Benjamin Jealous, the head of the NAACP, wrote this post for CNN.com about the NAACP’s recent resolution asking the Tea Party crowd to repudiate racism in their ranks.
He wrote: “It is unfortunate that at a time when our nation is reeling in the midst of one of the most devastating downturns in our economy since the Great Depression, the NAACP is compelled to deal with a disturbing, corrosive attack from the Tea Party.
“Instead of joining us to repudiate racism, Tea Party leaders have attempted a tit for tat and demanded that we condemn the New Black Panther Party for reported hate speech. It is a false argument. Of course we condemn hate speech from anyone and any organization, including the New Black Panther Party. But that party is a mere flea compared to the influence and size of the Tea Party. And the New Black Panther Party is not a member of the NAACP. What we are asking the Tea Party to eschew is not the racism of some outside organization, but the bigotry within.”
After the resolution passed and was publicized, NAACP chapters across the country received phone calls with threats like this (warning; offensive hateful language that is not safe for work and frankly, not safe for civilized society) one received at the Hollywood office. Give it a listen.
So, we need to turn to those leaders of the Orange County Tea Party movement – people like State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, Supervisor Shawn Nelson, and Irvine Councilman Steven Choi. Gentlemen, care to denounce this sort of hate speech from the Tea Party movement?
Dan, I do not believe for one second that the photo shown with your comments reflects the feelings of a even a small segment of Tea Party and Conservative people in America. Such a sign is absolutely inexcusable and I doubt that a legitimate Tea Party Function would tolerate either the sign, or a person with that attitude being present. It would be more likely to be found at a Klan or other White Supremest function.
Looking at the photograph itself, while being no expert on photo shop handiwork, it looks to me like that last word could have been placed over original wording. We already know that one of the strategies of the leftist members of the Democrat Party, is to infiltrate the Tea Party Movement and do things to discredit them. This is all the more reason for Team Party Groups to closely monitor their members, meetings and events. They need to have a security element who would quickly clamp down on anyone who is out of line. Yes, they should also take a strong anti-racist posture, although it goes without being said.
Pat — that photo is a picture of Dale Robertson, the founder of teaparty.org. http://racistconservatives.com/?p=305
Is it really that far reaching to say that these Tea Party events attract many every day folks, but also a good number of wingnut racists? Thanks to Shawn Nelson we had our own tea party event in Fullerton and there were dozens of racist creeps like this guy. As you can see at least one of the regular attendees spoke up against him, but none of the organizers ever asked this racist, or the others with questionably signs, to leave. Ignoring that a big part of this movement is motivated and fueled by fear and bigotry will ultimately be the Tea Party Movement’s demise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6ANav7scYQ
This post should be titled “Non-Racist Teapartiers Please Refudiate”