Are there any black people in the tea party?

I think one side would have you think Tea party goers are Racist. Laughable. it may be the other way arounf actually. I would say that the party of oppression would be the party that offers the most non-meritted entitlement’s. Because what does that kind of entitlement do except keep people under control, by making them dependant upon our system.

The establishment media do their best to portray it as a venue singularly for dissatisfied white conservatives. It is at its roots an attempt to effect real change… to buck the establishment system. It is less of a party and more of a movement. The first tea partiers were discontented Ron Paul supporters who sought a platform that would shutter the Federal Reserve and recall the troops. It has veered from this path due to the efforts of mainstream pundits like Glenn Beck. The goal of the establishment media is to curtail any vehicle of change and reshuffle the members back into the false left/right paradigm.

It is sad that race baiting has played such a prominent role in dissecting a platform that except for the disapproval of a black President addresses absolutely no polity pertinent to race specifically. It is sad that playground tactics still rule the realm… we are an immature lot.

I still think that there is hope for the movement to dislodge those ensconced politicians who have long since traded their constituents’ best interest for their own.

In my view… the Tea party has vague parameters… so it is hard to pin a pundit down as such… there are black voices who may or may not want to be associated with the movement or one another… but provide encouragement for the movement. William Griggs… Alan Keyes… Mychal Massie and Project 21. A cursory perusal of youtube can provide proof of black attendance at rallies.

Why is this such an important litmus test for the relevance of the platform? Do members of a group validate the groups mission?

I love your response. We are close to election time so up goes the usual left/right rhetoric. Pick sides and start bashing eachother America, after all, if we keep fighting eachother over stupid crap, the leaders on both sides can keep taking our money and keep us under control.

well said

The constant refrain of the Tea Party, is “taking back our country”. To me (as a black person), that has always been code for taking it back from the hypothetical “blacks and muslims”.

I rarely wade in politics these days, especially as I have too much tax-paying, hiring, and contributing to society to do. And to be sure, as I get older, I get more conservative and libertarian.

But from everything I’ve seen, I weep for America’s future if the Tea Party were ever to get any kind of power. From listening to Tea Partier’s talk, it’s all about “taking back the country”, but no real solutions to anything. Where was the tea party in the 8 years of George Bush’s doings? You do know that the last 8 years was the period when there was the least growth in practically the last 100 years or more?

• We’ve wasted trillions of dollars on the Iraq war, where were the tea partiers then?

• We spent hundreds of billions of dollars (unfunded no less) on the medicare prescription bill and other new programs in the last few years. Where were the tea partiers then?

• We started using more foreign oil than ever while laughing in the face of anyone who counseled conservation of oil – where were they then?

• Most of the tea part platform has to do with making sure everything is constitutional, where were they in the the last 8 years when the constitution was being ripped to shreds?

None of the solutions of the tea party platform solves the countries problems right now in any meaningful measurable way. Its merely a different way of doing things – like sweeping the dirt under the carpet.

There’s nothing wrong with doing things differently, or having a different agenda. That’s what makes humans human. But it still has to solve the systemic problems that are out there.

If the Tea Party were there, lets say, in the midst of Bush’s second term, I would probably be more sympathetic to their goals now. But they’ve brought the tea party into being when there is the nations first black president – to me thats a signal.

I see all too clearly that this is all about “white power” more than anything else… and I say that as black man with deep white roots in my family (spouse, relatives, business partners, dear friends, etc).

Read about the tea-party platform here: http://funadvice.com/r/bln95f518

The Tea Party wasn’t around 8 years ago. This is the same argument I hear too often… believe it or not the Tea party began as a movement to rescind the Patriot and Military Comission Acts. It began as a movement to shutter the Federal Reserve. It began as a movement to recall the troops and end military interventionism. Unfortunately too many people have bought into the establishment media’s tangent that race has anything at all to do with the party. This is a smear campaign. This is race baiting. These are juvenile tactics in an attempt to keep the populace divided and at each other’s throats. Meanwhile judas goats like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin have usurped the movement for their bosses… the very same establishment. We will never resolve any real issues if we allow the establishment media to form our opinions…

The people who are in the tea party were, for the most part around 40 years ago. Forgive me, for assuming that an organization is not made of up its people.

If the same people were so worried about whats happening now, versus what was happening 5 years ago (which was many times worse), why did they not speak up then?

Its really sad that you have to claim that these people were not around then – its as if for some reason, they just woke up or something.

yes there are: http://www.funadvice.com/photos/tea_party_2009

Who’s making claims?

[link removed]

This site documents the first demonstrators using the term Tea Party.

Five years ago many of them were petitioning the populace at large to slough off the mantle of ignorance perpetrated by the establishment media. Unfortunately… apparently… they have failed to even draw attention to their very existence.

There you go. I’ll leave you to substantiate your subjective claims.

http :// www. communitycurrency .org/sfteaparty .html

I very much agree that there have been always small groups of people railing against some of these issues that even I, agree with.

But you have to agree, for the most part, y’all turned a blind eye between 2001 and 2008, because it suited you at the time.

No… I cannot agree to that. You can check my older posts here to see just how fervently I railed against President Bush. You are attempting to argue the inverse of the true believer fallacy. No true Tea Party attendee can have been antagonists of the Bush regime? This is what you are insinuating… but I have provided evidence to the contrary. Bush and Obama are merely figureheads for an establishment that seeks its unchallenged hegemony. All Presidents are… if not they leave vital bits of themselves along the asphalt on the thoroughfare through Dealey Plaza. At the upper echelons… there is no left and right… it is a false dichotomy… the quicker we all realize this the better. I endorsed Obama for anyone intent to vote for the establishment candidates in the last election. He was not as visibly compromised as McCain. I didn’t vote for either. He has since proven to be just as firmly ensconced in the pocket of the plutocracy. I’m glad that you can now admit that things are not so black and white… [intentional] but you challenged my assertion… suggesting that I was fabricating the history of the movement. Did you know all of this the entire while?

Black people are more often than not democrat, for reasons that fit stereotypes I’ll leave unsaid, so they commonly support more government programs and assistance. Before I get a thousand hate responses, let it be known I am simply making an observation, and this is why they are not front runners for the tea party. Plus imagine the backlash they would receive standing up for American people against the all mighty Obama.