NAACP Passes Tea Party Racism Resolution

People attend a tea party protest in Washington, Thursday, April 15, 2010.

/ AP

The NAACP has passed a resolution condemning racism in the Tea Party movement.

The resolution was approved in a vote by more than 2,000 delegates at the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Kansas City.

Versions of the resolution condemned "explicitly racist behavior" in the Tea Party movement and called on people to "repudiate" what it described as racist elements of the Tea Party. The final text of the resolution has not yet been made available, however, and that language may have changed.

As the Associated Press notes, NAACP President Ben Jealous has said the Tea Party movement needs to "be responsible members of this democracy and make sure they don't tolerate bigots or bigotry among their members."

Members of the Tea Party movement vehemently deny that their movement is racist.

A CBS News poll in April found 52 percent of Tea Party members believe too much has been made of the problems facing black people. Far fewer Americans overall -- 28 percent -- believe as much. Among non-Tea Party whites, the percentage who say too much attention has been paid to the problems of black people is 23 percent.

The original NAACP resolution, submitted by the group's Kansas City branch, said the Tea Party movement has "displayed signs and posters intended to degrade people of color generally and President Barack Obama specifically."

It condemned "racist elements" of the movement as "a threat to progress" and referenced instances in which black congressmen said they were verbally and physically abused by Tea Party activists.

[dibbs977]

Thank you NAACP for taking a stand against these un-American activities of the Tea Party Radicals. Most extreme right wingers are people whose lives are out-of-control and they just want to blame someone else---instead of growing up and putting their own life in order.

[beardog500]

Are you kidding me? The NAACP exists to promote a single race to the detriment of all others- and they're playing the race card? We have freedom of speech in the country and, unfortunately, you are going to hear things that make your blood boil - but that's what comes with freedom! People have been protesting presidents for years and will continue to protest presidents - just because we have a black president doesn't make these comments all racist. They told Bush to go back to Texas (and much worse) - were THESE racist comments too? Where was your moral anger then? The NAACP would do much better getting involved in the daily homicides and gang violence in the black community, or else admit their time has come and gone. Too many young men are dying needlessly and cutting promising lives off much too soon. Where's the outrage over this? Clean up your own backyard before venturing into people carrying silly signs at a political rally. These people are showing their ignorance - don't compound this by showing yours! Al Sharpton should take you to task for getting involved in this and letting yourselves get baited! If you cannot be involved in useful issues to your community you need to quietly go away.

[nikki2223]

NAACP's condemnation is not even relevant! Everybody is racist anyway you slice it. Racism happens from stereotypes and stereotypes happen from real-life happenings that oversimplify an image or idea of a particular type of person. I feel the way to combat racism is to confront that stereotype and prove to people, individual by individual, that we are not just a stereotype. Crying wolf, as the NAACP has, only confirms stereotypes and does nothing, at this point in time, to advance ?colored people?. It only makes people be Politically Correct and hold in how they really feel (or how they think). We must combat stereotypes head on! Be self-responsible and prove our selves. Crying racism is a lame-duck excuse to hide behind. For God Sakes the majority voted a Black man into the white house ? something many said wouldn?t happen for many more years!! At this point the NAACP should disband as there is no more need for an ?advancement of color people? they just know now they?ll actually have to work and that?s a little harder than crying RACISM!

[zen-master]

Ahem - I think the 'boulder' already hit us during the reign of King Bush/Cheney; all you whinny Tea-Baggers that complain about taxes do me and the rest of us patriots a big favor and pay your taxes! And shut up!!

[dalleng]

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." Obama

The New Black Panthers?

[youcancallmeroy]

Martin Luther King is rolling in his grave. Why?
Benjamin Todd Jealous is president and CEO of the NAACP: Anthony ?Van? Jones is a ?National Treasure." While Van Jones may have left the White House under a cloud, the NAACP says that?s not his whole story. The group considers him a pioneering hero for the environment and civil rights ? so much so that it is awarding him one of its highest honors Friday: an NAACP Image Award. It?s a move that stoked the fire from Jones critics. Jones resigned in September 2009 from his position on the Council on Environmental Quality, under a firestorm of criticism over a petition he had signed. The NAACP keeps saying he is the most misunderstood man. I'm trying to figure out exactly where he's misunderstood. Is he misunderstood because he's a 9/11 Truther? Is he misunderstood because he's a self avowed communist? Is he misunderstood because he is a guy who defended Mumia Abu Jamal, the cop killer? Let's see. Is he understood because he wants a revolution? I'm trying to figure out how he's misunderstood. How is he misunderstood? He's also going to be teaching at Princeton. He's giving a lecture at Columbia, whew, and he also spoke with Senator Gillibrand from New York, in New York City where the World Trade Centers came down, interesting enough. I don't know if she knows that. I'd like to hear her viewpoint on the truth of 9/11. Where does she stand on Marx? We know where Van Jones stands on Marx. The question I have now is: Where does the NAACP stand on Marx?

[orthosawbones]

I agree with you; however, I think that we need to take this another step feather. Where does Obama stand? But this is not about Obama and his "Zara's," this is about the NAACP and in that light the NAACP like the Unions have become the proverbial toothless lion, a lot of noise and pawing the ground and very little else. "Times have passed them by" and I say good riddance to bad rubbish.

[calhar]

Perhaps the tea party should pass a resolution condeming racism in the NAACP.I note in the picture they recruited a bunch of white idiots to do the dirty work of protesting.GOD such goings on.

[Perish1]

Ha hu hu...

That's a picture of a Tea Party rally.

[Tea_Dude]

Disgraceful. They can't/won't debate the issues so they turn to personal attacks. The RACE card is the last card they have left to play. The issues are: $787 Billion (Failed) Stimulus; Deficit Spending; Bailing out Wall Street and Car Companies; Crammed Down Health Care; Apologizing for America; Cap and Trade; Immigration attacks on Arizona; The Gulf Oil Spill Handling; International Relations in Response to Israel, N. Korea, Iran, etc. Those are the issues for this proud Tea Party Member. Nothing to do with Race. If it were Hillary, or Bill, or Gore, I would argue the points!

[non-indoctrinated]

Brianbwb- You sir need to put down the NyTimes, turn off all news & actually educate yourself on the issues.The real issues facing America, are not white, yellow, brown, black, green or rainbow problems- they are American Problems, better yet- American Citizen Problems- Taxpayer problems. The NAACP, the Black Caucus, La Raza, Jesse Jackson, Sharpton, etc all play the race card to side step the real issues at hand. The Tea Partiests didnt get together to promote "White Issues." They could care less about color. They care about out of control spending & massive wasteful government that we are heiring to our grandchildren before they are even born. The NAACP on the other hand, did get together to promote race. You can point your finger all you want at the GOP, but reality is this. It took 43 presidents from George Washington (1797)to George W. Bush (2004)- that's 207 years to accumulate $5trillion dollars of government debt. Obama & Congress has managed to triple that debt in just 2 years. We will forever disagree on every single issue, but one thing is for certain. Our children, grandchildren, etc will bear the burden your "can-do-wrong" president has created. The US is just a few steps behind Greece & as you continue to support these bufoons in Washington, they just dig the hole deeper. No country is going to lend to us & the solution isn't increasing taxes. You can't write checks for money you dont have & raising taxes isn't a solution. Hope isn't a strategy. I hope they don't repossess my car. If you personally dont have the money to go out to dinner, what do you do? You stay @ home & eat a PB&J. This administration on the other hand, goes out to a 5 star restaurant on a credit card signed by the US Taxpayer with no intention to pay it back. Aren't you worried about your children's future? It's time to stand up to the government who is more concerned with spending $10million on a street sign that says "your tax payer money hard at work." Wake up. The real issues are being swept under the rug & it will cost our future generations dearly. The NAACP should be more concerned with the slavery the government is creating on each & every tax paying citizen, then slavery none of us had nothing to do with way before our time. I have to get back to work now for I am a slave to my job & the IRS. I still owe taxes for 2009, I'm in credit card debt over my head & the only person looking out for me, is me. Wake up, race is not the issue at hand. It's taxes dummy. It's the devaluation of the dollar. It's the economy stupid. Get ready for a double dip recession/depression b/c its coming & you can thank Washington.

[Perish1]

Why are white people racist? Why can it be said the at a person is racist simply because of the color of their skin? If you look at a white baby, do you see a racist? Isn't one of the definitions of racism to attach some sort of stigma to a person due to the color of their race, creed, sex, or national origin?

Every one of the people who have called white people racist, are themselves racists. By the very definition of the word.

[Undercast]

If you go your whole life being told that you can't ever accomplish anything, that white people only bring you down, blah blah blah, then how will you ever rise above the "white oppression"? I don't think there is white oppression anymore. We're all from a completely different generation now. We are ALL equal. We can do whatever we want in this world. Education is handed out to you if you come from a poor or minority family. It's up to us to become the people we want to be. I think NAACP oppresses the black race. What is needed is good influence. And that goes with any race. The children of this country need good influence. They need encouragement to finish school and be good people, regardless of race.
I'm not trying to be rude, but just hoping to open your mind to a different idea. And that's what I believe. We should be American's worried about our children's future and not different races worried about who is being treated better. We need to come together.
And way back when this country was first formed, not all white people had it easy. And they weren't classified as whites, they were Irish, English, Italian, whatever. A LOT of immigrants had it hard. Most came here to only be housekeepers or to do any other hard labor. I know my Irish ancestors did. But most people forget this, or don't care. All of our ancestors had a rough time in the beginning of this country. But the beautiful thing is that 100 years later everything has changed. You have to have a mindset that nothing can stop you in life. We all have equal opportunities but it's up to us to go after them.
And I'll never believe that this country is run by only white people. Obama is the president and he's not white. I just don't know where these ideas come from.
Anyway, I hope you take this in and try to be more understanding and open-minded. It's hard for us, as "white" people, to always be blamed for something we never even witnessed in our lifetime. That in itself is racist to me.

[heavynne]

Whites didn't need any organization to help them prosper here in America. Being white has given them all the priviledges they want and need. Why would they need a white organization to help them? It's everyone else other than white that are discriminated against. This country is run by whites who don't want to acknowledge the bigotry of America. They hid behind sheets back in the day, now they hide behind computers, and the majority of racists are to much of a coward to admit it. Oh no, they don't like Obama's policies, it's not because he black. Oh yes, you can say he's half black, but prior to him gaining presidency, any one with any amount of black in them was not embraced as anything but black. So that's a joke, and it really shows a since of racism.