NAACP Adopts Resolution Decrying Tea Party's "Acceptance And Welcoming Of White Supremacists Into Their Organizations".
NAACP condemns racism in tea party
By Heather Hollingsworth
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The country's largest civil-rights organization passed a resolution Tuesday that condemns racism within the tea party movement.
Leaders of the NAACP accused tea party activists on Tuesday of tolerating bigotry. Local tea party organizers disputed that and called on the NAACP to withdraw the resolution.
It was adopted during the annual convention in Kansas City of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
It was not immediately clear how the resolution was amended during the debate, which was mostly closed to the public.
The original proposal called for the NAACP to "educate its membership and the community that this movement is not just about higher taxes and limited government." It suggested that something could evolve "and become more dangerous for that small percentage of people that really think our country has been taken away from them."
"We felt the time had come to stand up and say, 'It's time for the tea party to be responsible members of this democracy and make sure they don't tolerate bigots or bigotry among their members,'" NAACP President Ben Jealous said before the debate.
"We don't have a problem with the tea party's existence. We have an issue with their acceptance and welcoming of white supremacists into their organizations," Jealous said.
Tea party activist Alex Poulter, who co-founded a Kansas City-area group called Political Chips, said he has seen no evidence of racism within the movement. "It's unfounded, but people are running with these accusations like they are true," he said.
Tea party activists espouse a political philosophy of less government, a free market, lower taxes, individual rights and political activism. The group has faced occasional claims of racism, most notably in March near the end of the bitter health care debate. U.S. Reps. John Lewis, Andre Carson and Emanuel Cleaver said some demonstrators, many of them tea party activists, yelled a racial epithet as the black congressmen walked from House office buildings to the Capitol.
By Heather Hollingsworth
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The country's largest civil-rights organization passed a resolution Tuesday that condemns racism within the tea party movement.
Leaders of the NAACP accused tea party activists on Tuesday of tolerating bigotry. Local tea party organizers disputed that and called on the NAACP to withdraw the resolution.
It was adopted during the annual convention in Kansas City of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
It was not immediately clear how the resolution was amended during the debate, which was mostly closed to the public.
The original proposal called for the NAACP to "educate its membership and the community that this movement is not just about higher taxes and limited government." It suggested that something could evolve "and become more dangerous for that small percentage of people that really think our country has been taken away from them."
"We felt the time had come to stand up and say, 'It's time for the tea party to be responsible members of this democracy and make sure they don't tolerate bigots or bigotry among their members,'" NAACP President Ben Jealous said before the debate.
"We don't have a problem with the tea party's existence. We have an issue with their acceptance and welcoming of white supremacists into their organizations," Jealous said.
Tea party activist Alex Poulter, who co-founded a Kansas City-area group called Political Chips, said he has seen no evidence of racism within the movement. "It's unfounded, but people are running with these accusations like they are true," he said.
Tea party activists espouse a political philosophy of less government, a free market, lower taxes, individual rights and political activism. The group has faced occasional claims of racism, most notably in March near the end of the bitter health care debate. U.S. Reps. John Lewis, Andre Carson and Emanuel Cleaver said some demonstrators, many of them tea party activists, yelled a racial epithet as the black congressmen walked from House office buildings to the Capitol.
Labels: Tea party
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 9:24 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home