They have been lionized on the right and vilified on the left. They have been called extremists, and they have been upheld as “real Americans.” On Thursday, April 15, Tax Day, the Tea Party came to Greensboro.The Tea Party movement emerged in February 2009 in response to changing government economic policies, especially the 2008 financial bailouts. Over the past year, they have vocally demonstrated against the Obama administration’s proposed health care reforms, viewing them as a government intrusion into a domain best left to free market influences.

The Tax Day protest took place at the Greensboro Governmental Plaza in front of the Guilford County Courthouse. Hundreds of participants bearing signs and flags lined the steps in front of a stage where local public figures spoke. Speakers identified themselves by their first names and a work-related title, in the manner of Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher.

“I want low taxes, small government, and my freedom,” said Isabella Atkins, wife of radio personality Bill Atkins, drawing raucous cheers from the crowd.

The demonstration’s principal focus was on economic issues, especially reducing taxes and balancing the federal budget.

“It’s our money and they’re not spending it wisely,” said Charles Ward of Salisbury. “That’s why we’re so irate.”

First-year Dustin Flanary, co-chair of the Guilford College Republicans, proposed an additional reason. Tea Partiers may feel they are not being paid the attention they deserve in the political arena.

“A majority of them are not big businesspeople or academics, (so) they tend to lose respect within the political community,” Flanary said.

Participants ranged in age from toddlers proudly clutching balloons to veterans solemnly discussing the nation’s future.

Jim Fleet, 87, spoke of federal unwillingness to place reason over rhetoric in the healthcare debate. He views the bill’s passage on March 23, 2010, as a result of government ignoring the peoples’ wishes.

“They’re trying to say that this is the way it’s always been done, but if it’s always been done wrong, let’s quit,” said Fleet.

There was also a range in racial diversity, albeit a narrow one. The vast majority of Tea Party rally-goers tend to be white. Christopher Phillips, 44, a black Greensboro resident, countered media allegations that the Tea Party movement is fueled by racist fervor.

MSNBC host Keith Olbermann recently alleged that the Tea Party is an all-white political faction devoted to persecuting those “not like them.”

“I didn’t see (racism) here today, I don’t see it (while) watching TV,” Phillips said.

Some protesters viewed their cause as linked with their faith.

Kim Hanner, 47, held a sign citing 2 Chronicles 7:14. This Old Testament verse states that a country whose people return to faithfulness will be divinely “healed.”

Several political candidates attended the rally, such as commercial realtor Rob Brafford, who is running for North Carolina Senate. Brafford briefly coached basketball at Guilford.

“If I win, I still represent the people,” said Brafford.

Associate Professor of Political Science Ken Gilmore expressed doubt about Tea Party candidates’ ability to apply their ideology to real-world policies.

“It all comes down to what are you going to cut?” Gilmore said, referring to the dilemma conservatives would face when forced to trim spending from defense, Medicare, or Social Security in order to reduce the federal budget.

The Tea Party has put on many displays of political force in the past year. Exactly how they will change the political landscape remains to be seen.