contested terrain

Tea Parties – Racism, Anti-Semitism and the Militia Impulse

This is one chapter of the study, “Tea Party Nationalism,” written by Benjamin Todd Jealous, the President and CEO of the NAACP, and published by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights.

Tea Parties – Racism, Anti-Semitism and the Militia Impulse

This section of the Special Report compiles opinion polling data, documents significant examples of racist vitriol on the part of Tea Party leaders, shows incidents where well-known anti-Semites and white supremacists have been given a platform by Tea Partiers, and analyzes the attempt by white nationalist organizations to find new recruits in Tea Party ranks.

Tea Party leaders have bristled at any mention of the racism, Christian nationalism and white supremacy that is a part of their movement. In several notable instances, people of color have been prominently put forward as speakers or entertainers at Tea Party rallies, as if to say: look, this is a racially diverse movement that wants to add more color to its ranks. Prominent among these few individuals has been Lloyd Marcus, previously mentioned in this report as a paid consultant of Tea Party Express.

Nevertheless, Confederate battle flags, signs that read “America is a Christian nation,” and racist caricatures of President Obama have been an undeniable presence at Tea Party events in both local communities and in Washington, D.C. The venom (and spittle) directed at African-American Congressmen during the health care debate carried an unmistakably racist message. It is not the contention of this report that all Tea Partiers are consciously racist. The evidence presented, however, speaks for itself.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 22nd, 2010 at 12:56 pm and is filed under U.S., tea party protests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.