Black Tea Party = Black Panthers

No need to imagine or debate what the response to a black Tea Party would be. We've already seen what happens when armed black men demand an end to government tyranny.

Ask The Panthers What Would Happen If The Teabaggers Were BlackThere's been a lot of hue and cry from the 'white' wing about Dr. Tim Wise's 'Imagine If The Tea Party Were Black' post that's been linked to at blogs across the Blackosphere.

Some of the dismissive comments from the defenders of whiteness call it 'speculative' and tried to shout Wise's conclusions down since it didn't jibe with their vanilla flavored conservaworldview.

But it ain't 'speculation' what the reaction of whiteness and the Feds would be to an armed group of Black people calling for radical change to the system. All you have to do is pick up the history books and go back to the 1966 formation in Oakland of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.Wikipedia notes some of the responses to the Black Tea Party Panthers:

Black Panther PartyAs the Black Panther Party was beginning to gain a national presence, the government began a crackdown on the party and its activities.

In cities such as New York City, black police officers were used to infiltrate Panther meetings.

In August 1967, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instructed its program "COINTELPRO" to "neutralize" what the FBI called "black nationalist hate groups" and other dissident groups. In September 1968, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described the Black Panthers as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." By 1969, the Black Panthers were the primary target of COINTELPRO. They were the target of 233 of the 295 authorized "Black Nationalist" COINTELPRO actions.

Although COINTELPRO was commissioned ostensibly to prevent violence, it used some tactics to foster violence. For instance, the FBI tried to "intensify the degree of animosity" between the Black Panthers and the Blackstone Rangers, a Chicago gang.Comment:  Historically, our responses to blacks and Indians "on the warpath" have been similar. We didn't talk about how they were the most authentic of American patriots. How they were emulating the Founding Fathers by fighting a tyrannical government. No, we tried to shut them down as violent, bloodthirsty mobs. We reviled them as inhuman savages, killers, and beasts for simply trying to exercise human and constitutional rights.

Given the ongoing racism against blacks, Latinos, Asians, and Indians, I don't think much has changed. As long as these people remain second-class citizens, we tolerate them. But when they start seeking (our) wealth and power--Barack Obama, Sonia Sotomayor, black nationalists, Latino immigrants, Indian gaming tribes--we attack them. We transform them from people seeking the American Dream to people stealing the American Dream from us.

For more on the subject, see "Get a Brain, Morans!" and "Color-Blind" People Are More Racist.