I attended the Tea Party rally in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with the intention of stepping outside my comfort zone and succeeded in doing so. The rally was set to start that afternoon. I wanted to show up after the rally began so I could be unnoticed. I found myself becoming very paranoid my attendance for several reasons. I have followed the tea party rallies very closely in the media and they have been heavily criticized for their racially charged language, views, and actions. I would definitely consider myself a very outspoken liberal black male , so this put me in an uncomfortable position. Another reason I felt uncomfortable was I attended with my white ex-girlfriend who did not want me to attend alone and wanted to observe the tea partiers as well. The tea party rally was going strong when we arrived with a small gathering of members. As we approached the park where it was being help we saw the familiar "Dont Tread On Me" flags that the tea partiers have claimed blowing in the wind. I looked around and saw I was surrounded by conservative politicians advertisements and confederate flags as well. I immediately became very angry and wanted to yell at people I saw wearing and flying confederate flags. I understood that I was experiencing culture shock. My reaction was anger because I did not understand why these people were flying a flag that I recognize as a symbol of racism. This flag has been the backdrop for nearly every white southern supremacist movement and several scenes of racial hatred for my people in history. I found myself very uncomfortable and unable to look on without passing judgment on the people around me. I gazed around to also see that three-fourths of the tea partiers were sitting in lawn chairs. I am an avid protester myself and had never seen a protest where people were all sitting down in a "I've had enough" atmosphere.
I found myself being stared at often and people mumbling things when I was walking past. One woman who was covered in confederate flag clothing handed over a flyer that spoke about how slavery "was not the issue" of the civil war. This was rhetoric I was all too familiar with growing up in the South. I felt like everything was a game to the people around me and they were caught up in dogmatic ignorance rather than culture. These people were displaying their core values though. A lot of racially and politically charged undertones set the stage for the speakers I heard. I often heard "We need to take our country back". It made me begin to wonder as I often do who "our" is? One speaker who was a veteran got up and claimed he enlisted in the army during Vietnam to "kill communist for Christ" and was "ready to do what was necessary". I often listened in shock as speakers stated they were a culturally diverse movement that represented many races and ethnic groups . I constantly heard speakers mention "we are not racist". I looked around, took pictures , and shot video and I am one-hundred percent certain I was the only African American and racial minority in attendance.
Several people cheered "here, here!" as a gentleman ranted on his problems with illegal immigrants who "were not patriots". People were discussing there family history's and puritan genealogy's as I walked around and talking about the "socialist" administration currently in power. I must admit that I felt as if people were saying the same xenophobic and racial statements that have been used for years with new politically correct terminology. This is where my ex girlfriend came in as an informant to verify some of my questions about the conservative majority tea partiers as well as some counter protesters I encountered(who all blended much better than I). There was frequent rantings of God, The Bible, and "Our Forefathers". Another question was raised in my mind, "Do these people realize this countries forefathers owned my fore-mothers and forefathers?" I wanted to approach someone and ask them this. I felt strange hearing so many people talk about returning to the original constitutional values this country was founded on. I only found myself in my observance thinking about how the original constitution stated that I would be considered 3/5 human being thanks to the 3/5 compromise. Overall , I felt these people were not being culturally competent of others around them and were insensitive to the history of others who inhabit America. I found myself feeling very ethnocentric towards them for feeling so very ethnocentric towards others. I am glad I attended though, I felt as if I did something many black males wouldn't do and it helped me understand some things. I looked around and I saw poor people, I saw regular people,and I saw people who struggle just like me. I have yet to figure out what it is that separates me from what is essentially my reflection.
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