From Nick Pell at Black Sun Gazette
Recently, an article by Tim Wise explored the idea of a Tea Party movement dominated by radical black Americans. I’m not familiar enough to comment on the rest of Tim Wise’s body of work definitively having never read any of his books. However, the article in question presents a golden opportunity to discuss race in America–something that I have wanted to do for some time. While black and Hispanic Americans certainly endure a great deal of racism ranging from the benign (“You’re very articulate for a black man” or the awkward “Gimme some skin, bruvvah!” type comments from white people who aren’t as hip as they think they are) to the decidedly malicious (Rodney King, Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo, not to mention hundreds or thousands of black men we don’t know about), one simple truth is frequently ignored by commentators of both a white radical liberal or a Black Nationalist bent: Race obscures issues in America rather that clarifying them. Tim Wise’s recent article presents us with ample opportunity to discuss why.
Tim Wise begins by having you envision what the reaction would be if a large mob of black Americans descended upon the Capitol, assault rifles in hand crying out for revolution. It’s sort of shocking that a man of Mr. Wise’s education and proclivities would treat this situation as if it were some kind of abstraction. Indeed, there is an example of armed black militancy in the United States, and in history so recent that many living Americans can easily call it to memory. The Black Panther Party were, despite their many contradictions and short-comings, an incredibly brave group of young militants and paid the price for it. We don’t need to ask ourselves what happens to armed blacks fighting for social justice in this country. We have scores of dead bodies to show us.
