Tea Party Patriots march in Colorado in July. (PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images)
Washington (CNN) – The tea party movement has been called a lot of things - from racist to the voice of the people. One tea party group is on a mission to change how the movement is perceived, especially when it comes to race relations.
Lloyd Marcus, a spokesman for the Tea Party Express, is hosting a National Black Conservative press conference in Washington on Wednesday. The event at the National Press Club is featuring more than a dozen black conservative speakers, including former diplomat and presidential candidate Alan Keyes.
The goal, Marcus said in a statement, is to fight back against "bogus, false and malicious charges" and the NAACP's resolution calling on tea party leaders to crack down on racist elements in the movement.
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I wish them luck, they have a long way to go and they have to get rid of a lot of their racist supporters – as well as change their vision on a lot of government policies – if they want to be seen as something more than a radical extremsist right wing group.
They are missing the whole point. The fact that the Tea Party includes African Americans does not discount the fact that it also harbors white racists who have been putting out some pretty inflamatory and demeaning stuff. The whole point was for the movement, despite it being pretty much a bottom up collection of people rathe than a top-down organization, to speak out strongly against the ugly actions and words of those in their midst. It detracts from the more legitimate points it seeks to convey.
Okay fine, they say that they aren't racist. I have several questions that challenge that: where are the non-whites? I hardly see any Blacks, Asians, Latinos or any other minority groups in the large pictures. The next question is where were you when there was the expansion of Medicare; when No Child Left Behind was passed; when there were spending bills passed that were really too large? Why didn't you start up before Obama was elected president to get government reduced in size? This last question is the one that makes the group look the most racist.
All these questions are legitimate and need to be answered. Where have you been before hand when the voice was needed?
I thought the Tea Party Express had been abolished by The Federation?
Yeah, good luck on changing the world's perception of the tea party! The Tea Party is a one-way ticket to crazy town.
Typical of Democrats and liberals. Their definition of a racist is anyone who disagrees with them. As for the NAACP, let me put it this way – what is a six-letter word beginning with 'r' that describes an organization or person that discriminates on the basis of race?
This is a joke of a debate. To deny there is a racist element in the Tea Party is to put blindfolds on. To deny that the election of a black president has uncovered a racist reaction not far below the surface is to deny a simple truth. Can someone explain why, between the end of 2008 and 2009, the creation of new militias in this country spiked 250 percent? Can someone explain why there was such a huge spike in new gun ownership in that same time span? Let's see, there was this little event in November of 2008, an historic presidential election in which a black man won by nearly 10 million votes, but lost in very wide margins in places such as the deep south.....hmmmmmmmm. put your thinking caps on people, it's not that hard. I"m still looking for a photo of a brown or black person in the Tea Party gatherings.
...And are these the same folks that are showing up in historical Williamsburg, Va. asking the 'enactors' (sp) to more 'accurately' represent historical times?
Crack-pots!
I think anyone with a tv saw that there were racist in those tea party rallies and no one tried to stop them last summer and the media never tried to challenge them either. A few black people does not mean there are no racist elements in the tea party which there are.
Although CNN did not report on the Journolist conspiracy to taget conservatives as racist, it is a fact and to a normal person is easily refutable. However, when dealing with liberals, you are dealing with dope crazed morons who believe and hang on Obama's every word as enlightenment and they ignore the facts when they are presented and then attack the messengers.
We all love a parade ...
There is more accusations of racism, since Obama has been elected then ever before. The Sharron case is an example. Did the NNACP ever apologize for there remark of racis;m by her remarks before ever listening to the entire video? The Obama administration was quick to respond so was the NNACP. No matter what organization or political jparty you belong to there is always those FEW who use racism or cry racism when there is none!
I guess you're a racist if you don't agree with bad policy. If you want less spending and smaller government, you're a racist.
It is laughable for these people to present themselves as patriots. The true patriots who really built and defended our freedom were true patriots. These people are afraid they may have to pay for what they want. I never read where patriots held protests on cruise ships, or tropical islands. Many earned their wealth through government grants, low interest loans and subsidies paid for through taxes.
Democrat Campaign Strategy:
Because our record and popularity among the voting public is highly suspect, be sure to BLAME Bush and play the race card on every opportunity!
It won't work!
And by the way, i object most strongly to these idiots impersonating our founding fathers! if we'd listened to the conservatives back in 1776, we'd still be singing 'god save the queen.' the real founding fathers are probably spinning in their graves to see their likenesses used for such anti-American activity.
Oh they say they are not racist. How about all the signs they have about the president making him look like Hitler and so forth. And putting the president down all the time. Of course we have Palin to blame, she is the one who started all this.
All I can say is, from personal experience knowing a couple dozen local Tea Partiers, at least 85% of them are racist. They're unhinged about having a black president, and they're afraid their "white priviledge" is slipping away. They try to put up a big "non-racist" front while the cameras are on, but if you talk to them one-on-one and pretend to be sympathetic to their cause, the racism comes out quickly. Several of them I know think they're not racist just because they don't use racist words, but in their intents and the way they react to other races, they definitely are.
The signs say it all. These people are lunatics. Inaugaration Day was a day of infamy? What policy had the President passed before being sworn in? It's clear to see that these nuts are bigotted people.