What If the Tea Party Were Black?

I recently saw this headline in passing and couldn't stop thinking about it. I had a good guess of what it's about - that there would be a lot less slack and a lot more fear around a group of angry People of Color than has been given to the Tea Partiers.

Here's the piece, if you're interested, and I think you should be.

But honestly, since non-partisan news is pretty hard to come by these days, and I tend to fall on the left end of things, I don't see a lot of slack for the Tea Party folks. In fact, I see a lot of ridicule. And I personally am terrified of their recent actions, so I know there's fear.

So this headline - before I got to read the actual post - made me think about some other things. If the Tea Party had more Black people than White, would I speak about them in the same way? Would I be so insulting, dismissive, and quick to point out the misspellings on their signs (hilarious as they are)? Would my white liberal guilt allow for that? Or would I give a closer look to what brought them to this point, and what part our systems played in that?

It's not a question I want to admit having to ask, believe you me. But it is something I better think long and hard about if I want to keep thinking of myself as someone who believes in equality — and if I want to teach my children the true meaning of that word.