Sunday, April 17, 2011

Tea Party Racism


From the movement that brought you birthirism, as well as the rise and fall of Glenn Beck, we now have this:


A Southern California Republican Party official was under fire Saturday after allegations she sent an e-mail that included an altered photo depicting President Barack Obama as an ape.


An e-mail reportedly sent by party central committee member Marilyn Davenport shows an image, posed like a family portrait, of chimpanzee parents and child, with Obama's face artificially superimposed on the child. Text beneath the photo reads, "Now you know why no birth certificate."


Davenport, a tea party activist, represents the 72nd Assembly District in Orange County on the central committee.

32 comments:

Right Wingnut said...

Holding the entire tea party responsible for this asshole would be like me holding all Mormons responsible for Ellie.

It's getting old.

Dee said...

According to news reports, Davenport sent her racist email to the entire southern california Tea Party / Republican group. Additionally, this is her third infraction related to her racism. Others in her same group sent out the "watermelon patch on the White House Lawn" cartoon and another sent the message, "with grass we usually get Mexicans" email.

To say this is an isolated incident or isolated person is being very, very naive.

It is clear, the motivations of the Birthers (and the many Teapartiers that support this topic) is RACISM!

Pablo said...

This is a topic that I have been curious about for some time. It is hard to understand the motivations of anybody, much less the unorganized Tea Party. However, I think that there is certainly some racial underpinnings.

1. The Tea Party did not arise during the Bush administration, as he skyrocketed the national debt. It started during the Obama administration. I would venture to say that most Tea Party advocates have a much more favorable view of Bush.

2. Tea Party "leaders" often use racial code when speaking to the Tea Party. Newt's support of the Obama as a Kenyan theme is one example. The birther movement is derived from. Obama is seen as less American because he has an exotic name and he has spent time abroad in exotic places and his mom was white and dad from Kenya. There is certainly a suspicion among the largely white, rural crowds that typically gather at Tea Party events.

3. The Tea Party is very much anti-immigrant (see Arizona and Georgia).

4. I am NOT saying that Tea Party advocates are all racists. Some are. But most are probably motivated by genuine concerns about the growth of the government. There is, however, an intensity to the movement, that would not have been there had Barack been a white guy from Arkansas.

Pablo said...

Dee, you have a great blog that I will be checking out more in the future. Keep up the good work. It is not easy being an pro-immigrant Republican.

BOSMAN said...

I agree with RWN that this is representative of a fringe part of the Tea Party. It is however OVER THE LINE and needs to be pointed out when these examples occur.

How else will the NORMAL Tea Party folks be able to condemn this type of behavior if no one points it out?

Anonymous said...

Comparing Davenport to ellie is a false equivalency. ellie is an anonymous, pseudonym poster on the internet. (s)he claims to be a Romney supporter, middle aged, with adult children, and a life long republican. For all we know, she could actually be a 14 year old boy with a crush on Howard Dean.

Davenport is a known figure in Orange County politics. She is a republican party official. Her racism may not represent the majority opinions of the tea party, but she is not some obscure, irrelevant, anonymous flame throwing troll on the internet.

Anonymous said...

Pablo....your four points are well taken. You are my Sunday hero.

DD

Right Wingnut said...

Dan,

OK. How about a different comparison...

I don't hold Mormons responsible for Harry Reid.

Anonymous said...

That's a pretty good equivalency RW.

OhioJOE said...

"I would venture to say that most Tea Party advocates have a much more favorable view of Bush." DING DING DING. We have another winner folk! I can only speak for myself, but, I not recall BushCare, or the Bush stimulus plan. Nor did he bad mouth Rural PA. Was Mr. Bush perfect? No, but he did not cause nearly as much damage as your friend.


"4. I am NOT saying that Tea Party advocates are all racists. Some are." Yeah, let's give all the non Tea Party Racists a pass.

OhioJOE said...

"From the movement that brought you birthirism, as well as the rise and fall of Glenn Beck, we now have this:" Wrong on both accounts. Birthism was actually invented by the Hillary camp. And Mr. Beck was on the radio (and talked about economics) long before there was a modern Tea Party per se in this country.

Pablo said...

OJ,

Lol! You keep me with a smile on my face.

"Birthism was actually invented by the Hillary camp."

This, obviously, is not saying that birthers aren't racists. In fact, there is a reason why a Democratic aide (not Hillary's) invented the birther argument. Because said aide knew that it would be a hit within the Republican base. RACISM.

"And Mr. Beck was on the radio (and talked about economics) long before there was a modern Tea Party per se in this country."

The popularity of Beck's craziness is almost directly linked to the unemployment rate.

And, OJ, thanks for proving my points about Bush. There was no Tea party movement during the Bush years. There was no tea party movement during the Reagan years. There was not even a tea party movement during the Clinton years. Why is that?

OhioJOE said...

"Why is that?" Helloooooo, the debt was not as bad.

"The popularity of Beck's craziness is almost directly linked to the unemployment rate." So what is your solution to solve the unemployment problem, Pablismo????

Anonymous said...

"So what is your solution to solve the unemployment problem, Pablismo????"

Throw Beck in a river and if he floats he is innocent. If he sinks he is guilty.

OhioJOE said...

Well DanL, you can blame Mr. Beck all you want for the country's economic woes, but he did a better job at predicting our economic situation than most of us.

Anonymous said...

Dan, this is too sick to be real. I'm in shock that someone is this BRAIN DEAD. It has to be a plant, please tell me this is a plant.

If not, I belong to the WRONG PARTY. I'm so freaking sick of the idiots/bigots/racists in our party.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah. And I'm sick to death of the tea party. They are going to be the death of us.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

I'm so mad about this I can't see straight.

Can we dress her up in a monkey suit and make her sit in the town square for a day or 2 to be publicly mocked?

-Martha

Anonymous said...

it is a very nice picture

Anonymous said...

Very stupid, possibly racist, not-at-all clever cartoon.

Not that it makes it any better, but there were plenty of Bush/Chimpanzee photoshops and cartoons during his administration.

Anonymous said...

Arizonans are not anti-immigrant, they are anti-illegal immigrant. There is a difference! All of the talking in the world will not make it otherwise. The law is broken every day by illegal immigrants, and we, the taxpayers and citizens of Arizona have had not had the protection of our federal government as we should have had!

AZ

OhioJOE said...

"Not that it makes it any better, but there were plenty of Bush/Chimpanzee photoshops and cartoons during his administration." But that does bother the Generalism and Martha, bigotry and racism yadda yadda yadda is a one way street with them.

Ellie said...

RWN, I truly resent you bringing up something I hold sacred - my faith. This racism seems to be a theme that goes in and out of the TP movement. Not all TP's are racist.

OhioJOE said...

Fair enough Ellie, but don't you think that the rest of us resent falsely being accused of being racist even if it is a wink wink instead of a full fledged accusation.

ellie said...

I am not accusing anyone of being racist. I have black children. I've witnessed it first hand from many angles. Even from members of my own church (but not from my current ward). I have seen it on the left and the right. From all walks of life. No matter where it is, it does not belong.

OhioJOE said...

Yes, Ellie, in fairness to you, you are not among those who throw around the race card. Those that do know who they are. As I suggested on another post, not all my children are 100% White either. Which is why in part I find it interesting when some non-Tea Partiers throw that term around. A few characters (not many thankfully) have make some wise cracks against my son long before the Tea Party was even so.

Anonymous said...

OJ, Here we go again. Not everyone in the tea party is racist, but they do have an element within the movement that is clearly racist.

It's just like some Evangelicals in 08 who were against Romney because he was a Mormon. Not all of them, but some.

This woman, whoever she is, seems determined to kill any shot we may have in 2012.

STUPID STUPID STUPID! Tea Partiers better come out with a STRONG CONDEMNATION for this loser, and she had better get booted from her official position, and from any association with the tea party henceforth and forever.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

"A Republican party official in Orange County, Calif., says it never occurred to her before she e-mailed it to her friends that a picture of a chimpanzee with Barack Obama's face might be seen as racist.
Some of Marilyn Davenport's colleagues are suggesting strongly that she resign, among them Republican Party of Orange County chairman Scott Baugh, who says, "It's a despicable message, it drips with racism and I think she should step down from the committee."
Davenport says that until all those darned humorless people started making an issue of it, she never considered that the photo might have racial implications. What that tells us is that whether or not she's a closet bigot, she should resign because she's as thick as the Los Angeles Yellow Pages."

So she's a liar, a racist, AND she's as dumb as a post. If they don't have the guts to get rid of her, they are just as guilty.

-Martha

OhioJOE said...

"OJ, Here we go again. Not everyone in the tea party is racist" Yes, here we go again indeed, Martha. Are there a few Tea Partiers that are Racists? Absolutely. Are there a few Tea Partier that are bigoted against your religion? Again YES. However, I truly suggest that the anti-Tea Partiers are more in need of cleaning their house.

Answer us this:
Are African American Tea Partiers Racist own people?
Are Mormons who just happen to be Tea Partiers traitors to their own faith?
I realize that those of you who throw that word around have different life experience, but seriously?

Anonymous said...

OJ, I only referenced Mormonism in connection to the Evangelicals who were bigots in the last election. I have no idea whether or not any tea party people are bigots about my faith.

I imagine some probably are, as we have learned that most tea partiers are just regular old social cons dressed up with a new identity. I think I read a poll that about 80% are religious right. So, the notion that the tea party has a lot of independent support doesn't seem to be the case.

Unfortunately, it seems that the south is our GOP stonghold. It's also true that a higher % of bigoted and racist tendencies seem to be from the south. Which is one reason I was surprised that this woman is from CA. She's probably a transplant!

-Martha

OhioJOE said...

"She's probably a transplant!" Really???

OhioJOE said...

"I imagine some probably are, as we have learned that most tea partiers are just regular old social cons dressed up with a new identity." BTW, does it not occur to you that a number of bigots (I'd say a large number) are neither SoCons nor FiCons?