Funny how a small shift in perspective can make a huge change in attitude, isn't it?
This past weekend, tens of thousands of people turned out across the country to protest Arizona's new law against illegal immigration. But the coverage of the events differed sharply from how the various Tea Party events have been portrayed. Gone was the questioning of motives and the somber laments about "ugly signs." Instead, there was ingenuous respect: "Is this protest specifically about Arizona," asked NPR's Guy Raz, "or is it about something bigger?"
"They came by the thousands," intoned ABC's Eric Horng. "A sea of demonstrators, armed with a message." (And with bottles. From Arizona, ABC reported that "riot police were called in to try and control demonstrators protesting outside the capital. Most were peaceful. A handful threw bottles at police and were arrested.") "There are American flags everywhere of all shapes and sizes," NPR reported from one rally -- something that might have been, but usually wasn't, said about Tea Party rallies as well.
In Santa Cruz, Calif., the San Francisco Chronicle reported that "downtown business owners spent Sunday repairing shattered windows and doors after a May Day rally Saturday night turned into a riot with approximately 250 people marching along Pacific Avenue, some carrying makeshift torches, throwing large rocks and paint bombs, and spray-painting walls with graffiti."
In San Francisco, three people who support Arizona's law were physically assaulted by the law's opponents -- but a reporter for an ABC affiliate still insisted that "for the most part, the day was peaceful." In Denver, protesters carried signs with messages such as "Death to Empire" and "Uncle $am Is an Illegitimate Genocidal Terrorist Organization." Oddly, those did not make the front page of The New York Times. The L.A. Times termed the event "peaceful but boisterous," although it did mention, 40 paragraphs into a 42-paragraph story, that in Phoenix "a handful of people supporting the [Arizona] law trickled in during the day and often had to leave under police escort after being surrounded by agitated demonstrators."
In point of fact, most of the May Day demonstrators against Arizona's law were peaceful. They also raised many legitimate concerns. So, of course, did those who attended Tea Party rallies -- who were equally peaceful, indeed more so. Yet while the immigrant-rights groups were depicted as the spiritual heirs of Martin Luther King, those marching for small government and low taxes were treated as dangerous kooks and potential domestic terrorists.
It's a good thing the Tea Partiers didn't carry torches or throw rocks and paint bombs, as some immigration demonstrators did. Imagine how the media would have treated them then.
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