Melissa Harris-Lacewell: Is this the Birth of a Nation?

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/544116/is_this_the_birth_of_a_nation

Is this the Birth of a Nation?
posted by Melissa Harris-Lacewell on 03/22/2010 @ 10:17pm


In response to the imminent passage of health care reform protesters spat on Representative Emmanuel Cleaver. They hurled homophobic obscenities at Representative Barney Frank. They shouted racial slurs at Representative John Lewis.

Democratic leadership responded by marching to the Capitol in a scene that looked more like a 1960s demonstration than a morning commute for the majority party.

The attacks on black and gay members of Congress immediately mobilized lefty mainstream media. On Monday night both Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow drew parallels between the health care battle and the civil rights movement. I like, respect, and appear frequently on both programs, but I think both have missed the mark in their racial analysis.

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But there is a very important difference between Bloody Sunday of 1965 and Health Care Reform Sunday of 2010. In 1965 Lewis was a disenfranchised protester fighting to be recognized as a full citizen. When he was beaten by the police, he was being attacked by the state. In 2010 Lewis is a long time, elected representative. When he is attacked by protesters, he is himself an agent of the state. This difference is critically important; not because it changes the fact that racism is present in both moments, but because it radically alters the way we should understand the meaning of power, protest and race.

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The Tea Party is a challenge to the legitimacy of the U.S. state. When Tea Party participants charge the current administration with various forms of totalitarianism, they are arguing that this government has no right to levy taxes or make policy. Many GOP elected officials offered nearly secessionist rhetoric from the floor of Congress this weekend. They joined as co-conspirators with the Tea Party protesters by arguing that this government has no monopoly on legitimacy.

I appreciate the parallels to the civil rights movement drawn by the MSNBC crowd, but they are inadequate. When protesters spit on and scream at duly elected representatives of the United States government it is more than act of racism. It is an act of sedition.

John Lewis is no longer just a brave American fighting for the soul of his country- he is an elected official. He is an embodiment of the state.

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As I watch the rising tide of racial anxiety and secessionist sentiment I am not so much reminded of the Bloody Sunday protests as I am reminded of D.W. Griffith's Birth of Nation. This 1915 film depicts the racist imagination currently at work in our nation as a black president first appoints a Latina Supreme Court Justice and then works with a woman Speaker of the House to pass sweeping national legislation. This bigotry assumes no such government could possibly be legitimate and therefore frames resistance against this government as a patriotic responsibility.

There are historic lessons to be learned. But they are the lessons of the 19th century not the 20th. We must now guard against the end of our new Reconstruction and the descent of a vicious new Jim Crow terrorism.

need a moment to digest...meanwhile it seems like a bit of a fight is going on in that comments section

except one thing......we (the other side)are not afraid......just sayin....

Then why hasn't any seditious blood been spilt?

the next John Brown. We're too smart to martyr ourselves.

Now SELF DEFENSE is another matter.

but.......I will tell you if I am attacked I will not hesitate to defend myself.....that's me. I suspect that others will protect themselves too.

That's what the other side has counted on for the last 30 years....the left, liberal, moderates, Blacks, Hispanics, Gays, poor, disenfranchised....you see as seperate entities we hold no power but together we are more powerful than they are we always have been.

Their mistake is the foolishness that they have participated in has galvanized our side.....we may disagree on many things but I honestly believe we will not stand still if they attack any of this countries leaders.

Why hasn't our government investigated people like Michele Bachman? She is out there stirring up her fellow crazies, but she is supposed to be protecting the common good. She is an elected official saying stuff like "don't pay taxes" when Thomas Jefferson would have been hung by the British for saying the same sort of thing. These bigots need to be contained before there is more violence.

you though; I wish there was something we could do about her and people like her. It's a sad day when the gop can't seem to rein in their crazies.

Then you have these people throwing bricks at buildings and threatening violence; there has to be a line drawn somewhere. I don't know what it will take to draw it. :scared:

same old bulls---.

I hope it doesn't come down to violence, but I fear they will take this to the mat and we'd better be prepared to protect ourselves and our loved ones. I've never been so fearful for this country than I am right now.