Monoculturalism and the rise of the Tea Party.

This reminds me of Ceili's post and Finn's Response

Is this really a big question? The laws in place are pretty clear as to what it means to be an American.

I notice that you attribute all sorts of attitudes to them without ever actually quoting them, posting links to their own words, or citing sources.

one could certainly hope that they are all struck down by a particularly virulent culture of mono


actually to be safe, no tongue, just a quick peck on the cheek

A person would have to have blinders and their ears stopped up not to be able to glean the truth of everything the author of this thread said given the last few years and the loud mouths of the Tea Party and today's republicans.

The teabaggers represent "True Americans". Of this they are quite certain. They wish to have me become part of their coven so I too , can enjoy their brotherhood.

I really like their tan uniforms

Some of em' can be really jazzed up rather than just uniforms.

or this:

Its our Constitution; its our place.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans"





David

Exactly my point David. The question is who is encompassed by the word "our". In my view the Constitution belongs to all American citizens, this means the Constitution belongs to more then just the Tea Party people . This includes Muslims, homosexuals, people who speak Spanish and people who need welfare.

The Tea Party is almost all white and Christian. And, I have yet to see someone who is not white in the Tea Party who isn't a fundamentalist Christian.

The Tea Party has the same right to the Constitution as any other American. I object when they claim exclusive ownership of the Constitution.

Just curious, but could you provide some kind of proof of the above statement? I mean the exclusive ownership part, not proof that you object. lol I'm a bit of a stickler for proof when anyone spouts out claims without some sort of facts to back up the claim. I'm not at this point disagreeing with you, just wanting to see what you base this statement on.

You see, I happen to know a number of people who support the tea party movement and I've never heard any of them claim that the constitution is not for everyone. But maybe they haven't read the secret tea party files or have not been elevated to that security level that would allow them to be aware of such doctrine.

Looking forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks.

- Tea Party Patriots website

Could you quote those laws?

Nothing I read in your response indicates that the tea party believes the constitution is exclusively owned by them. Unless I'm just missing your meaning max. And I won't exclude that as a possibility.

i seem to get the idea in reading TP rhetoric, that if they don't stand up for america no one will, i think this what max might be alluding to

Fine Costal, Add the words "in my opinion" after the word "when" if that will assuage the sticker in. My statement was a response to David and is a tangent.

My main point is the issue of Monoculturalism. The Tea Party represents an ideal of America which is almost all White and Christian (and there is no one who is not one or the other).

On issue after issue, the tea party rhetoric marginalizes groups of Americans who don't fit into this category. be they non-Christian, or homosexual or (heaven's forbid) Muslim.

Look at the prominent assaults against Separation of Church and State.
Look at campaign ads that pit scary foreign looking people against white young people.
Look at attempts to homogenize history to protect against "ethnic studies".
Look at the protests against Mosques and Spanish speakers.

See max, now we are getting somewhere. So it is only your opinion that the tea party claims the constitution is only for them. Fine. Now back to the multicultural issue. The problem you have in trying to pigeonhole the tea party as a white conservative movement is that you have to keep adding additional adjectives as you discover that it is comprised of more than just white americans. I know (and I emphasize the word know) tea party members who are black. I know of one family whose son is muslim and is a tea party supporter. (At least I'm told he is. Don't know the son personally.) So with that info I would assume you would have to say they are either white, or christian, or muslim etc, etc. See where I'm going? Eventually you will meet tea party members who are athiest, agnostic, jewish, or whatever and you will be forced to keep adding adjectives until you whole argument falls apart.

I'm no tea party expert, believe me. But from what I can see, it is more than just "white" or "christian". It is a bunch of people who wish to see the government minimized to the role the founding fathers wanted for it. The members may well be mostly white, or mostly christian. (Every group or organization has to be mostly something, just by definition.) But that does not indicate any desire on the part of the members to keep rights granted under the constitution from anyone else.



Ok, lets look at some of these examples. Why don't you post a few so that I will be better informed on the tea party. And just so you know I'm not being a smart-ass, I'll reiterate that I am serious. I'm not trying to bait you or anything but really want to understand where your views are coming from.

Ah, well, now I can see where that view is coming from, and if that is what max is talking about, then I think we can agree to some extent. I do think as the movement has taken shape that many within the tea party believe they are the only ones willing to stand up for America. And I disagree with that belief if indeed it is widespread among them.

I think every political group is "standing up for America", or at least for the America as they envision it should be. And in my opinion, that is a good thing. Because I'm not sure if any one man's vision for America can be the right one. One thing I've said on several threads in my time here is that I don't believe any American is fighting for what they believe is best out of a desire to destroy the country, but rather out of a sincere belief that their vision for America is the best. And as such, I believe we can have dialogue and discussion without making fun of or pigeonholing a group such as max is doing by throwing around the idea that simply because a group is mostly one thing then they are not to be taken seriously.

(I've rambled a bit there I think, but hopefully you get my meaning.)

There is a large contingent of social security folks in the tea party. Ive seen signs (at the teaparty soiree that was heald in Harrisburg) that stated
"Keep the Govt out of my Medicare"

The teabagger leadership has merely managed to corral all that
directionless momentum.