NAACP vs. Tea Party: No matter who wins, we lose

This story has been sort of simmering all week, and I haven't seen it mentioned here, so I thought I'd give it a kick-off.

Here's a good summary of an entire week's worth of back-and-forth between the two groups.

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1. On Tuesday, the NAACP approved its resolution accusing tea party activists of tolerating racist elements in their movement. "For more than a year we've watched as Tea Party members have called congressmen the N-word, have called congressmen the F-word. We see them carry racist signs and whenever it happens, the membership tries to shirk responsibility," NAACP President Ben Jealous (pictured above) told ABC News. "If the Tea Party wants to be respected and wants to be part of the mainstream in this country, they have to take responsibility."

The resolution was spurred by an incident in March, when Reps. John Lewis, Andre Carson and Emanuel Cleaver said some tea party demonstrators yelled racial slurs at them as they walked to the Capitol for the final vote approving the controversial health-care-reform legislation. Cleaver said he was spat on. Conservative activists accused the congressmen of lying.

2. Tea Party activists quickly shot back, calling the NAACP racist and irrelevant. "It's a little ironic that an organization that has lost legitimacy through its own racism is trying to call another racist," Mark Meckler of Tea Party Patriots told the L.A. Times.

Tea Party Express' Williams went farther in an interview with NPR flagged by Talking Points Memo. "We are dealing with people who are professional race-baiters who make a very good living off this kind of thing. They make more money off of race than any slave trader, ever," he said. "It's time groups like the NAACP went to the trash heap of history where they belong along with all the other vile, racist groups that emerged in our history." On CNN, he called the group "a bunch of old fossils looking to make a buck off skin color."

Dallas Tea Party founder Phillip Dennis said on FOX that the NAACP is "irrelevant" and should have ended 50 years ago. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said the NAACP should stop "name calling."

3. Many condemned the tea party's attack on the civil rights group as wrong-headed.

"That's the epitome of what a Tea Party patriot should not be saying," political commenter Lenny McAllister said on NPR. "They should not be saying that the NAACP is vile. The NAACP is not vile. They fought for civil rights for all types of people for years, even if they're misguided now, to use that type of language is not only inappropriate, but it does a disservice to the proud hundreds of thousands of Tea Party patriots."

Jamelle Bouie at the American Prospect wrote that the tea party's defense is based on the notion that racism only arises out of overt acts of prejudice, like racially motivated acts of violence and state-sanctioned segregation. "Now that outright racism is a rarity in the public square, it's really easy for many Americans to say that 'real racism' is a relic of the past," he said. He argued that more subtle racism is still prevalent, and a problem.

Ta-Nahesi Coates at The Atlantic wrote that the NAACP was just fulfilling its stated mission to oppose "any attempt to inject racism into American politics. " He writes the NAACP was rationally responding to several worrisome statements from tea-party-affiliated politicians and media figures.

4. Williams escalated the debate on Thursday by posting a satirical letter, under the name of NAACP President Ben Jealous to Abraham Lincoln. Among other things, the missive mocked the organization for using the term "colored." "In every one of the dozens of interviews that I have done regarding the anti-Tea Party resolution passed by the NAACP, I have brought up the absurdity of a group that calls blacks “Colored People” hurling charges of racism," he wrote before posting the letter, which is no longer available on his site:

Dear Mr. Lincoln

We [National Association for the Advancement of] Colored People have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us [National Association for the Advancement of] Colored People and we demand that it stop!

Williams pulled it down earlier this afternoon — after he'd encountered some objections in the post's comments section. He'd previously excised some sections of the original post that had sparked reader protests, including use of the term "massa" and a reference to black supporters of the civil rights group being reluctant to work in order to pay for "a wide screen TV in every room."

Sorry for being uninformed but who are these tea guys?

'Tea drinker' is pretty much a mockery of the multicultural left here.

In a nutshell: Tea Party movement/protesters are smaller-government activists with no centralized party structure. The movement emerged in 2009. Anybody who wants to call themselves a Tea Partier may do so, with equal validity. This has led to some predictable difficulties.

Major financial and organizational backers of the Tea Party: FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity.

Major media supporters: Fox News Channel, esp. Glenn Beck.

Wiki article for further reading.

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"For more than a year we've watched as Tea Party members have called congressmen the N-word

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Except, of course, that no such event occurred. Several black congressman claimed it happened while walking through a group of protesters. But many of them were holding video cameras, and not one provided any actual evidence of such slurs being uttered.

It also seems the Tea Party steadfastly refused to portray themselves as civil and level-headed people in response to the NAACP. That 'satire' letter was especially insulting.

CR

I'm just confused why everyone in the political mainstream believes that they can condemn Tea Party participants and believe that they will be answered by some "Head Tea-Partier". The NAACP is just grabbing headlines to ensure that they are still part of the debate in this "post racist/Obama" era. It seems like the same sort of commentary that I heard from Rev. Jackson about the Cleveland Cavaliers coach; his "paternalistic master-runaway slave dichotomy".

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Originally Posted by Marshal Murat

I'm just confused why everyone in the political mainstream believes that they can condemn Tea Party participants and believe that they will be answered by some "Head Tea-Partier".

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What about this david webb guy?

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Originally Posted by cnn

The National Tea Party Federation, an organization that represents the Tea Party political movement around the country, has expelled conservative commentator Mark Williams and his Tea Party Express because of an inflammatory blog post he wrote, federation spokesman David Webb said Sunday.

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The most racist mainstream organization in the nation accusing another of racism.... only in America.

Of course black... err.. "colored" racism is acceptable in this country. They call it being proud of their cultural heritage. I wonder how far any white person would get using that archaic term in everyday usage.

When I grow up I'm going to found the National Association for the Advancement of White People. Our first project is going to be a new TV channel, White Entertainment Television. Its going to be just like PBS.

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Tea Party Express' Williams went farther in an interview with NPR flagged by Talking Points Memo. "We are dealing with people who are professional race-baiters who make a very good living off this kind of thing. They make more money off of race than any slave trader, ever," he said. "It's time groups like the NAACP went to the trash heap of history where they belong along with all the other vile, racist groups that emerged in our history." On CNN, he called the group "a bunch of old fossils looking to make a buck off skin color."

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:yes:

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Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

Our first project is going to be a new TV channel, White Entertainment Television. Its going to be just like PBS.

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You mean you intend to reinvent Fox News....?

The NAACP is engaged in profiling, go figure.

I would put money on the NAACP. Their legal team is probably just waiting for an opportunity to smack the Tea Party down.

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Originally Posted by tibilicus

I would put money on the NAACP. Their legal team is probably just waiting for an opportunity to smack the Tea Party down.

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Depends if the Tea Party will actually put up that bill-board nextweek with pictures of Robert Mugabe, François Duvalier and Barrack Obama with the slogan "Can you tell the difference?"

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Tea Party Express' Williams went farther in an interview with NPR flagged by Talking Points Memo. "We are dealing with people who are professional race-baiters who make a very good living off this kind of thing. They make more money off of race than any slave trader, ever," he said. "It's time groups like the NAACP went to the trash heap of history where they belong along with all the other vile, racist groups that emerged in our history." On CNN, he called the group "a bunch of old fossils looking to make a buck off skin color."

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Oh wow.

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Originally Posted by CountArach

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Tea Party Express' Williams went farther in an interview with NPR flagged by Talking Points Memo. "We are dealing with people who are professional race-baiters who make a very good living off this kind of thing. They make more money off of race than any slave trader, ever," he said. "It's time groups like the NAACP went to the trash heap of history where they belong along with all the other vile, racist groups that emerged in our history." On CNN, he called the group "a bunch of old fossils looking to make a buck off skin color."

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Oh wow.

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He's probably not adjusting slaver profits for inflation. ~;)

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Originally Posted by drone

He's probably not adjusting slaver profits for inflation. ~;)

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Sure sounds like it. I expect he also has no concept of how profitable the golden triangle was at the time. Last I read, the margins were so high only one in three ships needed to make it to guarantee a profit. The only thing you can ship for that kind of margin these days is cocaine or heroin.

Briebart Video of NAACP racism in action.

What a world we live in, where in a matter of days a video from years ago can be pulled up and played online for thousands.

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Originally Posted by Marshal Murat

Briebart Video of NAACP racism in action.

What a world we live in, where in a matter of days a video from years ago can be pulled up and played online for thousands.

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Didn't she say that her eyes were opened, it wasn't about black and white, it was about people who were poor and needed help? What did the rest of her speech say?

This whole "tiff" has all the makings of a bunch of out-of-work lawyers. I'm all about limited government, but the pantheon of "tea-partiers" that are recognized hasn't charged my batteries. Including the Paul family, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin in the same "grass-roots" campaign sure smacks of astro-turf to me.

By the way, once Allison is potty-trained, stay tuned for the launch of the Atlas party, based on Ayn Rand's objectivist principles by yours truly. Join me, in an effort to rail against endless kvetching.

NAACP racism in action? Possibly, maybe if you ignore the entire speech I guess. :shrug:

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Originally Posted by Lemur

Sure sounds like it. I expect he also has no concept of how profitable the golden triangle was at the time. Last I read, the margins were so high only one in three ships needed to make it to guarantee a profit. The only thing you can ship for that kind of margin these days is cocaine or heroin.

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Of course you also have to consider the fact that slave traders actually had to do something. You know, acquire ships, make deals with African tribes for their captures, navigate treacherous seas, etc. It may have been an immoral profession, but it was a job. Mr. Jealous makes six figures for doing little more than pointing his finger and playing the race card. Not a bad gig if you ask me...

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Originally Posted by Marshal Murat

Briebart Video of NAACP racism in action.

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The bigot has been fired.

The whole story highlights just how virulent black racism is in contemporary America.

I want my own damn month. Why don't I get a white history month. That has legitimately bugged me for years.

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Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

Of course you also have to consider the fact that slave traders actually had to do something. You know, acquire ships, make deals with African tribes for their captures, navigate treacherous seas, etc. It may have been an immoral profession, but it was a job. Mr. Jealous makes six figures for doing little more than pointing his finger and playing the race card. Not a bad gig if you ask me...

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Wait... what? Could you clarify this in some detail BEFORE people say you are justifying slavery?

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Originally Posted by Centurion1

I want my own damn month. Why don't I get a white history month. That has legitimately bugged me for years.

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There is no white history--the history of washington, jefferson etc doesn't have to do with their skin color specifically.

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Originally Posted by CountArach

Wait... what? Could you clarify this in some detail BEFORE people say you are justifying slavery?

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How are you reading that as justifying slavery?

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Originally Posted by Sasaki Kojiro

How are you reading that as justifying slavery?

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Justifying it as better than sitting there doing nothing is closer to what I meant.

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Originally Posted by CountArach

Justifying it as better than sitting there doing nothing is closer to what I meant.

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Yeah, the crazy part of that williams guys argument is that he is comparing them based on the amount of money they made...when clearly that is not the relevant part.

Trolls trolling trolls.

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Originally Posted by CountArach

Wait... what? Could you clarify this in some detail BEFORE people say you are justifying slavery?

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In response to the discussion about which of the two groups has a higher relative income, I was pointing out that slave trading actually involved some degree of work as opposed to being employed by the NAACP, which was essentially a more rhetorically colorful way of saying that the NAACP has become irrelevant and worthless. It serves less of a function than slave trading did - which at least yielded some value to someone, of course in a less than moral fashion. The NAACP is a racist organization full of black racists that prey on past racial anxieties for profit and to stay relevant.

Sasaki are you saying white Americans have no history to celebrate

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Originally Posted by Centurion1

Sasaki are you saying white Americans have no history to celebrate

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What's "white" about it? Do brown haired americans have a brown haired history to celebrate? Or just a bunch of history that incidentally involved brown haired people?

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Originally Posted by Sasaki Kojiro

What's "white" about it? Do brown haired americans have a brown haired history to celebrate? Or just a bunch of history that incidentally involved brown haired people?

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Was there ever segregation based on the colour of your hair? Race might not be relevant to us today but we have to accept that it was in the past.

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Originally Posted by Rhyfelwyr

Was there ever segregation based on the colour of your hair?

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No.

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Race might not be relevant to us today but we have to accept that it was in the past.

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It's relevant today and it was in the past.

So, what a specifically "white" history month be? Black history month is generally about the slave trade, civil rights movement, racism etc. What's the white equivalent?

There are a lot of branches of history where they look at a specific group of people. Irish immigrant history, catholic history, women's history, etc, it's basically saying "what was life like for this group of people". But it has to be a distinct group of people, and not just by some visible feature (otherwise...brown haired).

A lot of things like black history month, women's history month, jewish history month, were started because they were topics that had been ignored in the study of history. Now, you could easily say that they are a standard topic now, and that having a month isn't really relevant to our current society. But complaining about it being a double standard because there isn't white history month is silly.

It's also true that a lot of the work in these areas is done by people with a ideological axe to grind who have no real background in history (I'm reminded of a book review I read about a feminist history book that "proved" that einsteins wife actually came up with the theory of relativity). This would be another reason for ditching the months and divided history format.

Heard part of a somewhat relevant story on the radio just a minute a go. A woman from texas was telling the story of how the police and fbi had been working with her, she would go to kkk type conventions and report back to them. Eventually she got outed and was being threatened constantly, phone calls that said "we're going to start with your dogs", etc. Skinheads showed up at her house with a crowbar, she met them at the door with a 12-gauge (win for the 2nd amendment).

The relevant part here is that they thought she was working for the NAACP. Is the NAACP some sort of bogey-man to these groups? My impression was that it was, at worst, one of those out of touch academic organizations. I have no idea where the hatred comes from.

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Originally Posted by Sasaki Kojiro

So, what a specifically "white" history month be?

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I'm thinking Abba. Lots and lots of Abba. And maybe a grand national curling competition.

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

This whole "tiff" has all the makings of a bunch of out-of-work lawyers. I'm all about limited government, but the pantheon of "tea-partiers" that are recognized hasn't charged my batteries. Including the Paul family, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin in the same "grass-roots" campaign sure smacks of astro-turf to me.

By the way, once Allison is potty-trained, stay tuned for the launch of the Atlas party, based on Ayn Rand's objectivist principles by yours truly. Join me, in an effort to rail against endless kvetching.

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It's campaign season, and the kooks are the ones to make the headlines. The cheapest, easiest way to attack any political opponent is to level accusations of bigotry, no?

Is it fair to demonize an entire movement because a few nuts are associated with it? Does the NAACP wish to be evaluated on that basis?

The NAACP picked a bad time to brand the Tea Party with the racist label. Recently the New Black Panther Party has been in the news because the Justice Department declined to prosecute a case where three of their members apparently intimidated voters at a Philadelphia polling place. One DOJ lawyer even quit his job, saying he was ordered not to pursue the case because it involved race.

In response to the story, a number of New Black Panthers have been shown on TV saying incredibly bigoted things. One guy, King Samir Shabazz, even suggested that black Americans kill white babies. This is on tape. Obviously, racial bigotry cuts both ways. Has the NAACP denounced them?

One of the weaknesses of the NAACP is that it has rarely acknowledged black racism. The organization is silent on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan. Yet it is outraged about the Tea Party. There might be something hypocritical about that.

If I remember correctly, President Obama wisely ran as an American not as an African-American. Unfortunately the NAACP isn't quite as astute. And by saying/referring and profiling all Tea Party followers being sympathetic to racism when proof of that is scant at best...well, that's pretty irresponsible.

There's much more to diversity than just skin color.

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Originally Posted by Rhyfelwyr

Was there ever segregation based on the colour of your hair? .

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Gingers in schools?

^ no they arent allowed in churches.......

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Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

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Originally Posted by Marshal Murat

Briebart Video of NAACP racism in action.

What a world we live in, where in a matter of days a video from years ago can be pulled up and played online for thousands.

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The bigot has been fired.

The whole story highlights just how virulent black racism is in contemporary America.

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heh...this story has blown up huge it seems. Really shows the nasty side of our current political climate/24 hour news cycle.

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Roger Spooner said on CNN that Sherrod is not a racist, that Sherrod did everything she could for his family, and over twenty years later, he and Sherrod remain friends.[14] The Spooners credit Sherrod with helping them save their farm: "If it hadn't been for her, we would've never known who to see or what to do," Roger Spooner said. "She led us right to our success." His wife, Eloise Spooner, said that later, "after things kind of settled down, she brought Sherrod some tomatoes out of her garden, and they had a good visit."[11] Eloise Spooner recalled Sherrod as "nice-mannered, thoughtful, friendly; a good person."[11] The couple were surprised by the controversy. "I don't know what brought up the racist mess," Roger Spooner said. "They just want to stir up some trouble, it sounds to me in my opinion." Eloise Spooner said that on seeing the story of Sherrod's resignation, "I said, 'That ain't right. They have not treated her right.'"

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It was obvious to me even from the clip :shrug:

She was talking about how when she started out she had some racial bias, but she realized that in fact racism works both ways and that her job was really about helping those in poverty.

So the NAACP is having speakers tell personal stories that are a warning about how racial bias works both ways.

But in this climate even they were calling for her resignation in a hasty statement 2 hours after the video was released.

"get it first, but first get it right"

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Originally Posted by Sasaki Kojiro

heh...this story has blown up huge it seems. Really shows the nasty side of our current political climate/24 hour news cycle.



It was obvious to me even from the clip :shrug:

She was talking about how when she started out she had some racial bias, but she realized that in fact racism works both ways and that her job was really about helping those in poverty.

So the NAACP is having speakers tell personal stories that are a warning about how racial bias works both ways.

But in this climate even they were calling for her resignation in a hasty statement 2 hours after the video was released.

"get it first, but first get it right"

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Yeah, you called it from the start.

I'm sure that Brietbart and crew are congratulating each other for making the president look bad again, but in the long run I think this really hurts their credibility and their ability to push credible stories in the future, even on Fox. Unlike the Acorn story which had merit, this was straight up deceptive.

I have to smile a bit at the notion that even when Fox fails to run a story to ground, Obama still loses. :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

The most racist mainstream organization in the nation accusing another of racism.... only in America.

Of course black... err.. "colored" racism is acceptable in this country. They call it being proud of their cultural heritage. I wonder how far any white person would get using that archaic term in everyday usage.

When I grow up I'm going to found the National Association for the Advancement of White People. Our first project is going to be a new TV channel, White Entertainment Television. Its going to be just like PBS.




:yes:

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There is no need for a NAAWP because white people at least in america hold high positions in society (for the most part) already. There is no need for the advancement of white people because they have already advanced.

And there is no need for a White Entertainment Television because you already have that. Several, in fact. They're called NBC, CBS, ABC...etc.

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Originally Posted by Centurion1

I want my own damn month. Why don't I get a white history month. That has legitimately bugged me for years.

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You already do! You have more than one! They come with nifty names like "January" "March" "April" "May" and "June"!

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Originally Posted by Lemur

I'm thinking Abba. Lots and lots of Abba. And maybe a grand national curling competition.

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Anti - Scots and Scandinavian, or wherever, racist