They see the first African-American president as the line-cutter-in-chief, who gleefully waved ahead the other non-white line cutters through his liberal tax-and-spend programs. The figure of former President Barack Obama looms large in the racially inflected Tea Party narrative of unfair advantage. Race and Sympathy FatigueĪlthough they deny harboring any personal racial animosity toward minorities, many Tea Party attitudes toward government redistribution programs are racially tinged. They see programs such as affirmative action, cash assistance, and higher education subsidies as taking their hard-earned money and giving it away to provide unfair advantages to other social groups-young people, African-Americans and Latin people, immigrants, LGBTQ people, and women. The Tea Party members-predominantly (although not exclusively) older, white, rural, Christian, native-born, and male see an increasingly diverse, unrecognizable, and alien America usurping their rightful place at the front of the line. The feeling of having one’s rightful position usurped stands as a tremendous insult to the honor and dignity of people who believe this. Cutting in LineĪ major driver of the resentment felt by many Tea Party members is the belief that undeserving “others” have cut in front of them in the line to the American Dream. By understanding their culture of honor, we can gain deep insight into how members of the right view themselves as losing status and position in the world-critical if we are to overcome the empathy wall and find common ground. Now, we need to expand upon that analysis and explore a key theme that runs through much of right-wing politics: honor. So far, we’ve examined some of the deeper attitudes that underlie the political conservatism of Tea Party supporters. More than environmental concerns, many conservatives claim that their faith in God and their belief in traditional family values are most important to them-and that their commitment to these values is what cements their loyalty to the Republican Party.įor them, the federal government is the far bigger threat to their way of life, with liberal politicians like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton representing a direct affront to their values.
While many Louisiana Tea Party members may lament the loss of the natural environment and the old Cajun way of life at the hands of the petrochemical industry, they insist that they are grateful for the jobs and economic opportunity that these companies bring.
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