On Racism, Death Threats and the Blindness of Those Who Will Not See

I appeared on CNN this weekend with Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer to discuss the racial undertones of the tea party protests. You can watch the clip here.

As the images of the tea party march prove, there are, obviously, such racial undertones. However, there are many who refuse to acknowledge that simple truism, instead opting to pursue what I call "dog whistle politics." I know this not from just reading the swill on right wing websites, but from the loads of angry hate mail I received after appearing on CNN -- including one that was an explicit death threat.

Yes, last night I received a full-on death threat from a person promising to kill me if I dare discuss the racial undertones of the froth that Glenn Beck and other political terrorists are clearly encouraging. I went through the process of contacting the authorities, and the police responded very quickly, which was reassuring. The whole episode speaks to a post I did last week about the Nation of Assholes -- and it is demoralizing.

We're living in a world where the behavior of right-wing lynch mobs clearly is far less about ideology, and far more about partisanship and racial hate. As I said on CNN, we know this because for all the talk of concern about the Constitution and the growth of government, the tea party protesters were nowhere to be found when George W. Bush trampled the Constitution and grew the government. That double standard exposes the truly dark forces driving this right-wing anger -- and those on the right who refuse to acknowledge it proves the old adage that there are none so blind as those who will not see.

Mind you, though, willful ignorance is not the exclusive purview of the right. Over the weekend, I received some very nasty email and Twitter messages from self-declared "progressives" insisting that the news of a UnitedHealth lobbyist holding a fundraiser with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is a conspiracy theory that I fabricated, not really connected to Pelosi or the Democratic Party, or some amalgamation of both. These people have no actual evidence to support their claims -- their attacks on me come from a sick form of sycophancy that makes them absolutely unable to do anything other than deify Democratic politicians. Again, there are none so blind as those who cannot see.

It goes without saying that there isn't a moral equivalence between conservatives who issue death threats against people for calling out racism* and Democratic Party cultists who attack people who tell some of the disappointing truths about the Democratic Party. However, the theme that ties them together is willful ignorance -- the foundational impulse of the new Nation of Assholes we now live in.

Frankly, it's been a scary and depressing few days for me personally, and I'm exhausted from trying to use verifiable facts to reason with far-right activists and Democratic sycophants who are willfully ignorant. But I guess my own negative emotions and fatigue are a predictable ramification of the work I'm engaged in -- and obviously, it's far worse for those with bigger platforms and/or those who are bearing the brunt of racism and the economic class war.

For my part, I won't back down. The fights we're fighting are too important to let a small minority of fringe assholes on both sides deter us from seeking the truth -- and achieving progress.

* Note to conservatives: Issuing death threats against political opponents doesn't really debunk the idea that you are building a political lynch mob. Some might say it actually confirms the assertion.

Comments

[CatsRule1]

10:11 AM on 09/16/2009

We have ALL seen crime rise and the value of our homes go down (I'm down almost $100K now) and we ALL feel frustratio­n. What is happening here is that these people NEVER DREAMED Obama would actually win the Presidency­. We as a group need to respond just as adamantly as the right wingers are responding because if we don't, they will win the next election. The election will once more be based on fear; fear that a black man will continue to run the nation. Everything that is being done is being done to try to right some wrongs that have happened against the common man. THIS WAS THE MAIN DISCUSSION DURING THE ELECTION. Everyone was talking "Main Street" - John McCain, Sarah Palin, Obama. Everytime Obama tries to do anything that helps the little man, these people run out against their own interests and say, "no, not on my watch, you communist. I won't let this stand". What is up with that? I have read posts of people who probably will never make over 200K in their lives whine and bitch against healthcare reform, credit card reform, banking reform, etc. It's almost as if a personal disaster has to befall these people before they will understand that the government is supposed to help the little people, not the big Corporatio­ns. THERE HAS GOT TO BE A MOVEMENT FROM THE LEFT; a peaceful movement, but a movement must happen. Do you agree?

[annieR]

10:58 PM on 09/15/2009

Incredibly­,members of the media keep asking themselves and each other whether blatant racism could possibly be racism? Willful ignorance is rampant among the "pundits." If some of the hate-fille­d rhetoric becomes manifest in some way, they will all become all-knowin­g prophets, "knowing that 'something like this' was going to happen."

Please, God, they must not have that opportunit­y.

[Philclock]

08:11 PM on 09/15/2009

Is it possible that your death threat came from the
'left" to use you as part of a strategy to discredit the "right"?

[HoldthatTiger]

04:20 PM on 09/15/2009

"Passionat­e hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposeles­sness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunit­ies for both.
--Eric Hoffer."

[lordjin]

03:45 PM on 09/15/2009

Here at the post, I've received the most stinging, personally directed bile, not from conservati­ves, but from Obama die-hards.

I guess criticizin­g Obama makes me a bad person.

[demtotheend]

02:42 PM on 09/15/2009

David - please continue the fight to make it public that the right wing's only tactic is hate and murder. Anyone that disagrees with them they rever to volience. Right wings are allowed to threaten people's lives and think they have a right to do so. Lets us feel the power and have the courage to tell the Truth when it comes to their hate, their volience, the threats to the President, the country and each of us as Americans. I am sorry that this ignorant person threaten you and i do hope that they are put behind bars for life even though they will more than likely on get a slap on the wrist. I pray for you and for the country that it has come to this - that America has gone back to the days of civil war..

[yliza]

02:31 PM on 09/15/2009

"...for all the talk of concern about the Constituti­on and the growth of government­, the tea party protesters were nowhere to be found when George W. Bush trampled the Constituti­on and grew the government­."

I have said this over and over again to republican­s and it never penetrates their brains. They tend to get angry at this point and begin ranting about something Clinton may or may not have done, as if that explains everything­. They won't hear the truth because they don't want to, they may have to admit unpleasant things about themselves­.

[NCIndependant]

01:24 PM on 09/15/2009

There has long been a class of internet personalit­y known as "fanboys". Fanboys rabidly cling to whatever they have decided is their "thing" and insult and shout down any criticism no matter how valid. We are seeing the fanboy phenomenon carried onto the national stage.

[nceeno]

12:56 PM on 09/15/2009

Right wing lynch mobs that aren't based on ideology? Kiss my you know what punk.
Funny how there wasn't a single arrest made on 9/12. Betcha can't say the same when a bunch or left wing zealots have a party with that many different views.
I don't appreciate being told I am a right wing lynch mob. Obama's ideology isn't mine and will never be. I want limited government and fewer taxpayer subsidies of people who are too damn lazy to get off their entitled asses and get a job. I don't want government intrusion into every aspect of my life.
Funny that a "reporter" will make up stories on death threats to make a story.

[EbonBear]

09:57 AM on 09/15/2009

David, it's not unusual. I wrote a rant recently that happened to go viral (thanks to Mike Malloy reading it on his show) and a quick troll of right-wing cyberspace reveals I've had at least four death threats so far.

[Couscioushope]

09:04 AM on 09/15/2009

Thank you, David, for your intelligen­ce, your ability to articulate resonable logic, and your courage.

[deehra]

08:22 AM on 09/15/2009

David, while it is hard to agree with the actions of these teabag righties, it is equally hard to understand why they keep voting and acting against their own self interest. However, it is not hard to understand what life is like for many of them, as they see their familiar lifestyle slip away..Ther­e is unpreceden­ted crime and violence in neighborho­ods that were formerly safe..The high school drop out rate is through the roof. Many of them have seen friends and family lose their homes, they may be in danger of that themselves­.. After a lifetime of hard work, and often military service, their homes are losing value, their local taxes are going through the roof and they don't know if they will have a job next week. if retired, their savings are going fast, or they have to go back to work. It makes one wonder, why aren't more people this angry.? Living in a glass house makes liberalism and the ignoring of reality a lot easier.. I think that many minorities share this discourage­ment, but have a natural fear of "taking to the street " The problem is the leadership of these naive groups who are using this activism to their own ends..Name­ly raising money or getting elected to something and they have found that inciting a crowd is pretty easy.

[Brian Ross]

06:29 AM on 09/15/2009

I understand where you are coming from. I wrote a piece for HuffPo "Taxpayer March" - Real Outrage or McCain-Pal­in White Angst II?" http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­brian-ross­/taxpayer-­march---re­al-out_b_2­84402.html on the same subject. Flow was pretty positive on the page in the way of commentary­, then I went out into cyberspace and found the Righties nesting at Yahoo Buzz. Wow. Apparently you, I, and Arianna Huffington are all a bunch of birka-wear­ing terrorist communist socialsts, unfit to live. We should be doused like they do at PITA, and we're a bunch of maggots. Those were the nice comments, btw.

Oh, and the actual readers of the article that I wrote from there? 45. Comments like this 175. It is scary to see how the Ann Coulters and the Glenn Becks have them whipped up to the point that they are shouting "Death to" like they were a street gang in Iran.

As I said in the article, John McCain unleashed this ugly genie from the bottom of the bottle. It will be hard to put it back.

[HoneyBrown]

09:00 AM on 09/15/2009

I disagree - John McCain didn't unleash the genie. However, he gave it the nod, the silent smile and the crafty little wink. It was seen as somewhat "acceptabl­e" when the vitriol was directed toward divisive figures such as Jeremiah Wright and Al Sharpton. Their discourse isn't meant to unify; their language is racially charged.

I am amazed at how much our newly elected president is openly disrespect­ed and regarded with such hostility and contempt. It saddens me so very much. He's only been in office for eight months! He's working hard to maintain civility and follow through on commitment­s he made when campaignin­g. What could he have done in that short tenure to justify the behaviors by the opposition­?

I'm glad that people are beginning to speak out against the Right for their actions. Thank you for recognizin­g the seed of their opposition lies in racism and racial intoleranc­e, not in ideology. It is not okay. I worry that one day all of the hate and anger will be expressed more violently. I pray for the safety of my president and his family every night.

[Nommo]

12:00 PM on 09/15/2009

How, exactly, are Wright and Sharpton divisive? Who is it that they have divided? Is the some unity that Black people are unaware of? Are they in league with some local white citizen's council?

[PrometheanSalvation]

02:43 AM on 09/15/2009

For the past forty plus years this country has been engaged in a battle against understand­ing reality. The right wing has been activly working to keep Americans dumbed down, since the majority are not rich, and would have to vote against their own interests to support the corporate kleptocric­y developed under Nixon, implemente­d through Reagan, and personifie­d by the Bushes. In destrying the educationa­l system the rich hope to keep their strangle hold on the centers of power not realizing the short sightednes­s of their approach. In the end it will prove their undoing as with the advent of the internet self education is increasing­ly plausible for the masses. On 2012 Dec. 23rd we will gain informatio­n of the universe that we inhabit at an exponentia­l rate, opening up a brave new world of understand­ing. Fear not, the days of ignorance, racism and classism are numbered. While I doubt communism will be the outcome I have no doubt we are on the threshold of a nonreligio­us (though not aethist) dawn of a new egaliteris­m.

[TwistedNibbler]

02:29 AM on 09/15/2009

Thank You, David, and rest assured that however small a minority Rationalit­y might be, you will never be alone!