# Was Stewart's/Colbert's rally racist because there were no nonwhites? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 1, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090 "2010-11-01T14:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/101 "2010-11-01T20:55:10Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > He did not support the fatwa or call for murder. The stuff he did say was stupid, but not a call for anything illegal, and not an endorsemnt of the fatwa. If this is the best you righties can do to try to delegitimize the rally, that’s pretty pathetic. Fine and dandy, but I’ve read just about everything to read about Cat Stevens, and though I didn’t want to believe it , I can’t help but believe that his primary loyalty lies with the Islamic religion rather than our sense of right and wrong. In no way does my statement detract from my enormous respect for Jon Stewart. Simply , I see Cat Stevens might be more devious than he does . ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/102 "2010-11-01T20:57:30Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I won’t apologize to you for using the term “Teabagger.” I’ll use it as much and as often as I like. ? Of that I have no doubt. You get out of life what you give and you will be Jack Batty’d for your efforts. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/103 "2010-11-01T20:59:36Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :dubious: You do understand, don’t you, that there’s no equivalency between the Black Congressional Caucus and a hypothetical “White Congressional Caucus” or whatever? I understand that the BCC is not hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/104 "2010-11-01T21:00:26Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Take a look at this photo of Jon Stewart’s and Stephen Colbert’s rally in Washington this past weekend: > > [http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war\_room/2010/10/30/rally\_sanity\_slide\_show/slideshow.html?slide=8](http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/10/30/rally_sanity_slide_show/slideshow.html?slide=8) > > A scant 2 or 3 black faces visible in a sea of hundreds. > > During all the Tea Party gatherings and Glenn Beck’s rally, the media presented us with various photographs showing how overwhelmingly white the crowds were, and we heard a lot from the left about how this was obvious evidence of these groups’ vile racism. > > Was the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” racist because it was almost entirely white? You need to put your glasses on. Looking closely there are a good number of “non-white” hispanic, asian, east indians, and there are well more than “2 or 3” “blacks” in that picture. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/105 "2010-11-01T21:05:46Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > That would be the party that did all the heavy lifting in the civil rights movement. Actually, I checked and all of those guys are retired. Now they’re the party that hasn’t had a single black person in congress in 7 years. The Republican Caucus has been a purely white voting block for 7 years. You have to go back 13 years before there were TWO black Republicans in congress. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/106 "2010-11-01T21:23:08Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I’m glad to hear you say so, because it is quite accurate. The budget Obama wanted Congress to pass includes $1.56 trillion in deficit spending. No, it is your typical level of accuracy and weasling. To cliam Obama wants a large deficit is incorrect. He might be willing to accept one to deal with the shit load of trouble Bush dumped on this economy, but that is a very different think to wanting one. > [@Shodan](#): > > Bush’s failure to control spending was one of his biggest failures as a President. Several Dopers, myself included, have mentioned this. The difficulty being that so many Dopers have difficulty with nuance - anything besides fanatic hatred gets lumped under unquestioning support. I’m sorry you weren’t nuanced enough to realize the absolute bloody obvious point that I was talking about demonstrations in DC, rather than dribblings from people on a message board. I don’t think you are important enough to count even as a peep of discontent. > [@Shodan](#): > > That’s interesting. Could you cite me a few of the times that the right wing called people “unpatriotic” for criticizing increased government spending under Bush? Again, you really are being a bit willfully blind here. I never said the criticism was of increased government spending at that point. The allegations of lack of patriotism were directed at people who opposed government policies (policies which incidently added billions to the deficit with NOTHING to show for it other than body bags and a decrease in safety for all of us). ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/107 "2010-11-01T21:27:00Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It’s impossible to have an IQ number in the negative but I should have assumed you had a much higher opinion of yourself given the name calling. Actually, I am a tad too self deprecating, to be honest. > [@Magiver](#): > > If Bush attempted to ram through the badly planned health care and stimulus package the Tea Party would have been born sooner. The current administration’s policy is “when confronted with a cliff, drive faster”. Of course they would. There’s just absolutely not a shred of evidence of that, but I am sure you must be right. After all, why would you lie? I hate to break it to you, but the world isn’t made up of Democrats bad, Republicans good. It’s also not made up of Democrats good, Republicans bad. For you, on the other hand, if the GOP shat on a hoagie roll and handed it to you, you’d write a post about how great the chicken salad was these days. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/108 "2010-11-01T21:32:06Z")
> [@villa](#): > > I have no hard numbers, obviously, but the section of the crowd where I was seemed pretty diverse on racial/gender/sexual orientation lines. The teabagger rallies I have driven through have seemed completely non-diverse on at least racial grounds. They did seem to have a fair number of women, and I didn’t stand shoulder to shoulder with them for 3 hours so I was less likely to see hand holding/kissing to be able to determine sexual preferences. Exactly, looking around from where I was I could see people of a variety of ages and races. Jon made the comment that the mix was about what America is. 75% white, 15% black , and the rest mixed. The idea that it was a white crowd and lacked diversity is just wrong, so there’s no real discussion about it. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/109 "2010-11-01T21:35:13Z")
> [@villa](#): > > For you, on the other hand, if the GOP shat on a hoagie roll and handed it to you, you’d write a post about how great the chicken salad was these days. Quoted for hilarity 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/110 "2010-11-01T21:35:41Z")
> [@Tristan](#): > > If nothing else, this entire thread has shown me that the rally was held almost completely in vain. > > That makes me sad. Wow, you give up real easy don’t ya? The rally was hopefully the beginning of an ongoing effort for something less hateful and divisive than we’ve been hearing lately, but if you fold up and withdraw when you hear something mean you won’t be much good to anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/111 "2010-11-01T21:39:29Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If Bush attempted to ram through the badly planned health care and stimulus package the Tea Party would have been born sooner. The current administration’s policy is “when confronted with a cliff, drive faster”. Except that that wasn’t what caused the Tea Party, and you (should) know that (since the date of the first Tea Bagger protest (that’s what it was called at the time) was given just a bit ago upthread). Or did I miss how Obama did those things in his first 4 days in office? ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/112 "2010-11-01T21:45:26Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > Then perhaps he should say, stop watching Keith Olbermann, or Glenn Beck, rather than making is seem like everyone in the media is equally culpable. Why should Rachel Maddow or Shepard Smith suffer because Glenn Beck is an idiot? In Colbert’s montages of angry screamy name-cally people, I saw nary a clip of Maddow or Smith. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/113 "2010-11-01T21:50:56Z")
Don’t take Dio’s word for it- listen to what Cat Stevens said himself, and then decide if he was kidding. [http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/](http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/) In my opinion, no sane, honest or intelligent person can deny that Stevens said exactly what he’s accused of saying, and deserves all the scorn he’s received. Incidentally, Salman Rushdie, who claims to be a Jon Stewart fan, isn’t buying any of Stevens’ BS denials, either. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/3639714/Letters-to-The-Sunday-Telegraph.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/3639714/Letters-to-The-Sunday-Telegraph.html) ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/114 "2010-11-01T21:54:23Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If Bush attempted to ram through the badly planned health care and stimulus package the Tea Party would have been born sooner. The current administration’s policy is “when confronted with a cliff, drive faster”. Replace “health care” with “war” and “stimulus” with “tax cut for the rich”. And what’s this “cliff” bullshit? We’re at the bottom of the cliff that Bush that drove us over. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/115 "2010-11-01T22:02:47Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Of that I have no doubt. You get out of life what you give and you will be Jack Batty’d for your efforts. Well, I don’t want to brag, but those who have been Jack Batty’d have registered any complaints so far. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/116 "2010-11-01T22:04:51Z")
Of the faces that I can see in the crowd of that photo, which are the ones in the front, I see plenty of black faces, roughly on in 10. What is the OP going on about? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/117 "2010-11-01T22:08:19Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Don’t take Dio’s word for it- listen to what Cat Stevens said himself, and then decide if he was kidding. > > [http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/](http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/) > In my opinion, no sane, honest or intelligent person can deny that Stevens said exactly what he’s accused of saying, and deserves all the scorn he’s received. > > Incidentally, Salman Rushdie, who claims to be a Jon Stewart fan, isn’t buying any of Stevens’ BS denials, either. > > [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/3639714/Letters-to-The-Sunday-Telegraph.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/3639714/Letters-to-The-Sunday-Telegraph.html) He didn’t support the fatwa. I think the disconnect here is that people aren’t understanding the difference between his purely theoretical (however stupid) opinion that Rushdie would have merited execution under Islamic law, and support for the fatwa, which called for an extra-legal execution. He did not support the fatwa. That is a fact. Any statemnt that he supported the fatw is factually wrong. Theoretically supporting execution under due process in a Muslim country (however stupid THAT opinion is) is not the same as supporting the fatwa. It’s the difference between someone saying that OJ Simpson deserves the death penalty and saying that someone should find him and kill him on the street. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/118 "2010-11-01T22:14:59Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Is this the same Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) that called for the murder of Salman Rushdie and had fond hopes that he would be burned instead of an effigy? If so, has he strongly repudiated his former views or is this an entirely weird form of sanity they are seeking. > **[Cat Stevens | Salman Rushdie controversy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens#Salman_Rushdie_controversy)** > > In 1989, following an address by Islam to students at London's Kingston Polytechnic (now Kingston University), where he was asked about the fatwa calling for the killing of Salman Rushdie, author of the novel The Satanic Verses, Islam made a series of comments that appeared to show support for the fatwa. He stated, "He (Rushdie) must be killed. The Qur'an makes it clear – if someone defames the prophet, then he must die." He released a statement the following day denying that he supported vig In ... ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/119 "2010-11-01T22:19:26Z")
Personally I consider Yusef Islam in about the same light as I consider, oh, say, Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. All fanatical dunderheads whose opinions I wouldn’t piss on if all their beards were on fire. But at least Yusef can sing. ---
**Author:** ![Alienhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Alienhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alienhand)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090/120 "2010-11-01T22:26:25Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Don’t take Dio’s word for it- listen to what Cat Stevens said himself, and then decide if he was kidding. > > [http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/](http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/) > In my opinion, no sane, honest or intelligent person can deny that Stevens said exactly what he’s accused of saying, and deserves all the scorn he’s received. For anyone who doesn’t want to wade through Grand Daddy Pimp’s blog, here’s a direct [youtube link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-wjxwpvqps). It was on a show called [Hypotheticals](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Robertson#Media_career). > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Robertson has hosted an Australian television series of programmes called Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals. These shows invite notable people, often including former and current political leaders, to discuss contemporary issues by assuming imagined identities in hypothetical situations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stewarts-colberts-rally-racist-because-there-were-no-nonwhites/559090.md?page=7)