Legal Commentary

Racism and The Tea Partiers

By David Bernstein

Cathy Young has an interesting column digging deeper into the data. Here?s how it starts:

Ever since the ?Tea Parties? gained national attention, the debate has raged on whether they are a grass-roots protest movement in the proud tradition of American dissent, or a hysterical mob driven by fear, intolerance and selfishness. Recently, two much-discussed surveys ? a CBS/New York Times poll and a multi-state University of Washington poll ? have been bandied about as proof that the leftist caricatures of the Tea Partiers as mean-spirited rich white bigots are accurate. Yet a look at the data suggests that this interpretation is highly skewed by political bias.

UPDATE: Relatedly, I haven?t heard any prominent ?tea partier? make anything remotely resembling this blatant appeal to racial demography, courtesy of President Obama, in which he told activists that ?it will be up to you to make sure that the young people, African-Americans, Latinos, and women who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again.?

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on April 26, 2010 (boomark / email).