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October 19, 2010

Your Turn: White County Tea Party

By Michael Shaw

James Cheng / msnbc.com

** Click for Full Size **

The Cosgrays are a close family, knit together by conservative Christian beliefs. They work hard, study hard and live in a place where they have their own water and power supplies, and where they could plausibly be self-sufficient. Their oldest son Alex, 27, farms 20 acres of family land – refusing government subsidies, on principle.

In addition to the cultural, geographic, demographic and gender role fun going on in this photo, I’m wondering how much the irony of their so-named and beloved White County (Indiana) contributed to the smiles on the faces of the wholesome Cosgray clan family as they posed for the newly-left leaning MSNBC.

Before you deconstruct the pic, take a look at the write-up here.

(The smiles, by the way, certainly doesn’t transfer to White County Tea Party Patriot founders Anna Kroyman and Jack Van Vulkenburg who look like they are about to spit right in the MSNBC photographer’s eye.)

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  • Enoch Root

    You know, coming from a hippie background, I say rock on. Be self-sufficient, believe what you want to believe, live within your means and skills. Yay. Just don’t force your women to have babies, don’t pollute the river for the next guy downstream, figure out how to not be paranoid, go into town from time to time, and be nice.

    It’s too bad that this honest American dream gets turned into tool-hood by the phoniest of the phonies, Sarah Palin.

  • quincyscott

    I don’t really think there is any reason to interpret this photo in a racial way. They are family members, all of the same race. Nothing unusual about this. They live in White County. OK. They farm. They are members of their local Tea Party. They are Cristian. Is there anything about these facts or this photo that would lead a reasonable reader to see racism in these people’s smiles? I am just not seeing it.

    Look, there is plenty of actual racism and other kinds of bigotry to go around at the moment. I just think that, lacking some further context, finding racism in this photo may say more about the viewer than the family, photo or photographer.

  • Malika

    Interesting that the editors picked photos of the atypical to illustrate the typical. How many tea partiers are any more self-sufficient than the rest of us…(i.e. could live off the grid?)

  • http://reciprocity-failure.blogspot.com Stan B.

    I suppose as good Christians they’ve all done what their good Lord and master, Jesus Christ, told them- give up all their worldly possessions to follow Him (just like Glenn and Sarah). I suppose as good Christians they also adhere to his teaching about loving their enemies.

    And I suppose as good Christians, they would, of course, obey his instruction to turn the other check should they get slapped by some brown skinned, Gay, Commie Muslim.

  • CF2K

    Tribal identification. Though the squirming baby in Tea Party togs sounds a discordant note.

  • http://solarray.blogspot.com gmoke

    Is the woman on the left of the photo embarrassed because she’s not wearing the family t-shirt? Is that why her leg is lifted and is that why the man next to the baby is looking at her? He’s the only one not looking at the camera.

    PS: The woman with the pink hoodie isn’t smiling as widely as the others. Disappointed she isn’t wearing a red t shirt?

    The foreshortening and the light halo make this picture a little unreal.

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