Civil rights diversity groups are also intolerant...
The NAACP condemnation of the Tea Party movement as racist reminds me again of what I've thought for a long time about groups such as the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), NOW (National Organization of Women) and HRC (Human Rights Campaign).
(Reference: "NAACP passes resolution blasting Tea Party 'Racism'" CNN.com)
All of these organizations have wasted countless hours and money on approaching legitimate problems regarding issues of discrimination with the wrong approach but also hypocritically. They have spent decades pushing for special legislation requesting special rights in the name of reversing discrimination using federal, state and local legislatures. In my mind these grievances should be redressed through legal challenges based on US Constitutional Rights. That, however, is for another blog.
What occurs to me with the NAACP resolution is what has bothered me about all the so-called civil rights groups. They're just as prejudiced as the people they claim to represent that are the subject of prejudice. There is no tolerance for diversity of political views or opinions within these groups, only one point of view is allowed: Liberal. The National Organization of Women claims to defend women against oppression but are oppressive to women who do not follow lockstep into the feminist agenda. You may or may not like Sarah Palin but she is treated by NOW in exactly the manner that organization claims all women are treated. The Human Rights Campaign Fund has no tolerance for any homosexual that does not sign up wholesale for the entire Gay Agenda from A to Z.
Another troublesome thing about the NAACP resolution, is it makes the assumption that the Media and the Political Class like to cast, that the Tea Party is one unified group of people on the fringe. The Tea Party is a movement that comprises many different groups with similar primary goals but differing ideas.
In any case Arizona Congressional District 3 candidate former Paradise Vally Mayor Vernon Parker states that this will backfire on the NAACP. It appears it already has with such old hat luminaries of civil rights days gone by as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson distancing themselves from the resolution. They've been around long enough to know that the black community itself is not unified under one political philosophy and that many African Americans are actually quite conservative.
My blog Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker is Red from 05/21/10 has Vernon Parker discussing the myth that black and ethnic groups are assumed to be Social Democrats and Liberals.
Here is Vernon Parker's statement from yesterday that he has received the backing of Arizona's largest Tea Party group and about the potential for backlash.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70lFjeP7wXE
http://www.youtube.com/ParkerForCongress
I don't know much but I know that groups known by acronyms never have my interests at heart...groups without acronyms don't either.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the Tea Party movement but I suspect that it's not going to matter; I have a feeling the Republicans consider it their "farm team" (bad baseball metaphor but it's all I got) and that they can trot out Palin and McCain and whomever else they think WE-the conservative-leaning electorate-might buy.
I guess I don't really love the Tea Party movement; I'd prefer a Constitution movement.
I just want a government that acknowledges that we all have the same rights (and that it cannot take them away because of, ya know, the Constitution) AND that doesn't spend more money than it has. That doesn't seem too much to expect.
Thanks for posting this, JR!
I suspect you're right about the Tea Party movement and farm team is a good metaphor. I think they're becoming more of a franchise now though. McCain is so disliked in Arizona it's unreal but he gets in every time under the old rule of "he has the most money, seniority and the best of a poor lot." He wins every time election because depending on the era he trots out the in-vogue group du jour (this time it's tea party) gets elected and retreats back to DC never to be heard from and carry on business as usual. Did you know his wife lives here and he lives in DC? He rarely comes back.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head with preferring a Constitution movement. That's also my idea of getting a federal government that basically says everyone has the same rights, doesn't micro-manage local states and governments and gets out of the way.
Hey, thanks for commenting!