Jackson Free Press

A new report issued by the NAACP finds that the national tea-party movement has resentment about racial and social issues running throughout its many factions. The study, titled "Tea Party Nationalism," finds the conservative movement that often purports to focus on spending and fiscal responsibility to be "permeated with concerns about race and national identity and other so-called social issues."

"Tea Party Nationalism," (PDF) which the NAACP commissioned from the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, documents the origins and activities of six national tea-party organizations: FreedomWorks Tea Party, the Tea Party Patriots, 1776 Tea Party (also known as TeaParty.org), ResistNet and Tea Party Express. The report comes on the heels of a July resolution by the NAACP asking tea-party leaders to repudiate extremist elements in the movement.

"It would be a mistake to claim that all Tea Partiers are nativist vigilantes or racists of one stripe or another, and this report manifestly does not make that claim," authors Devin Burghart and Leonard Zeskind write. "As this report highlights, however, all of the national Tea Party factions have had problems in these areas. Of the national factions, only FreedomWorks Tea Party, headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, has made an explicit attempt to narrow the focus of the movement as a whole to fiscal issues—an effort that has largely failed."

According to the report, 1776 Tea Party drew members and leaders directly from the Minuteman Project, an anti-immigration vigilante organization. Burghart and Zeskin also found membership overlap between ResistNet, a tea-party online network with 81,248 members, and the white nationalist Council of Conservative Citizens.

At a press conference to announce the report's release this morning, Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson focused on the Mississippi Tea Party's platform and its closeness with state politicians like Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant. A recent meeting between Mississippi Tea Party members and state officials saw the Mississippi Tea Party calling for a revival of the General Legislative Investigating Committee, he noted. Created by the state Legislature, the committee examined "un-American activities," including civil-rights activism.

Johnson called the suggestion "a throwback to the 1950s and 1960s."

"It is one of the most un-American episodes in our history," he said.

Johnson called on state leaders and Mississippi Tea Party members to repudiate the stance.

Previous Comments

ID

160451

Comment

What a good report. Fair and balanced, appropriately researched, profound and accurate, telling and truthful.

Author

Walt

Date

2010-10-20T16:40:55-06:00

ID

160457

Comment

This politically timed "report" is simply a scare tactic to get African Americans into the voting booth for the Democrats, and former chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Mary Frances Berry agrees: "Tainting the tea party movement with the charge of racism is proving to be an effective strategy for Democrats. There is no evidence that tea party adherents are any more racist than other Republicans, and indeed many other Americans. But getting them to spend their time purging their ranks and having candidates distance themselves should help Democrats win in November. Having one’s opponent rebut charges of racism is far better than discussing joblessness." The NAACP should be more worried about the 49% unemployment rate for African American teens, in my opinion.

Author

RobbieR

Date

2010-10-21T07:30:54-06:00

ID

160460

Comment

"Tainting the tea party movement with the charge of racism is proving to be an effective strategy for Democrats. There is no evidence that tea party adherents are any more racist than other Republicans, I have to disagree with that statement to the extent, when the Tea Party has shown that it wants to revert back to old jim crow legislation, i.e. reinstating the General Legislative Investigating Committee, who was tied in with the State Sovereignty Commission to investigate "un-american" acts during the civil rights movement? That says enough to me about where their mindset is, in regards to others civil rights. I mean you have people like Kim Wade and Angela McGlowan, that people try to referance in regards to the Tea Party movement - but they are non-factors. But I have to disagree with that original statement.

Author

Duan C.

Date

2010-10-21T09:48:13-06:00

ID

160461

Comment

RobbieR, you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but be clear that it is just that—an opinion. Your opining that the report is a "scare tactic" to get African Americans to vote doesn't make it so, even if someone else agrees with you. Berry's quote above, however, makes absolutely no mention of "scare tactics." From a brief scan of what's in the report, little of it is new news. Rather, it's a compilation of reports from all over the country regarding the tea party. And if the NAACP shouldn't be worried about racism, who would you propose take the lead on that? Perhaps, instead of opining about what the NAACP should worry about, you might look into the roots of the tea-party movement, how it came about--sprung fully formed in the months after Obama's election--and the big money that fuels it. Candidates *should* distance themselves from extremism in any form, especially when that extremism embraces violent rhetoric.

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2010-10-21T10:00:11-06:00

ID

160463

Comment

Thank you Ronni_Mott. Many members of the TEA Party make no bones about it so it is really difficult for me to understand where exactly RobbieR is coming from. You will always find a Black person who is willing to make a statement that is not in their best interest or the interest of others. This is as ridiculous as Texas having a Civics book that states that Blacks fought in the Civil War to help White slave owners keep them enslaved. If you need confirmation, RobbieR, just Google some of the rallys held over the country: You will see all kinds of racist slogans, pitures of President Obama looking like Hitler. It is interesting that GW fooled us into war, drove America's financial structure off of a cliff, yet, there was no voice during his entire administration from the TEA Party. WHY????

Author

justjess

Date

2010-10-21T10:30:58-06:00

ID

160464

Comment

All, recall that the Citizens Council and even the Klan argued back in the day that it wasn't racist or anti-black people. Saying it doesn't make it so. Also, Robbie, I wonder what *you* plan to do about the "about the 49% unemployment rate for African American teens, in my opinion." If you don't believe in a race division, why is that black people's problem rather than all of ours?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2010-10-21T10:49:03-06:00

ID

160468

Comment

RobbieR, I know that's one of Andrew Beitbart's favorite quotes, but Berry made that comment in July, long before this NAACP report. For our current conversation, it is silly to suggest that there is "no evidence" the Tea Party has links to racist groups, that it is more racist than "many other Americans," when we are discussing a report that presents extensive evidence showing just that. You may not agree with the evidence, but it certainly exists. Dispute the evidence, if you can. Beyond that, I don't know what you're trying to prove by regurgitating the opinion of one woman expressed in an e-mail to Politico, except for the fact that you read a lot of right-wing blogs. Look, a Democrat said it! Look, she's black! Whoopty do. Does anyone else smell a whiff of troll?

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2010-10-21T13:07:39-06:00

ID

160469

Comment

The NAACP says something is racist. WOW that's a surprise. When has anything not been considered racist by the NAACP.

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-10-21T14:02:31-06:00

ID

160470

Comment

They aren't just racist. They are WITCHES! ;) Last week's Bill Maher (I'm sorry. If he wasn't as old as my dad I'd be all over that man) included one "Tea Partier" that was a woman (which I just TOTALLY do not get, but, anyway) who stated that she voted for Bill Clinton and is an "independent" but is a member of the Tea Party because she wants to "stop bloated government spending". During the conversation they tried to pin her down on EXACTLY what she wanted "cut" and she said "Entitlement spending". Then, she couldn't even explain what that was until Maher screamed "MEDICARE. MEDICARE. JUST SAY IT. MEDICARE". And she said, "NO, bloated government spending. If the bailouts worked, why is unemployment at 10%?" And then John Legend asked her to please just admit it was because Obama was black. She, of course, refused. Then she even admitted that there wasn't anything left in Medicare to cut. Sorry for the play by play...but when I watched her trying to articulate her position it became obvious at one point that she wasn't really 'sure' of her "position". She couldn't back up ANY of her statements and said that we spent more on bailouts than in the Iraq war and then CONTINUED to push this point despite a New York Times columnist (sorry. Can't remember his name!) who specialized in the bailouts telling her that was not true. And that whole exchange is indicative of the Tea Party movement in general. A lot of these people believe erroneous information given to them by "talking heads" that they do not vet or check out themselves and then they stand on street corners and espouse it as the "truth" when they really have no idea. AND, when presented with FACTS by people who actually RESEARCHED them they just beat their hands and fists on the ground and scream "THAT'S NOT TRUE!!" Um, hello? What the hell? My problem is a lot of these "teabaggers" don't see the REAL WORLD. And, if you are working with a group of people who do not see the real world, how can you expect them to have any self-awareness about themselves as a group? Of course they wouldn't know they were "racist", they don't even know what they WANT. They just want you to "stop spending money...DAMIT!" But they aren't really sure what money and where it should come from...and that's scary. Its also scary when one of them-in a debate-admits that she doesn't know which amendment covers the separation of church and state despite proclaiming herself a constitutional "expert". Then, when presented with the correct answer by her democratic opponent that was a lawyer she ARGUED it was not correct!! J. F. C. (you can figure that one out yourself)

Author

Lori G

Date

2010-10-21T15:31:23-06:00

ID

160471

Comment

Tempest in a teapot. The NAACP was just burning up air time and preaching to the choir by making a local announcement. Anyone who would listen to that organization wouldn't be voting for a "tea bagger" in the first place. I don't believe that the tea baggers running for office across the country have a hidden agenda and aren't racist by any means. Wasn't the tea party rally here a fizzle of about 200 people? The Tea Party is serving as an organized protest to the "way things are" and will have little effect on the nation's overall political landscape despite all the liberal hand-wringing. I think it would be exceedingly healthy if we had at least four viable political parties to break up the logjam of our two-party system. We need more opinions and more constructive coalitions to build a government that listens to and expresses the wishes of its constituents.

Author

Mr Fat Back

Date

2010-10-21T19:28:54-06:00

ID

160478

Comment

As usual Bubba, you offer brilliant political analysis. You're quite right that the NAACP has declared everything in the universe to be racist. It's funny to see how much hysteria there is on the right about the NAACP, even today. You would think it's 1964.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2010-10-22T09:49:13-06:00

ID

160481

Comment

I find it remarkable that none of the conservatives who have commented so far have said anything whatsoever to dispute the facts presented in the report. Instead, we see a lot of vilification of the NAACP, along with assertions that this is all just a cynical political game. If you had even glanced at the report, you would see that it is much more focused on nationalism than racism. It explicitly states that it is not claiming that tea partiers in general are racist or nativist. Instead, it focuses on how the core membership of many prominent tea party groups has ties to nationalist groups like the Minuteman Project. It's hardly surprising given the anti-immigration spirit on the right these days that many tea party groups would have similar concerns. But it's striking that there is so much continuity--in some cases, long-time activists on the right have simply moved in to take over tea party leadership roles, thus breathing new life into their political organizing. That's an interesting phenomenon, and one that might bother sincere tea partiers if they weren't so busy ridiculing the NAACP, thus demonstrating that any talk of racism on the right is oh so silly. The report is also interesting in how it distinguishes between FreedomWorks, which is an astroturf corporate operation, and genuine grass-roots organizations. FreedomWorks has been careful to vet its members, sanitizing itself as any corporate operation would do. It also has fewer members. Does anyone on the right have anything to offer on these facts? Or are you so defensive about the possibility that there might be some nativist tea partiers that you can't talk about it at all?

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2010-10-22T10:24:16-06:00

ID

160488

Comment

Bubba and his type believe the NAACP, the National Urban League and the KLAN and other like-minded racist White organization are the same. No matter the number of documented and un-documented murders the klan has committed and the evil deeds those other organizations have undoubtedly caused. The NAACP has no such similar record or body of work. However, this kind of monumental mental illness and pathology are common southern teaching and acceptance. Then Bubba and the likes will ask me why I'm unwilling to trust or fight to save him in case of an attack or war. Some will even ask why you want go to church with me or let your offsprings or relatives play ball at my schools. And some will ask why you think I'm a dangerous racist, moron or worst. I've even had white lawyers ask me why do we have the National Bar Association, the Magnolia Bar, et al. I'm always tempted to say I don't know considering how nice y'all have been toward us. It's not like y'all have enslaved us, Jim Crowed us, and rejected us from every effort at acceptance, freedom and progress at some point not too far away. I guess we're just some ungrateful niggers unworthy of the great Christian largesse y'all keep throwing our way. I shall say this some day just to see what the moron asking the question will say or do. I'll bet my last dollar Bubba hasn't read any true scholarly accounts about the Klan, CoCC, Sovereigntry Commission, Citizen Council, Skinheads or other organizations of this type that Bubba considers so wonderful, Christian and American. Furthermore, I have never heard Bubba condemn or malign any of those organizations. Yet, he repeatedy hurls false insults at the glorious NAACP that has improved this country more than all those racist organizations put together. The NAACP has even helped Bubba, he just doesn't know it and can't accept or acknowledge it. I'll bet I couldn't get Bubba to read the history of the NAACP. However, Bubba, you're alright with me from a distance. Just don't look to me for assistance or aid when the enemy or Almighty comes for you, bad boy, bad boy.

Author

Walt

Date

2010-10-22T19:31:48-06:00

ID

160489

Comment

"Until the philosophy will which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned everywhere is war" and the NAACP will be at the vanguard of fighting this war. The NAACP acknowledged in the report that not all tea partiers are racist, but this doesn't mean a thing to Bubba nem. The NAACP is the KLAN against whites, especially southern whites, in their view with a few exceptions I'm happy to note. Is this really how you feel, Bubba? Is this really the light you want to be casted? I know you don't care what we blacks thinks, right? And I was about to invite you over to my house for dinner. You're now uninvited!!! Go tell that now.

Author

Walt

Date

2010-10-22T19:47:55-06:00

ID

160497

Comment

Walt- Dang, to bad about the dinner invite,I'm hurt, maybe we can get together for a drink somewhere and have a real conversation. I really trying to figure out where you got I equate the NAACP with the Klan,etc. from my comment. You pulled that out of thin air. I never seen the headline "NAACP Report Finds No Racism With Who/Whatever" Have you? So my comment is fairly correct, when has the NAACP not found something racist?, do you actually think they would have made an announcement if the report didn't find some racism in the Tea Party? When hell freezes,maybe. Like people didn't already know there are racist in the Tea Party, there are racist in the Democratic, Republican,Communist Parties etc,the Independents. Fact of life, not ever going to change. The NAACP wasted alot of time,money and entergy hire someone to do a report on what 99.99% of people already knew. I agree with RobbieR, seems to be just a politically timed "report" with the up coming elections, because they already knew the report was going to find some racism in the Tea Party before they even started.

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-10-23T01:31:49-06:00

ID

160506

Comment

I never seen the headline "NAACP Report Finds No Racism With Who/Whatever" Have you? Um, yeah, Bubba. For decades, the NAACP has given annual awards precisely for that. If you'd make fewer assumptions before posting, and try more research, you'd be so much more convincing.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2010-10-23T20:09:33-06:00

ID

160508

Comment

Alright, Bubba, I do note it took you nearly 24 hours to respond to my comments although I saw you on the JFP almost immediately after I posted them. I learned from a wonderful person a few years ago that some whites are being taught and/or concluding on their own that the the NAACP is the counter-enemy of whites as those other organizations I mentioned above are the enemy to blacks. I was frankly astounded and shocked that anyone would teach youngsters a lie as appalling as this one. And Bubba I remain surprised that you and others of similar mindsets know so much about what the NAACP should be doing but don't have a clue how the tea party, the republican party or other organizations obviously antagonistic to blacks should act or conduct themselves (other than agreeing or acquescing to business as usual). Do you not see things these organizations are doing that are wrong that desperately need correcting or changing? I bet you computer can't write those kinds of non-status quo things for lack of better phrasing. You know what I mean though! You know what Bubba our parents and elderly had the facts and body counts to justify teaching us to be wary, distrustful and hateful toward whites, yet very few taught us to be that way. I have never heard either of my parents or any close relative say anything hateful to me or any of my siblings about whites although I had a cousin who was lynched in Winston County that many of us have heard about. I, furthermore, have a cousin of my generation who some whites drug behind a vehicle on the highway and put in the hospital for months because he was dating a white girl. To this day he won't tell us who did it for fear we will retaliate and end the good racial harmony so generally enjoyed in my old community. Irrespective of the foregoing I was discussing with some relatives and friends I grew up with last week how nice the whites were toward us for the most part that we grew up near. We thank God we didn't have to encounter personally, excepting the situations above, any mind-altering experiences that caused us to hate whites or to place all of them in one category. Those cousins I was having this conversation with are republicans, believe it or not. They are very close to quitting the republican party due to the tea party and how so many southern whites are responding to Obama. I have never understood how these cousins could be a republican in light of what the party has long become, but I love and respect them for their honorable personal merits.

Author

Walt

Date

2010-10-23T21:17:59-06:00

ID

160511

Comment

Walt- All my comments have to be Donna approved before they post that's why it didn't show up till 24hrs later, I'm surprised it showed up before Monday. I was online right after you commented but it was 8hrs before I commented because I had other things to do. :) Like I said before I didn't equate the NAACP with the Klan, you assumed that. Don't know more than the basics about the Tea Party or the NAACP nor do I care too. Because if both ceased to exist tonight the sun would still come up in the morning and my life would go on, wouldn't effect me at all.

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-10-24T00:11:02-06:00

ID

160512

Comment

Donna- Wasn't trying to convince anyone of anything. :) Giving out awards is not the same thing as hiring a company to prove something that everyone already knew and didn't need proving, now is it? Oh and I have never seen the headlines for the NAACP No Rasim Awards splashed across the JFP and a quick search of the archives show no results either. They must not make much of a big deal of them as they do a useless report.

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-10-24T00:33:23-06:00

ID

160517

Comment

The NAACP is calling groups racist again? Including that hateful Minuteman Project? They seem to have forgotten the black member of the Minuteman Project that was called the n word onstage while giving a speech at Columbia University. The stage was then stormed by friendly violent protestors that wanted to end the "racist" event. They seem to have forgotten that one of the lead speakers at the MS tea party was black. They also seem to have forgotten that Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece , Dr. Alveda King, was a keynote speaker at a national tea party event in DC. Political disagreement seems to send some individuals running to play the race card, because it is one of the few cards left in their hands. Some people seem to not be able to understand the difference between nationality and race and thus confuse a desire to see border laws enforced with racism. The sentence "I detest Mexican nationals that have no respect for our nations laws and borders" is not the same as "I hate all people decending from hispanic ancestry". I'm also horrified to see that the NAACP is not addressing real racist actions and demeaning comments. Such as the Black Panther Party posting guards with billy clubs at polling places during the last presidential election (not to mention the insults they called out to white voters), Obama calling blacks " a mongrel people", and Biden's " you cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent" (Jindal missed a chance to screw him to the wall on that one and win every Indian American vote in the country should he ever shape up into a naitonal candidate).

Author

Jacksonlibertarian

Date

2010-10-24T20:48:51-06:00

ID

160526

Comment

Giving out awards is not the same thing as hiring a company to prove something that everyone already knew and didn't need proving, now is it? Confused. You're saying that everyone already knows about the tea party's extensive racist network? Oh and I have never seen the headlines for the NAACP No Rasim Awards splashed across the JFP I assure you, Bubba, you will never see a headline in the JFP containing "No Rasim." Never. So sue us. JackLib, you just can't think this binary and simplistically and call yourself a libertarian. (You need to spend some time with a Radley Balko and shore up the cred, big guy.) First, all of you fearers of the NAACP know they have long been a moderate force, and were considered way too conservative by groups like the Black Panthers, back then and now, right? Being supportive of the NAACP's clearly well-researched efforts on the part of the very people they represent in no way means one also supported Black Panthers with billy clubs or insults to white voters. On this site, we call out both extremes, and more. (Bring up my name within earshot of the Jackson Advocate staff if you don't believe they dislike us about as much as the white-first mafia in Jackson: You know who you still are.) And, yes, you are correct that that kind of Panther action is demeaning, although it is not "racist." It is bigoted, though. Meanings matter, and I think you need to study up on what these words actually mean before even trying to engage in this conversation. You can criticize those actions, and should, but learn not to mix them up with systemic racISM. When the Black Panthers are doing that at polling places throughout America and systemically keeping white people from voting (or buying property, building wealth, moving into certain neighborhoods or wearing their hair the way they want), then come back and we'll delve into it as a racIST issue. To wit: They seem to have forgotten that one of the lead speakers at the MS tea party was black. They also seem to have forgotten that Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece , Dr. Alveda King, was a keynote speaker at a national tea party event in DC. JackLib, are you really not aware that Uncle Tom (or Dick or Harry) helped his oppressor oppress his own people from time to time? That doesn't meant that slavery didn't exist. Or that during Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement that some black people helped white supremacists (and even the Citizens Council and the Klan)? (You should read a biography of Percy Greene from the Jackson Advocate, for instance.) In other words, this argument holds. no. water (and was made even back in the day by people bashing the NAACP, etc.), and history teaches that. Just because some people of color go along with some kinds of racism has never meant that the racism did not exist. As for specific black tea-partiers, I've met some who are clearly doing it for opportunistic reasons and others because they think the tea party hates "the gays" like they do, so I really can't say what their motive is. But it doesn't change the truth about the connections that no one (including, apparently, you care to call out. Hint: That's the part that makes the enablers suspect.)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2010-10-25T11:07:35-06:00

ID

160527

Comment

We've called out Biden's comments before as disgusting, and this is the first I've heard of Obama's mongrel comment, which should be and is being criticized as well. The difference, of course, is those two men have a very different record of speaking and act on race issues than the ones that NAACP are targeting. Call them out, yes, but you'll probably have a hard time proving either one of them is anti-black people or racIST. Frankly, I'm horrified that we're having this conversation in 2010, and that I'm sitting in Mississippi, and white guys are bashing the NAACP for speaking out against blatant, organized racism and bigotry against black people. Have we really not come further than that? Funny, I thought we had. That, by the way, is *exactly* why the rest of us spend time calling out people who excuse away racism and constantly make excuses for hatred. We don't want the rest of the world to think that Mississippi hasn't changed at all. You boyz just don't speak for all of us anymore. Get used to it.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2010-10-25T11:07:52-06:00

ID

160528

Comment

Also, I would ask Bubba and JackLib and the other apologists here if you know what Gov. Paul B. Johnson used to say the NAACP stood for? People making your *same* arguments used to think it was very funny.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2010-10-25T11:12:15-06:00

ID

160529

Comment

Jacksonlibertarian please add these to your wardrobe of "Black Facts" (1) Slave mentality continues to exist among some black folks. Many are uneducated/ignorant and will do anything that he/she thinks will please the master; however, many are very well educated/smart and they use this type of involvement for status, power, position and finance. They know what they are doing: It is obvious to me that you don't. (2) It is interesting that the title "Dr." is used with so much emphasis and color for Alveda King; yet, many Republicans, Tea Party Folks and others will not use the title of President for President Obama. Alveda King is not a Dr. by training/education. This is an honorary title. Do the research! Even MLK, II said of his cousin that she was being used by the Tea Party. Did you listen to her rambling words. Are you aware of the relatinship between Dr. King and his brother, Alveda King's father? Alveda got paid and she is also up for another Tea Party gig, if asked. (3) The press continue to show those two black guys over and over; over and over, as members of the black panther party; intending to disrupt/throw an election by intimidation. There isn't a plack panther political movement and America knows it! These are only scare tactics to get reasonable/fair and intelligent whites to fear black folks. It is sad but it is true.

Author

justjess

Date

2010-10-25T11:13:50-06:00

ID

160532

Comment

I certainly remember what Paul B. Johnson said about the NAACP. He said that it stands for Ni$$ers, Apes, Asses and Coons.

Author

justjess

Date

2010-10-25T11:31:23-06:00

ID

160538

Comment

Donna- Don't know why you are confused. Don't you know there are racist in every political group Dems,Rep,Tea Party etc? Did you need the NAACP to do a study to find that out? That's what I said, why did they need a study to prove something everyone already knew. I didn't say the Tea Party had "an extensive racist network". You picking on my spelling? LOL "you will never see a headline in the JFP containing "No Rasim." Was late and didn't proof read before I posted. :)

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-10-25T13:21:08-06:00

ID

160539

Comment

To be fair, Jacklib, Obama called both blacks *and* whites mongrels during the show (and within consecutive sentences), which, if you look at the meaning of the word, simply connotes people of mixed race. The word is synonymous with "mutt" in dogs, which Obama has called himself previously. Look back far enough into the pedigree of any human on the planet, and you'll find mixtures of black, white, asian, etc., but never more so than in the U.S., the cultural melting pot of nations. I'll even give you that the word has negative connotations (people used "mongrel hordes" to denigrate different so-called enemies throughout history including—but not limited to—Asians, Germans and Jews), regardless of whether Obama meant it in a derogatory way, which, having watched the clip, I find hard to believe. What the President didn't say, of course, is the reason why African Americans are "mongrels," including being ripped from their families through slavery, and the systematic raping of black women by their white masters. My apologies if you believe "mongrel" is derogatory, but I'm with the Prez on this one. We're all mongrels to some extent. The NAACP isn't the first, nor will it be the last, I expect, to point out the more racist/nationist/extremist aspects of the tea party. And yes, those types also appear in the Republican and Democratic parties. The difference seems to be that, so far, the Dems have done their level best to call out and eradicate racism within their ranks. If Republicans embrace the tea party, they should do the same or be prepared to be painted with the same brush.

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2010-10-25T13:40:03-06:00

ID

160542

Comment

There is nothing sorrier than the right's attempts to make something out of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case, which was actually just two crazy guys standing outside a polling place in Philadelphia. Despite all the babbling about this on right-wing blogs, it was actually the Bush administration that dropped criminal charges against the men, apparently because they were simply too ridiculous to take seriously. It is a completely manufactured scandal with only one purpose. That purpose is to enable absolutely non-racist people like Rush Limbaugh to make the totally non-racist point that the first black president unfairly favors black people. He's letting these thugs take over our country, right? But conservatives don't have a problem with race! It's the NAACP that's racist. They should start investigating black people! Right? You guys all parrot the same talking points, month after month. I mean, look at this chart of Fox News coverage of this phony scandal. It's like you're all in some little club, but as soon as you step into the public square, your arguments look ridiculous.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2010-10-25T15:43:38-06:00

ID

160543

Comment

Not quite, justjess: Gov. Johnson called the NAACP “N*ggers, Alligators, Apes, Coons, and Possums.” Thanks for researching the mongrel comment, Ronni. As you know, I don't have time today. ;-) Bubba: LOL. I knew you'd enjoy that one. You do rather soften your sting when you can't even type "racism," though! ;-) I was dissecting your logic a biit for you, Bubba, because it wasn't holding up. Study on it. And of course I know that there are individual racists in every party. Good Lord. And many don't even know they're racIST because they have no clue what it actually means, and use it synonymously with "bigot," for instance. But that isn't what we're talking about here. Many people, including myself, have grown increasingly disturbed by the Tea Party because of constant examples of both accepting and pandering to extreme, blatant racISTs and bigots. That is not something that any upstanding citizen should turn his or head to, or try to explain away. And Ronni, I sho am a mongrel. Apparently, I descend from a tobacco-farming-slave-owning immigrant dude from Kent, England, by way of France. And, I think, slave-owning Quakers on the other side. Still working it out. You gotta love America. And I mean that.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2010-10-25T15:48:27-06:00

ID

160544

Comment

BTW, to whom it may concern, and you know who you are, no comment gets through that (a) opens with name-calling of someone else here (b) or with a disparaging stereotype of women. We don't even *read* the whole comment before deleting it. So learn how to behave like a civilized adult, or get lost, buster. With due respect. And if you keep trying to post comments that violate the user's agreement, we will also delete your account. So don't play games here. Engage in respectful (if edgy) discussion or debate; use links and researched facts; leave out bigotry and stereotypes of groups of peoples (you know: women, liberals, conservatives, Muslims, immigrants, "illegals"). Debate policy intelligently all you want, but don't try to make this site into The Clarion-Ledger or local blogs where the insult-slingers are scared to use their real names. It won't work. And you will be much more credible (and probably respectful) if you do use your real name; we highly encourage it. Violators will be ignored.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2010-10-25T15:50:39-06:00

ID

160549

Comment

Well, Bubba, I'm sure you earned being sanctioned or monitored. You worked hard to get there, and I know you'll do all you can to stay there. Again, every Bubba I've ever known is an unchanging and ummovable work of art. See them today or 10 years later and nothing has changed. Perfection can't be improved I suppose. I still note that neither you or your buddy have any advice for the tea party, republican party, or the likes, but you could run the NAACP, if allowed. "The past is not dead; in fact the past is not even the past." Can I get an Amen? Or Hail Hitler? Or Ross was right! Surely something. Or maybe a high-five from your buddies who are following your great works here. It's hard for me to even listen further to you and your buddy concerning the NAACP. You haven't read any true accounts about the organization and don't want to. You don't want facts! Yet you're obsessed with maligning the organization. I bet you haven't even read the report. Well, I'm happy that Donna, Ronni and Brian know what you and your buddy's comments make the two of you look like and the South in general. And I know things will get worse if the repugnants (republicans)take over the House and Senate in November. I am now reading a book called The Warmth of Other Suns, The Epic story of America's Great Migration, which tells the story of blacks leaving the South for the West, East and Midwest as a result of Jim Grow laws that many argues made their lots in life worse than slavery. I've read accounts of blacks being tortured then lowered into a burning fire or lynched while still alive and breathing with thousands of whites looking on and seeing nothing cruel, evil, inhumane or un-Christian about those acts. Many children were hoisted over the shoulder of their fathers to see the eternal goodness in their fathers and the innate and infinite bad in blacks. Nearly 4 million in all left the south between 1915 and 1970. You should be thanking God we don't hate you. But of course you're as innocent as a newborn baby. You didn't do it personally and you don't care. If you did it personally, I know you still wouldn't care. Delusion always leads mental illness, pathology and downfall. Keep up the good work. You're doing a good job of upholding the southern legacy and heritage. Go rebels or should I say bears.

Author

Walt

Date

2010-10-25T17:17:05-06:00

ID

160552

Comment

I'll let the semantic hair splitting over the words bigot and racist go as intelligent discussion. I'm in no way bashing the NAACP over calling out racists, I just feel that there are much more important things to be brought to national attention than the fact that a political group has racists in it. I would even challenge the NAACP to find a political party without racists in its ranks. Racists and bigots are a plague on otherwise decent organizations everywhere. To Donna: I don't see how the uncle Tom remarks hold any water as the tea party is (or is supposed to be at any rate) a purely fiscal policy driven organization that can't really harm anyone based on race alone. "Many people, including myself, have grown increasingly disturbed by the Tea Party because of constant examples of both accepting and pandering to extreme, blatant racISTs and bigots. That is not something that any upstanding citizen should turn his or head to, or try to explain away" I concur completely. The Tea Party, whether you agree with the fiscal policies they want or not, deserves better than to be hijacked by losers with other agendas not productive to fiscal reform or even national progress.

Author

Jacksonlibertarian

Date

2010-10-25T19:25:41-06:00

ID

160562

Comment

"I just feel that there are much more important things to be brought to national attention than the fact that a political group has racists in it. I would even challenge the NAACP to find a political party without racists in its ranks" I have to disagree with you, because all of this stuff is based on opinion and not fact, but you have to call it like you see it. The Tea Party is using "conservative core family values, fiscal policy, independent liberties" as their so-called agenda, but in actuality it is a race-based agenda when you have Sarah Palin and other Tea Party frontmen saying this same line everyday, "WE NEED TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!" It's hard for me to believe that is anything other than race? Where was this anger when George W. Bush was raising the deficit at an astronomical rate, allowing billion dollar corporations to cut corners to make a quick buck on the backs of the American people and move their jobs across sea's - just to help keep a few rich here at the detriment of the very same people they live in the very same country with? I'm sorry, but they are using hidden or sub-conscious racist tactics, because it works and we've seen it work with the Reagan Administration and W.'s Administration and we are seeing it again. Albeit it may be a few, but I will qoute this great saying by MLK, "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." That is what the Tea Party is banking on, in order to when back power!

Author

Duan C.

Date

2010-10-26T08:19:48-06:00

ID

160563

Comment

Thanks Donna for Gov. Johnson's correct meaning of "NAACP" So we will drop the Donkey's (A$$) and add another critter, "Possum" What a governor? What a man?

Author

justjess

Date

2010-10-26T08:47:36-06:00

ID

160568

Comment

There are now growing reports that Tea Party groups are launching a major effort to challenge voter registrations and individual voters in this election. Like Jacksonlibertarian, they are using the New Black Panther Party as a political weapon. In Houston, a Tea Party group called the King Street Patriots recently accused a voter registration group, Houston Votes, of turning in fraudulent voter registration applications and of being tied to the New Black Panther Party. (The registration group denies the accusations.) While accusing Houston Votes of voter registration fraud, the King Street Patriots are themselves accused of intimidating voters in minority districts. As we have discussed here many times, voter fraud is extremely rare and is entirely dwarfed by voter intimidation. After accused felon and CNN Lothario James O'Keefe successfully destroyed Acorn with another manufactured scandal, voter registration of minorities has fallen dramatically, which was always the point. As in past elections, various groups on the right are making every effort to suppress minority turnout. But neither the tea parties nor conservatives have any problem with race. It's the NAACP that's racist!

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2010-10-26T12:58:15-06:00

ID

160581

Comment

I have never stated that the NAACP is racist, or that the Tea party, Democrat party, or even the Libertarian party does not have problems with race. After the ACORN voter fraud antics everyone should be concerned about election fraud. If ACORN was a "manufactured scandal" why are there people in jail for commitng voter fraud. Have we forgotten Florida in 2000 already? To answer the other poster about what people want to take the country back from, myself and like minded people want to take it back from the wasteful spending and economically destructive policies of both the Republican and Democrat parties alike. Libertarians and some conservatives were indeed angry at Bush blowing through money on military adventures as well as cutting up the constitution under the cover of patriotism. Neither myself nor other free minded people worship at the altar of Reagan. That is a statist right wing crowd along the lines of Hannity and Palin that do that and I want nothing to do with them.

Author

Jacksonlibertarian

Date

2010-10-27T08:48:30-06:00

ID

160590

Comment

The Acorn scandal was manufactured in the same way that the Shirley Sherrod scandal was manufactured. O'Keefe and his crew heavily edited the tapes to provide a false impression of what happened. Brown found that, though Vera appeared sympathetic to the "pimp and prostitute" during the taped meeting, he immediately notified the police of the conversation. Brown's investigation also found that the O'Keefe videos were "significantly edited." ... In February, Hannah Giles admitted that the flamboyant pimp and prostitutes costumes in which she and O'Keefe were seen in some of the videos were never worn inside ACORN offices, contrary to most news reports. "In truth, O'Keefe represented himself to low-level ACORN workers as the college law school boyfriend of Giles, desperately trying to save her from the house of an abusive pimp who she believed would kill her." Note that a report from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office cleared Acorn of all wrong-doing. By then, the group had already disbanded, after Congress defunded the group in a move the courts later ruled was unconstitutional. As for Acorn and voter fraud, no one has ever credibly accused Acorn of voter fraud. Instead, employees of the group have been accused of voter registration fraud, a much less serious offense. Because the group paid workers by the head, some unscrupulous employees submitted false registration forms, some of which the group failed to find and flag for state officials. (Voter registration groups are required by law to turn in all registration forms.) At worst, Acorn was guilty of poor oversight of its voter registration drive, a problem that the organization was attempting to address when it was demonized out of existence. There is no evidence that any of the false voter registration forms ever led to voter fraud. Nor is there evidence that Acorn ever attempted to illegally influence an election. As for 2000 election in Florida, the problem there was not voter fraud. And it certainly did not involve Acorn.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2010-10-27T13:24:41-06:00