Posted on 10/14/2010 11:18:57 AM PDT by kristinn
A new analysis of political signs displayed at a tea party rally in Washington last month reveals that the vast majority of activists expressed narrow concerns about the government's economic and spending policies and steered clear of the racially charged anti-Obama messages that have helped define some media coverage of such events.
Emily Ekins, a graduate student at UCLA, conducted the survey at the 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington last month by scouring the crowd, row by row and hour by hour, and taking a picture of every sign she passed.
Ekins photographed about 250 signs, and more than half of those she saw reflected a "limited government ethos," she found - touching on such topics as the role of government, liberty, taxes, spending, deficit and concern about socialism.
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But Ekins's analysis showed that only about a quarter of all signs reflected direct anger with Obama. Only 5 percent of the total mentioned the president's race or religion, and slightly more than 1 percent questioned his American citizenship.
Ekins's conclusion is not that the racially charged messages are unimportant but that media coverage of tea party rallies over the past year have focused so heavily on the more controversial signs that it has contributed to the perception that such content dominates the tea party movement more than it actually does.
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Ekins spent the summer researching the tea party movement and also as an intern at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington. The survey was for her UCLA graduate studies.
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Adam Brandon, a spokesman for FreedomWorks, said his organization did not instruct protesters to limit their messages to fiscal slogans, but he did patrol the crowd and threw out a few protesters carrying signs depicting Obama as Adolf Hitler.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
MeeMaw Katherine Graham’s favorite granddaughter Kate Weymouth is probably even now looking at replacing the reporter and the editor who let this story get out...
If this guy’s “survey” was done at Beck’s Washington Mall Sept. 28th event, they should Beck implored people to NOT bring signs.
And it it was the Beck event, 250 is hardly a valid sample of the 100’s of thousands there!
That’s awesome!
It only took them a month to figure that out.
As has been documented repeatedly...but how many people realize that. :-(
I think its funny that, in the eyes of the state-run media, signs equating Obama to a white German are racist.
Racist babies, what’ll they think of next! Can you special order’em that way? I want my Grandkids to have a Daddy.
Once more: Anti-Obama themes are not about race. They are about Obama. Understand? Obama!
send to DGH
The photo gallery with the story didn’t show ANY racially-charged signs that I could see, with the possible exception of one that was apparently criticizing immigrants who don’t learn to speak English. If that was the worst they could come up with, I’d say it definitely refutes the Tea Party = racism smear. The one about the village idiot in Kenya was no worse - not even as bad - as a lot of the stuff that was directed at Bush and Palin. But the media never did an analysis of THOSE signs.
I know what you’re saying is true - the TP gatherings are not racist at all. The Left knows this, I think, but would like to make a lot of voters think we are racist.
I just love that picture. Thanks for posting it.
I think it is probable that a sign with Hussein’s picture was racist simply because it portrayed him as black.........when we all know he is only 1/2 black.
I'd like to take a peek at the Compost turd's pictures of racist signs; I'd bet the farm that they represent the pitiful handful of infiltrators that were so easily outed.
Better be careful with that sign and that happy American flag waving. The leftists might try to arrest or possibly stab the baby...
Yeah, it may be funny, but the Hitler signs are put out by the La Rouche Democrats, who happen to be racists.
Of the 55% that supported Obama in 2008 about 35% remain.
The 20% percent, therefore, have become racist and joined the 45% original racists. What a country.
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