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Walmart kid not the big prejudice story
By Times Op-Ed
March 28, 2010, 3:00AM
By Milton W. Hinton Jr.
Last week much of Gloucester County [NJ], as well as the entire nation, focused on an incident at the Walmart in Washington Township. Reportedly, a 16-year-old from Atlantic County, on two separate occasions, activated the store intercom and told the black patrons to leave the store.
This young man certainly needs to learn that there are consequences for inappropriate actions, but let’s be careful about throwing him to the lions. It seems that in one short week this teen has become the face of racial prejudice from coast to coast, as this incident was carried by network TV news, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous other media sources.
It appears that there are those willing to allow this boy to be the sacrificial lamb; happy that the anger and attention of the public are on him, while they continue to implement their own agenda of superiority. Although many condemn the acts allegedly committed by this boy, it should also be recognized that the greatest threat he poses is to himself, and at the end of the day he really has very little influence or authority over anyone else.
Turn around and look in the other direction from Walmart and see what is really happening all around us.
While all eyes were on the Washington Township Walmart, self proclaimed patriots were quietly and effectively working on changing the socio-political mood. Perhaps the teen in Walmart felt comfortable singling out black people, because he is aware of adults acting in a similar fashion. Leading the way are the newest members of the patriot movement, members of the Tea Party.
Anyone who believes, or wants you to believe, that this group is more substance than slurs has lost touch with reality as they proudly promote an ideology of intellectual, political, and often, racial supremacy. They appear to believe that anyone who has an opinion or experience different from theirs is a threat. The record clearly shows their belief in the destruction of their enemy not the defeat of their political opponent.
Agendas of racism, sexism and homophobia have often been implemented under the guise of patriotism and religion. Have we so quickly forgotten the original modern-era patriot movement whose most infamous member, Timothy McVeigh, decided to show his disdain for the law by blowing up the Oklahoma City federal building?
Now we have the Tea Party movement, an organization marked by racially inflammatory and violent outbursts since its inception.
Just last week U.S. Rep. John Lewis encountered protesters at a Tea Party rally who began to chant “Kill the bill,” referring to the health care reform bill that was up for its major vote. Lewis turned to the crowd and said that he was supporting the bill, at which point, some began to chant “Kill the Bill, (n-word)” more than 15 times. That exceeds passion and goes straight to racist.
Now I am not suggesting that everyone in the crowd was chanting at Lewis this way, but according to published reports, none of Tea Party members who were not chanting stopped those who were. Later in the week the violence escalated, with protesters shooting into congressional offices, putting bricks through office windows, and threatening bodily harm to those who voted for the health care bill.
What happened to majority rule? It seems that democratic principles go out the window once some members of the long-established majority, suddenly find themselves in the political minority. That is the beginning of a nation divided against itself.
At rallies held to protest Tax Day last year, Tea Partiers carried signs that announced “Obama’s Plan: White Slavery,” as well as “The American Taxpayers are the Jews for Obama’s Oven. Tom Tancredo, a former congressman recently told a Tea Party convention member from Colorado who stated “People who could not spell the word ‘vote’, or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House... .” The problem is that we do not have a civics literacy test before people can vote.”
It should be of astounding concern to all that this individual is advocating for a return to such a precarious era in our nations history, and that he desires us to believe that it has nothing to do with having the nations first non-white president. I do not buy it for a minute and neither should you.
There is a mood of no tolerance toward others being dragged across the landscape by members of the Tea Party. A kid on the intercom at Walmart may be a symptom of the problem, following the lead of others. There are too many good people in this country to allow the words and deeds of a few extremists to take us back 50 years.
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Milton W. Hinton Jr. is director of equal opportunity for the Gloucester County government. He is past president of the Gloucester County Branch NAACP. His e-mail address is: milton@Hintonwritesthenation.com. Hinton blogs at www.Hintonwritesthenation.com.
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