The NAACP has accused the Tea Party of harboring racist elements. (SIR: Poseyal : KNIGHT of the DESPOSYNI/flickr)
The NAACP and the Tea Party are feuding again. The civil rights organization has released a report called "Tea Party Nationalism" that has renewed accusations that the Tea Party groups “have given platform to anti-Semites, racists and bigots.” Tea Partiers are again disputing that claim.
Kate Zernike is a national correspondent for our partner, The New York Times, and the author of "Boiling Mad: Inside the Tea Party." She wrote about the report on the Times' blog, The Caucus. David Webb is the founder of TeaParty365, and one of the Tea Party's most prominent black voices. He's faced off with the NAACP before on accusations of racism within the Tea Party, and says that once again, the NAACP is playing the race card.
UPDATE: Hilary O. Shelton, NAACP Washington bureau director and senior vice president for advocacy, responds to Webb's accusations.
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Comments [6]
Excuse the pun, but that's the pot calling the kettle black eh?
Juan Williams was more respectful to Muslims, than The Takeaway is to Americans who choose to identify with the "Tea Party" movement.
I found it funny that Mr. Webb had very limited knowledge of the origins of the Tea Party. He might want to read up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_tea_party
It is based on the principles of no taxation without representation. I personally agree with many of the Tea Party's stands, but if Mr. Webb is the best representation of the movement, then it's going to be extremely difficult for people that are on the fence to really embrace their beliefs.
David Webb was a complete jackass. I'll not listen to him speak ever again.
Celeste needs to take control of her interviews. She let David Webb entirely alter the focus from the TEA party to the NAACP wrongs and pontificate his political views without responding to any questions. Your job is to get your guests to answer questions, not make uninterrupted speeches. Being on your show doesn't give the guests the rights to speak, only answer questions on the topic. Furthermore you need to stop allowing conservatives misusing the language for their political goals. The word is Democratic Party, not Democrat Party. Call them out on this when they say it.
Yes, most Tea Party members are not racist. But their very slim and selective reading of the Constitution and history - of which there are a multitude of understandings and histories in the U.S. - makes me wonder.
It was also pretty ugly that day when the two CBC members walked the gauntlet while tea-partiers yelled at them. I'm sure the language they hurled was kosher (oh, wait, I'm not sure it's appropriate to use the last word in a Christian majority country as the conservatives see it).
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