NAACP: Tea Party is racist
The NAACP passed a resolution that said the Tea Party movement has racist elements and calls for the leaders of the Tea Party to condemn racism and bigotry within its ranks. The Party has responded by saying that the resolution was simply a political ploy and had no merit.
The resolution was passed at the NAACP’s annual convention in Kansas City, Mo. Initially the resolution stated that the NAACP repudiated the racism of the Tea Party and stood against the organizations attempt to “push our country back to the pre-civil rights era.” The actual wording to be released does not criticize the Tea Party as a racist organization, but asked that it condemn racists and racist behavior in its organization.
In that statement the NAACP said that it had no issue with the Tea Party movement, but that it took issue with “the Tea Party’s continued tolerance for bigotry and bigoted statements.”
The resolution was due to an incident where Tea Party protesters allegedly yelled racial statements at black lawmakers on Capitol Hill ahead of a health care vote.
The Tea Party rejects the statement that its members verbally assaulted black lawmakers. They state that there is no visual or audio evidence that supports these allegations. Phillip Dennis said “there was no proof” of the behavior the NAACP describes.
Mr. Dennis went on to say “We don’t care about the pigment of one’s skin.” He went on to reprimand the NAACP of playing the race card.
In response to the NAACP’s resolution the St. Louis branch of the Tea Party had a meeting to draft a resolution condemning the NAACP for turning itself into a bigoted and partisan attack dog organization.
The Tea Party has repeatedly defended itself against statements that accuse it of being a racist organization. They continue to disavow any knowledge of racially derogatory signs which show up in their crowds.
Tea Party organizer Bill Hennessy wrote that the Tea Party stands for smaller government and fiscal responsibility. He continued to say “When you look at the crime and poverty and family breakdown of the African-American community you see a half-century of failure by the NAACP. None of those persistent problems was caused by the Tea Party movement, yet the principles of the Tea Party are exactly what’s needed to wind down the multigenerational destruction in the African-American community.”
