Is this what really motivates the Tea Party movement?

The fears that animate the tea party at the grassroots, Haney López says, are racial narratives that blame minorities for what’s going wrong in America.

When you look at what animates the tea party, there are several different hatreds that are core to the tea party. They hate welfare. Especially, or particularly welfare that’s understood as going to minorities. Not social security, for instance, but rather food stamps. Next, they’re obsessed about Muslims and Islam. And they really see this sort of threatening, this external threat in the form of the Middle East, but also ostensibly an internal threat of Muslims coming into the United States … They’re deeply concerned about undocumented immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Finally, they hate President Obama. And Obama seems to combine both this sense of welfare, of being a Muslim, of being a brown foreign other, right?

sphinx wrote:Is this attitude any different to that shown towards "communists" during the cold war?

Is not the need to externalize threats a common factor across much of mankind extending from primitive tribes making war on each other to the multination battles of theology seen today?

Do you not think that over in the middle east there are not movements emphasizing the threat of the US and us infidels?

Ben_Reilly wrote:

sphinx wrote:Is this attitude any different to that shown towards "communists" during the cold war?

Is not the need to externalize threats a common factor across much of mankind extending from primitive tribes making war on each other to the multination battles of theology seen today?

Do you not think that over in the middle east there are not movements emphasizing the threat of the US and us infidels?

Of course ... this is the classic fear, stereotype and hate instinct that keeps people stuck (psychologically) safely into their artificial groups and at one another's throats. I'm sure it happens everywhere -- for a certain kind of person who just is not comfortable with the notion that "different" people can be OK.

sphinx wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

sphinx wrote:Is this attitude any different to that shown towards "communists" during the cold war?

Is not the need to externalize threats a common factor across much of mankind extending from primitive tribes making war on each other to the multination battles of theology seen today?

Do you not think that over in the middle east there are not movements emphasizing the threat of the US and us infidels?

Of course ... this is the classic fear, stereotype and hate instinct that keeps people stuck (psychologically) safely into their artificial groups and at one another's throats. I'm sure it happens everywhere -- for a certain kind of person who just is not comfortable with the notion that "different" people can be OK.

Oh it does happen everywhere - the only thing that changes is the definition of "different" which can lead a human to consider that those whose opinions about groups are the ones that are different and therefore the ones to be hated because they are the ones to blame.

Original Quill wrote:These guys are unique onto themselves.  They hate welfare, but they don't mind oil subsidies.  They hate aid to dependent children, but they delighted in the Republicans bailing out Wall St. in October 2008.  They are concerned about Hispanics because, as Hispanics become the dominate group among voters, they will never again see success.

And what has brought these guys out is their hatred for the Black President.  Inwardly, I have a huge grin contemplating their slipping into minority status.

Should we start thinking about way to discriminate against old, white men?  What fun.

Lone Wolf wrote:   Several African countries also have "black" presidents...

But then, they also have majority "black" populations..

Lone Wolf wrote:The 'tea baggers' are a dying breed in the US.

And that must be scaring them witless..