucks up the taxes.
His little game is old and tired. And this event was evidence of that.
I don’t think white liberals are at all racist insofar as them being driven by hate-more like being driven by a false sense of guilt and an almost unconscious belief that darker people need college educated white kids to “uplift” them.What crap.How often are white liberals”proud” of people of color who are successful?Unless that person is their child or relative,it reveals them as patronizing jerks. If my grandaughter,who is half black,does something good,I am proud of her.Same for my daaughter or son who are half hispanic. As far as any other kids who are black,hispanic,asian,etc I’ll leave it to their folks to be proud of them. One of the more liberal posters at RIF,one Evan hit the nail on the head when he said political correctness is the Achilles heel of the left(I’m paraphrasing him)because they are so transparently phony. My wife has encountered the subtle patronizing and she has a good laugh over it. Her father was a self made man-he is a very dark skinned hispanic who came here as a sailor on a freighter in 1940 and rose to be a Merchant Marine engineering officer through his own efforts,learning calculus in the process. His politics?To the right of Ronald Reagan. Oh yeah,he was legally admitted to the US along with his brother who retired as a Master Sergeant in the US Army.Another “right winger”. Jerzyk is a young guy who is in thrall to Jack McConnell if I can believe his glowing comments about the man. If Matt took a look around at some of the liberal and union leadership,the REAL leadership that makes decisions,he’d be seeing a lot of white folks. I don’t doubt Matt’s sincerity about racism,it’s just that he may be missing what’s right under his nose. I attended a few “Drinking Liberally”meetings to… Read more »
I don’t think white liberals are at all racist insofar as them being driven by hate-more like being driven by a false sense of guilt and an almost unconscious belief that darker people need college educated white kids to “uplift” them.What crap.How often are white liberals”proud” of people of color who are successful?Unless that person is their child or relative,it reveals them as patronizing jerks. If my grandaughter,who is half black,does something good,I am proud of her.Same for my daaughter or son who are half hispanic. As far as any other kids who are black,hispanic,asian,etc I’ll leave it to their folks to be proud of them. One of the more liberal posters at RIF,one Evan hit the nail on the head when he said political correctness is the Achilles heel of the left(I’m paraphrasing him)because they are so transparently phony. My wife has encountered the subtle patronizing and she has a good laugh over it. Her father was a self made man-he is a very dark skinned hispanic who came here as a sailor on a freighter in 1940 and rose to be a Merchant Marine engineering officer through his own efforts,learning calculus in the process. His politics?To the right of Ronald Reagan. Oh yeah,he was legally admitted to the US along with his brother who retired as a Master Sergeant in the US Army.Another “right winger”. Jerzyk is a young guy who is in thrall to Jack McConnell if I can believe his glowing comments about the man. If Matt took a look around at some of the liberal and union leadership,the REAL leadership that makes decisions,he’d be seeing a lot of white folks. I don’t doubt Matt’s sincerity about racism,it’s just that he may be missing what’s right under his nose. I attended a few “Drinking Liberally”meetings to… Read more »
EVERYONE was invited to this event. There were people of color, and other nationalities there. Where we were standing, a Hispanic family was there and even the kids were holding signs. My sister got into a nice conversation with an African American woman and her sister, and sister-in-law, once being a social worker like her talk about how the budget effects their clients. Republicans have multi-ethic folks in their party. The RIF folks are just upset that more than 2 people showed up and ruined their day. There were people of all ages, color, ethnicity, etc. They came because they wanted to, they wanted to be with people who felt like them, frustrated with their bloated government. I hope everyone keeps up the pressure on our elected officials, and finally throw them out next election.
Justin, while your points are completely on target, I wouldn’t get into a back and forth argument with someone who is going to find fault with what happened no matter how much they did. I think he doth protest too much.
As far as I know, and I know Bill very well, there was minimal effort to drum up support for the event in person, although there was quite an effort to get TV, radio, and print media coverage, which of course, will lend it self to convincing people to go. Of course, they reached out to us blogger types.
For instance, Bill was kind enough to accept an invitation to speak at the last RIRA meeting a few weeks ago, which had been in the works for months. We reached out to him, because we wanted to know more about what OSPRI did regarding the Transparency Train and stuff like that. He didn’t search us out in some attempt to woo us. Colleen stopped by a Young Republican event a few weeks back, too, which to my knowledge was the very first Republican event in Rhode Island she has attended. I hope she comes to more, because we like her! Any other in person appearances by either Bill or Colleen were quite minimal, since they were mainly focused on the logistics of putting on a good event — which turned into a great event!
This criticism, whether well intentioned or not, reminds me just a little of the old John Rockefeller quote on money, when asked “How much is enough?” (being the richest person in the world at the time). His reply was, “Just a little bit more.” Some people will never be satisfied no matter what.
It was a Monochrome March of Chicken Littles who thought the sky was falling.
The proof was in last year’s ballot box and will be restated in the next election. Anybody can say anything, but the people will speak at the ballot box.
Interesting how your body of true believers keeps trying to tell us why and how the Left manages poor people of color and manipulates them to its advantage, but cannot persuade any significant number of people of color to join in the parade, rather, their absence rains on it.
OldTimeLefty
Mr. Katz
You said, “And if I had skin of a darker hue, I’d be much more self-conscious about my physical appearance at a liberal rally than a conservative one, and I’d resent the effort to make me feel that I couldn’t attend an event concerned with taxation without considering whether my fellow taxpayers were palpably conscious of my race.”
I wanted to thank you, I am of mixed race and I went to the Tea Party to protest. My reasons for being there are I am pro-life, pro school vouchers, strong on immigration, I support the troops, I feel entitlements are more addictive than crack, and I love the U.S. Constitution.
After, our representatives signed that bill without reading it, I was felt both betrayed and disgusted. I felt that the Tea Party was were I belonged and if anyone asks, no I did not encounter any negativity at all, and I didn’t expect any, as I know I do not live in a racist state.
Your summary on how someone like me would feel, was spot on.
Miss T
Justin,
You’re right on. Honestly, when I saw the pictures I thought to myself, “Dag…I don’t see enough color in these photos. I wonder how long it’s going to take the RIFuture-ites to proclaim this as some hillbilly convention.” Not that long it would seem.
I get offended when people tell me that I need to be offended at rallies like this because there weren’t enough representation of people who looked like me at an event.
If he doesn’t agree with the premise of the event, don’t attend but don’t try to deflect the point by raising a non-issue.
Don-I think we are saying pretty much the same thing in different ways.
How do you manage to get through the day without advice from people who know what’s in “your best interest?”
The problem is that RIFbots think in terms of group dynamics instead of recognizing that every individual is exactly that.
They fear diversity of THOUGHT.
Janeane Garafalo’s latest rant is exactly why you should make sure your message is right and crisp with minimal consideration to who listens…if you’re white at a rally that questions taxation and government spending you’re racist; if you’re black you’re suffering from Stockholm syndrome.
Joe sez,
“I don’t think white liberals are at all racist insofar as them being driven by hate-more like being driven by a false sense of guilt and an almost unconscious belief that darker people need college educated white kids to “uplift” them.”
Joe you may not know it but what you just described is why white liberals ARE racists.
The word hate does not appear in the definition of racism.
The words prejudice, discrimination and inherent superiority do. When white liberals see people of color as inherently incapable of upward mobility in this society without their white liberal hand (“uplift”) then white liberals are showing a prejudice, a discrimination and a belief in their inherent superiority over people of color.
American liberalism = racism
Joe what would be the reaction be among Ms. Jerzyk and her ilk if we could somehow build enough charter schools (they fight them tooth and nail now under the bogus “it’s not fair to the children left behind” excuse) to educate every child in the urban core of Rhode Island?? Would they not heartily applaud and endorse the idea because it’s been proven how “uplifting” and succcessful charter schools are in educating the urban poor? Or would they sqeal like the pigs they are because they’re tools of the union and charter schools are not under their control? And if the schools are not under their control then the population of those schools are not under their control either. But oh how they care!!! lol
My wife teaches in a charter school and the only two teachers who didn’t support Obama were her and the only other Hispanic teacher,who happens to be a military veteran.
The mentality in the charter schools is also liberal it seems.
Why doesn’t the Right attack the left for the Democrat’s long history of racism :
1) Democrat-supported slavery, which Abe Lincoln halted.
2) George Wallace running for Pres as a Democrat as recently as 1976.
3) Robert Byrd was a KKK leader, yet is a Democrat Senator this this day.
I can’t think of any GOP equivalent baggage that is nearly as severe.
So why are Republicans so afraid to fight back?
Joe just shot the theory of charter schools sparing kids those “evil” liberal teachers LOL.
But at least they’re not union, right?
From the plantation to the gulag to the madrassa, Copperhead Democrats have been pro-slavery for a long time.
Pandering to people’s skin color is ridiculous. Skin doesn’t think. It’s the mind that thinks and that’s where ideas should be targeted. And that’s what the Tea Parties did – they focused on ideas and concepts and philosophy. Anyone and everyone who shared those ideas was welcome to attend, and I saw people of all types there. I know it’s hard for the Left to understand that because they think black is a philosophy, and Hispanic is a philosophy and gay is a philosophy. They want to pigeonhole everyone into groups they’ve defined and chosen and impose a rigid, pre-approved opinion on everyone in that group, instead of letting people speak for themselves and give their actual opinions based on their individual minds.
Dismissing people’s minds and defining them by their skin color is pretty much the definition of racism. It’s ugly and, as the poster above says, not a particularly moral postion to take. The Tea Partiers have nothing to apologize for in not playing that game. People have opinions, their skin does not.
Very well expressed, Justin. I may have to plagiarize you in the future! Imagine, making common cause because of principles and not simply engaging in tribal power politics!
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