Tea Partiers Portray Barack Obama as a Pimp

TeaParty.org, a Houston-based group founded by Dale Robertson, has decided to further play the race card by sending out an e-mail portraying President Barack Obama wearing a pimp hat, with a mustache painted on his face. The hat has zebra stripes and even includes a feather. The subject line of the e-mail states, "Obama Pimpin Obama-care, one last time!"
Robertson's group was taken to task recently for a sign that the founder held up at a rally that used the word "niggars" in reference to tax payers under the regime of the Obama administration.

When you have outlandish protesters like Robertson, it's difficult to believe that the tea party protests against the president aren't at least a little bit racist. I am sure that every legitimate protester, who at least thinks that race has nothing to do with his or her disdain for Obama, is disgusted by the actions of Robertson. To that effect, many other tea partiers are partying as far away from Robertson as they possibly can.

But events like this do beg additional questions regarding just how much race has to do with the extreme hatred being shown toward President Barack Obama. Do they just happen to hate the president because they think he is too liberal or because they are not accustomed to dealing with African American authority figures? Many black scholars document fundamental disrespect in the classroom from white students who've never had a black teacher before. The disrespect from students is heightened when your teaching style differs from what students are accustomed to. It is not inconceivable that many people who hate Obama because he's black are not even aware that race has something to do with their disdain.

While we will never know the origins or the intent of the tea party protests (they seem to be more determined to undermine Obama than to sway his opinion), we do know that protesters like Robertson are not good for our country. At the same time, I'm sure that the president knows that these kinds of attacks simply come with the territory. I'm sure he can handle it, and so can we.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition.