NAACP AccusesTea Party Of More Racism Prior To 2010 Elections

NAACP Goes After Tea Party Again


The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People released a new study Wednesday that claims to tie members of the Tea Party to white supremacist groups, anti-immigration organizations, anti-semitic groups and independent militias.

The study, conducted by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights analyzed the membership of six Tea Party organizations in the country.

According to the NAACP, five of the six Tea Party groups are headed by "birthers," people who believe President Obama is not a citizen of the United States.

The study looked at Tea Party literature as well as their websites and information about those associated with the Tea Party movement to analyze their ties. The report claims that Tea Party events are now forums for extremists "hoping to push these (white) protesters toward a more self-conscious and ideological white supremacy."

"These groups and individuals are out there, and we ignore them at our own peril," Ben Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP said in a statement. "They are speaking at Tea Part events, recruiting at rallies… the danger is not that the majority of Tea Party members share their views, but that left unchecked, these extremists might indirectly influence the direction of the Tea Party and therefore the direction of our country."

Amy Kremer, Chairman of the Tea Party Express responded to the report.

"Here we are two weeks out from a historic midterm election and they're doing this to attack us and change the message," Kremer said. "This is ridiculous, that's not what this movement is about. We're focused on the issues and we're going to continue to work to get conservatives elected."

Rev. C.L. Bryant, founder of One Nation Back to God responded on behalf of FreedomWorks, a conservative non-profit grassroots organization that provides much of the logistics and organization behind Tea Party events.

"It is unfortunate that the Chairman of the NAACP, Ben Jealous is making these kinds of statements at this time," Bryant said. "(It is) designed to distract would-be voters from the true issues of this election season to something as divisive as race."

In July the NAACP passed a resolution that condemned what if felt was rampant racism in the Tea Party movement. At the time, Tea Party activists denounced the action as unfounded and unfair as well.









Charges Of Voter Fraud Ignite Accusations Of Racism Against Justice Department, Tea Party


With two weeks to go until Election Day, charges of voter intimidation and voter fraud are flying, and the Justice Department, which has been rocked by accusations of reverse racism in its handling of similar allegations, is likely to take on as many cases as it did in the 2008 presidential year.

The Justice Department is looking into allegations of voter intimidation by poll watchers in predominantly minority neighborhoods in Harris County, Texas, during the first day of early voting. A liberal blog suggested that some of the poll watchers could be members of a local Tea Party group.

But the Justice Department has made clear that its investigation has nothing to do with the Tea Party.

"There is no investigation into any specific political organization, including the Tea Party, at this time regarding this matter," DOJ spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a written statement.

In another set of fly-by charges, Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, who is battling to capture President Obama's old U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, accused his Republican opponent, Rep. Mark Kirk, of setting up voter fraud-watch areas in Chicago in an attempt to discourage black voters.

That claim, disputed by Kirk -- he argued that Giannoulias might be the last person in Illinois to think the state doesn't have fraud problems -- could benefit Democrats among an energized urban electorate in a non-presidential cycle likely to be dominated by suburban voters.

Taken together, the complaint and the report shifts the spotlight back on past and current accusations of racism against the Obama administration and the Tea Party movement.

The Justice Department has been fending off charges of reverse racism ever since two former Civil Rights Division attorneys alleged that the department under Attorney General Eric Holder follows a policy of not bringing civil rights charges against black defendants on behalf of white victims.

The Tea Party movement has been repeatedly accused of harboring racist elements ever since some Tea Party activists catcalled U.S. lawmakers, including some minority members, during an anti-'Obamacare' protest on Capitol Hill earlier this year.

Sources: CNN, Fox News