Video: Interview With Kentucky Tea Party ‘Yup. I’m A Racist’ T-Shirt Vendor
Irony: it’s not just a poorly thought-out prosthetic anymore!
The liberal blogosphere is all aflutter about the “Yup. I’m a Racist” t-shirts that were on sale at a July 3 Tea Party event in Lexington, Kentucky. Wonkette takes the shirts as “A-HA!” proof that Janeane Garofalo was right all along, while Dave Weigel helpfully explains that, like that 2008 Spartacus-style anti-healthcare “PSA,” the shirts are meant to be ironic, and presents a video interview with the vendor from last year’s event. Fair enough. Is the “Everything I Need to Know About Islam I Learned on 9/11” part of the brilliant meta-humor?
The issue of race and the tea Party has been handled with the grace of a Joe Cocker dance-off, with opponents tarring the entire movement based on the actions of a relative minority (and the inaction of those surrounding them), while the Tea Party has responded with denial, and tone-deafness about its own lily-whiteness. Oversold accusations of racism shut down legitimate debate about why the Tea Party appeals to so few black people, while “ironic” moves like the shirts and the “I’m a racist” ad belittle legitimate concerns.
The t-shirt, for example, includes a Top Ten Straw Man Arguments for why some accuse the Tea Party of racism, including gems like “I support Jesus Christ as my savior,” a curious inversion of that relationship. The shirts might have some resonance if they included things like, “Because some knuckleheads dressed the President as a witch doctor,” or “Because most of us are white…just like a Code Pink rally.”
They would also make more sense if they weren’t hung next to those hateful “Infidel” shirts, and their wit might gleam a little brighter if not for the bumper sticker which asks, “What Does God And Obama Have In Common?”
The Louisville Independent Examiner‘s Greg Skilling interviewed the t-shirt vendors at last year’s Louisville event, and despite an apparent allergy to the wide shot, gave them a chance to explain their side of the story. Along the way, he makes a few strong points about mixing religion and guns, and selective concern about border seciurity:
Conservatives do themselves no favors in coddling the gun-crazy, nativist element of their base. Most serious-minded conservatives see comprehensive immigration reform as an inherently pro-business position, but dare not say so out loud, and their zero-sum attitude toward gun control is at odds with public opinion and current events.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
