Reporter asks black protester if he's "uncomfortable" as part of tea party

The Washington Examiner ^ | April 16, 2010 | J.P. Freire, Associate Commentary Editor

[2ndDivisionVet]

NBC News reporter Kelly O'Donnell asked Darryl Postell, a black man at a tea party rally held Thursday in Washington: "There aren't a lot of African-Americans at these events. Have you ever felt... uncomfortable?" Postell replied, "No, no, these are my people, Americans."

(VIDEO AT LINK)

O'Donnell's question wasn't the only one addressing race at tea parties. Politico asked one white tea party protester about how she could spot an "infiltrator" -- a liberal posing as a tea party protester -- and she said that more "racially-oriented signs" were a giveaway. "This movement is not about race. My husband and I are an interracial copuple. He's African American. We don't make this party about race, we make it about principles." Video below:

(VIDEO AT LINK)

It didn't occur to me, by the way, to ask Richard if he felt uncomfortable. But maybe that's because he was right at home:

(PHOTO AT LINK)

[hstacey]

When does Comcast take over MSNBC....I’m telling you, they need to become the history channel...

[Gene Eric]

>> Kelly O’Donnell is essentially asking “Your skin is black. Why don’t you think like all the black people I know?”

You nailed it TE.

[hstacey]

It kind of cracks me up when libs call black conservatives “Uncle Toms”. The real Uncle Tom was part of the underground railroad and helped other blacks escape slavery...They might need a history lesson...LOL

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

Q: "Have you ever felt... uncomfortable?"

ANSWER#1: "Not at all. ma'am. What makes me uncomfortable are racists who prove by their condescending, idiotic questions that they think my skin color requires me to hold a certain political view."

ANSWER#2: "Not at all, ma'am. But on the same topic of group identity, tell me, are you uncomfortable with the fact that nationwide polls regarding which groups are 'most trusted' and 'most admired' consistently rank your profession in the single digits, somewhere between the KKK and prostitutes?"

[Oceander]

And the honorable Mr. Postell is one of us - a true patriot and a true American. God bless folk like him who not only have to deal with the generalized invective the left hurls at all of us, but also with the left's pernicious racism and their violent attempts to "punish" anyone whom they see as being a "traitor" to his or her race. It is the left, not the right, that is the true racists in this ordeal.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Postell should have asked the reporter if he was “uncomfortable” being surrounded by thousands of people every one of whom was more intelligent than he was.....

[ClarenceThomasfan]

I found this heroic guy on Facebook. I checked out his page. He is part of the Constitution party and he talks about liberty and limited government. He is even a retired military man. He’s the real deal.

Lol! I saw on his Facebook wall that he just got over 100 new friend requests since Wednesday-including mine.

[TigersEye]

I wonder if Kelly O’Donnel (or Nora O’Donnel for that matter) feel stressed out when they can’t get a Guinness, some corned beef and cabbage, a potato and get in a fist fight over a game of darts? /s

[susannah59]

I loved his answer, and wish we could’ve seen the reporter’s face when he gave it.

[upsdriver]

NBC News reporter Kelly O'Donnell asked Darryl Postell, a black man at a tea party rally held Thursday in Washington: "There aren't a lot of African-Americans at these events. Have you ever felt... uncomfortable?" Postell replied, Only when I am singled out by a racist reporter because of my color. (my words, not his)

[Windflier]

Kelly O’Donnell is essentially asking “Your skin is black. Why don’t you think like all the black people I know?”

I was recently back home in California visiting with my liberal family, and one of them asked me, "How do they treat you in the Tea Party?"

I replied, "The Tea Party is the most welcoming group that I've been privileged to be a part of. The charges of racism you hear on TV are totally false."

They must have believed me, because they all just nodded their heads, which surprised me. They're all dyed-in-the-wool lefties.

[Gene Eric]

>> when they can’t get a Guinness, some corned beef and cabbage, a potato and get in a fist fight over a game /s

LOL - usually the fun begins after the Guinness is found.

[Windflier]

Could be the TEA Party people didn’t realize that he was “black”.

That's pretty much the reaction I get at all Tea Party functions. If there's any unusual reaction I get, it's a sort of delighted surprise and a twinkle of the eye.

At Thursday's gathering a couple of folks took my picture, holding my Texas and Gadsden flags. It'll probably show up on blogs here and there as proof that there are indeed black folks who oppose this administration and the destruction of our liberties.

[Windflier]

The secret being that O'Donnell doesn't consider blacks as Americans, but as African-Americans, a protected group needing her liberal grace to exist.

Great assessment, and totally spot-on.

I'm constantly amazed at people who are amazed that I'm a conservative black man. The unspoken communication from them, is, "How can you possibly side with those who've oppressed you and your kind? Don't you understand that only we liberals care about you poor, unfortunate, and powerless black people?"

Once they realize that I'm the real thing, they treat me just like any other evil conservative. It's pretty disgusting.

[douginthearmy]

Great tagline.

[Windflier]

Great tagline.

Thanks. It's been my personal slogan since before I was a member here.

[Darkwolf377]

I have a black friend who used to work in Hollywood, as a reporter. He tells me stories of how he was treated there, and while he isn't necessarily a conservative, he is open to conservative ideas and conservative people in a way he no longer is to their liberal counterparts.

Liberals treated him (and other blacks in legal and administrative Hollywood work) as Others, and congratulated themselves for their special treatment...and they had NO idea how utterly inhuman that was. (A black female lawyer at a major studio reported she was repeatedly asked "How did you get this position?" something no one would ever think to ask of a white lawyer working at a studio.)

My friend was ultimately fired (and defended by, among others, Robert Osbourne, who I believe now hosts movies on Turner Classics)for writing a piece in one of the Hollywood dailies about how Hollywood congratulated itself so much for being progressive, yet where were all the movies starring blacks? (It took Spike Lee to show Hollywood that just because Hollywood had a couple of black stars, it was criminally behind the times in terms of behind the camera talent--I recommend some of Lee's later movies to FReepers, whatever you think of his talent ((yet another conservative friend of mine has worked closely with Lee and says he's nothing but professional and personable, unlike a number of Hollywood a-holes I could name based on friends' experiences)).)

Anyway, once my friend actually wrote an article saying, "Yeah, all your TALK is nice, but where are the JOBS, you people who employ talent?" he was fired over a nothing issue less than a month later.

You can imagine why, all these years later, he didn't blink when people pointed out I'm a conservative and he shouldn't like me. All those good liberals we knew then vanished when my friend encountered hard times, while I gave him a few bucks here and there while I was living on pretty meager wages. That's what FRIENDS do--people who see other people as Others who they can use as political pawns seem to have a problem with that. (I think my friend reached detonation level when one of these (white) liberals accused my friend of...anti-black racism.)

Sorry to drone on and use you as a sounding board, but this issue is something I'm writing about, and it so happens I had a long conversation with my friend today and am reading a biography of Samuel R. Delany (who's basically a socialist, but whose observations on race are surprisingly down-to-Earth for a commie :).

[TigersEye]

I take it that you are a High Melanin Content-American? lol

You're doing better than I am. My liberal sis called my Mom and I "brain washed" some years ago upon hearing that we listen to Rush Limbaugh. She ended all political discussion in 2000 after saying "Clinton was attacked for nothing but sex." I started to respond about perjury, suborning perjury, etc, and was cut off.

When she comes to see Mom she tells her she can't watch Fox News. (Mom is getting senile and likes her routine ... oddly enough/s) Oh, she also accused Mom of being racist because she was "looking at a black woman in the grocery store." Mom actually remembers that "incident." She thought she saw someone she knew. (A big deal given her memory.)

I have had it. She isn't even that committed to liberalism but I'm not going to extend the least bit of courtesy to her anymore. I could take it but the insults to our mother, who raised us to see people as people first and foremost, has just fried me.

(Sorry for the rant. I guess you hit the "family" button. lol)

[Windflier]

I think my friend reached detonation level when one of these (white) liberals accused my friend of...anti-black racism.

Wait until your black friend is accused of being a "racist" by a black liberal! My own (progressive) brother once accused me of that very thing, when I dared to criticize The One.

I couldn't help but laugh.

It's pretty hysterical, actually. Liberals just cannot fathom how a black person could possibly have their own mind, and draw their own conclusions regarding politics and culture. We're supposed to march in lockstep with the state-approved religious orthodoxy of liberalism, like good little sheep.

[Darkwolf377]

Liberals just cannot fathom how a black person could possibly have their own mind, and draw their own conclusions regarding politics and culture.

Their attitude is "But if you think like we do, we're for social programs, and welfare, and racial preferences--how can you NOT be for those things?"

It never occurs to them that this kind of thinking is textbook racist thinking--believing that one's ethnicity determines thought.

It would never occur to Nora O'Donnell to ask a white person these questions, because of COURSE whites have different points of view from other whites.