Is the Tea Party racist?
In a presentation by Mark Lamont Hill, Ph.D on the O’Reilly Factor on 27-Sep-2010, evidence was given to show the Tea Party is racist. Bill O’Reilly rebutted the arguments, and presented the analysis of Real Clear Politics which belied the studies that Dr. Hill was citing.
One key point that was not emphasized but which I think is crucial is the following conclusion from the presentation: it may be that the Tea Party is “racist”, but is actually no more racist than the general white population. And on some measures, the Tea Party came out as even less racist than the general white population.
So you could say, “yes the Tea Party is racist”, but so are “the white Democrats”, the “white PTA members”, “white church groups”, and any other random white group.
So the question should really be, “Is the Tea Party more racist than the general white population?” — not simply “is it racist?”
To not put the question in this proper perspective would be like asking “are young people ignorant?” And not to ask the more proper question: “are young people ignorant at a higher likelihood than non-young people?”
This to me is an important distinction.
So the best answer to the question of whether the Tea Party is racist, which is substantiated by the cited studies, is that “the Tea Party is no more racist than the general population.”