Is The Tea Party Movement Racist?

October 25, 2010
Written by Amy OLoughlin in
"Sticky Wicket" Questions
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Tea Party

Dear Sticky Wicket,

Based upon the Tea Party’s members/rally participants and its agenda on social programs, taxes, spending, immigration, and its tolerance of racist and derogatory posters at its gathering; do you think having a black president is fueling their efforts? Is the Tea Party movement racist?

~Pondering Politics, Spokane, WA

Dear Pondering,

It is too simplistic, and diminishes the Tea Party movement’s emergent influence in American politics to say that President Obama’s race, or a racist agenda is motivating the group’s efforts to change our nation’s political landscape.

Yes, the Tea Party movement has in recent months, had to defend itself against assertions that it embraces racists, permits racist sloganeering at its gatherings, and on its websites, and does not actively recruit minorities to join its ranks.

However, Tea Party members insist that their grassroots movement reflects the values and political philosophy of likeminded Americans — regardless of political party, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or race.

They explain that the accusation of racism within the movement is a tool used by liberals, and the left-wing media to shift focus from the movement’s growing popularity, and groundswell of support for its four core principles: Fiscal responsibility; constitutionally limited government; lower taxes, and free markets.

The Tea Party aims to “take back” the country from the failed policies of big government and “restore” it to the kind of nation the Founding Fathers intended after the American Revolution. This strategy, they contend, is resonating with the American public, and because liberals and establishment politicos have no coherent or convincing counterargument, they play a game of identity politics, and interject race into the equation to divert attention from their lack of sound policy initiatives.

“As a black singer/songwriter,” says Lloyd Marcus, a black conservative, and spokesperson for the Tea Party Express (TPX). “I have attended over 200 tea parties across the U.S. The attendees are not racists. They are decent hard working Americans who love their country. Tea Party patriots oppose President Obama’s policies, not his skin color.”

In July however, this protestation came under severe attack when the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), passed a resolution that called upon the Tea Party to repudiate racist elements and activities within the movement.

“We take no issue with the Tea Party movement,” said NAACP President and CEO, Benjamin T. Jealous. “We believe in freedom of assembly, and people raising their voices in a democracy. What we take issue with is the Tea Party’s continued tolerance for bigotry and bigoted statements. The time has come for them to accept the responsibility that comes with influence, and make it clear there is no place for racism, and other forms of bigotry in their movement.”

The NAACP’s resolution triggered a scurrilous response from then-chairman of TPX, Mark Williams. He blasted the NAACP for being a group of “professional race-baiters,” and posted on his blog a mock letter to President Abraham Lincoln from Jealous, who Williams derides as “Tom’s Nephew.”

altWilliams writes, “Mr. Lincoln, you were the greatest racist ever. We [“Colored People”] had a great gig. Three squares, room and board, and all our decisions made by the [Massa] in the house. Please repeal the 13th and 14th Amendments and let us get back to where we belong.”

Predictably, a firestorm of controversy enveloped Williams and the Tea Party movement at large. The National Tea Party Federation, a coalition of local and regional Tea Party groups instituted to create a unified message, expelled TPX from its membership, and demanded a public censure of Williams.

TPX banished Williams, and in an effort to quell the uproar, it held the National Black Conservative Press Conference  in Washington, D.C., during which prominent black conservatives affiliated with the Tea Party movement addressed “all of the bogus, false, and malicious charges leveled against the American people who have rallied to take their country back.”

Kevin Johnson, author of The BIG Black Lie: How I Learned The Truth About The Democrat Party (2009), and President of the Black Conservative Coalition,  took the podium to say, “The Tea Party movement represents black America because the Tea Party movement empowers black people — and in fact, it empowers all people. The Tea Party movement challenges blacks and other minorities to understand that government is the problem, not the solution. The Left has wielded racism like a dirty nuclear weapon destroying whole cities, and the hopes and dreams of many Americans, not just blacks. And it is time that reign of terror ended. A real leader would have spoken out by now, not allowing the rhetoric of the Left to divide our great country. However, we cannot expect anything like [that] from this administration, because it would spell their doom. I proudly represent my fellow conservatives of all colors in helping change America back, and [after the mid-term elections in November], we will introduce the real America to those who have been brainwashed by the Left.”

In addition, Mychal S. Massie, Chairman of Project 21, an initiative of The National Center for Public Policy Research to promote the views of African-Americans, asserted, “We are here today to address the allegations, dispersions, and accusations of racism within the Tea Party. The only reason [that they] are able to have that discussion is because we remain fixated on race. And I argue that we must move away from this fixation on race to a fixation on Americanism. We are Americans. We must stand on our corporeal, common values as Americans, and not on that which divides us. As long as they are able to point to race as an issue, it will be an issue. However, we are smarter than that, the issues that confront us are not race issues; they are American issues. And the wonderful thing about the Tea Party movement — and that which has inspired so many people across this great and wonderful country — is a return to smaller government, less taxes, the constitution, and yes, God. These are not color sensitive issues. These are not race-sensitive issues. These are American-sensitive issues. I spoke in New Jersey, and I said there, no one is holding black people back from coming to a Tea Party movement. If black people do not want to attend a Tea Party [rally], that is their prerogative. However, do not call me a racist, or an Uncle Tom, or accuse my brother and sister Americans of being racist because you choose not to attend. That is your prerogative. It is my prerogative to be there, and I defy anyone to tell me how that is racist. Do not hurl the stone. Come tell me how that is racist,. I’m willing to listen.”

Yet, despite the Tea Party movement’s concerted attempts to eliminate the perception of racism within its ranks, a level of mistrust remains. In September, the NAACP collaborated with Media Matters for America, Think Progress, and New Left Media to form TeaPartyTracker, a coalition watchdog website that monitors racism and other forms of extremism within the Tea Party movement.
 

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Submitted by saintbon-2_02fa9a13 on

You can't brand a movement by a few bad apples. Grow up. What about the Black Panthers? NAACP? BET? Black Student Unions? United Negro College Fund? Affirmative Action? You can't focus on the issues, so you go after their integrity. How about a reality check? Look at all the organizations above. Who is racist again???