The NAACP resolution condemning racist behavior among members of the Tea Party movement is drawing lots of attention. Is the strategy a good one?
Writing on an Atlantic blog, Dave Weigel, a journalist and political commentator, calls the NAACP resolution “headline-hungry act” and says he thinks it backfired.
Slate writer John Dickerson, in a podcast, asks whether the Tea Party should be held responsible for the repugnant behavior of what might be just a handful of individuals. Writing on a Los Angeles Times blog, Michael McGough says that asking the Tea Party to denounce actions by some of its devotees “implies the extremists/bigots/bombers are a sufficiently significant component of the organization that such a gesture is necessary.”
Atlantic writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, however, defends the NAACP’s resolution. He reviews statements and actions by Tea Party members and supporters and says he finds the NAACP statement justified.
He also notes the Tea Party’s response to the NAACP memo. A number of Tea Party leaders have said that it’s the NAACP supporters, not Tea Party activists, who are bigoted. Mark Williams, a national spokesman for the Tea Party Express, calls the NAACP “professional race-baiters,” reports NPR.
The St. Louis Tea Party also drafted its own statement calling the NAACP “bigoted,” and asked the Internal Revenue Service to reconsider the nonprofit group’s tax-exempt status, reports Fox News.
Mr. Coates says he often questions the relevance of the NAACP, but this moment has made him realize he’s wrong.
What do you think of the NAACP’s resolution? Has the group reaffirmed its relevance or gone too far?
– Caroline Preston
11 Responses to NAACP Resolution Condemning Tea Party Members Draws Fire
bostian - July 19, 2010 at 3:08 pm
If the NAACP can’t call out racist talk and behavior when it sees it — and some members of the Tea Party and their media supporters like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have given them plenty of opportunity — shouldn’t they just close up shop and go home?
ppcllc - July 19, 2010 at 3:12 pm
The only racist behavior in evidence, Bostian, is that of the NAACP itself, and its allies. And, yes, they should close up shop and go home.
rischa1952 - July 19, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Unfortunately, there will always be reason for the NAACP to continue its existence. If for no other reason than people do not recognize that there IS a problem here. To say that a group will not denounce the despicable ideas of its members because they represent such a small number, tells society that it’s OK to have those viewpoints, it’s OK to spew open hatred of our President, encourage his demise, make nasty comments about his children, etc. Hmmm, when people failed to speak up in the past, Hitler came to power. Oh well, they were just a few people speaking on street corners, when they first started,right?
ppcllc - July 19, 2010 at 7:17 pm
rischa1952 needs a reality check.First of all the Tea Party isn’t a membership organization, so anyone can claim “membership,” but whenever there is a hint of racism from individuals claiming Tea Party membership or support, others in the movement are quick to publicly condemn them.This is in stark and shameful contrast to the NAACP, and “leaders” like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton who laughingly claim civil rights credentials, but fail to condemn those like the New Black Panthers, who intimidate voters, hate all whites, and advocate killing “cracker” babies. Since Julian Bond, the NAACP has become obsolete, out of touch, and racist.Unfortunately, now that we actually have a racist, anti-American in the White House, groups like the NAACP feel they have a receptive climate in which to practice their divisive rhetoric. Obama’s insidious White House-based gang of Alinsky disciples and Marxist henchmen is the greatest threat to our national security, our values, our traditions, and our lives.And if you want to conjure up the spectre of Hitler, take a good look at the arrogant, clueless, mean-spirited, megalomaniac we have for a President. The only thing preventing him from becoming the next Adolph Hitler is means and opportunity.
alizbe - July 20, 2010 at 11:56 am
@ ppcllc:I’ve seen your comments on a few articles recently and I recognize your right to free speech, but your comments almost always have nothing to do with the article and always end with criticism of the president/government. We get it…you don’t like Obama. We all have strong beliefs, but this is not the forum for such hate-filled statements. This publication is a great resource for professionals working in the nonprofit world, please utilize it for your own professional development, not as your personal political blog.
ppcllc - July 20, 2010 at 1:12 pm
alizbe:If you will take the time to examine my comments, you’ll note that I address each of the points made by rischa1952, though I understand you object vigorously to my point of view, which is also your right.When I interject what you deem to be superfluous (i.e., references to Obama, whom I believe to be the country’s greatest enemy, and the most despicable figure in American history), I am doing nothing more than following the dictates of my conscience, keeping in mind that “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Speaking out is my minor contribution.Jeff Steele
asaoud - July 20, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Mr. Steele, Perhaps it would be easier to take you seriously if you (or any of your tea-bagger friends) ever bothered to raise an intelligent argument against President Obama’s policies, instead of regurgitating the same tired retorhic you’ve heard on Fox News. The country’s greatest enemy? Really? You’re fear mongering because The President doesn’t agree with the right wing extremist agenda, which is the real enemy to the American way of life. If the Tea Party didn’t consistantly show itself to be a subset of uneducated cronies for people like Bill O’Rielly and Glen Beck (who are nothing more than a set of very good, very loud actors taking advantage of all of you and laughing all the way to the bank) they just MAY have a chance at actually accomplishing something in November. If they could distance themselves from Sarah “Reality Star” Palin, and people like Mark Williams – a self proclaimed racist, then you may just win one or two seats back in the House and Senate. Luckily for the rest of us, that will never happen.
drheingold - July 20, 2010 at 7:45 pm
I don’t see anything fundamentally racist about either the Tea Party or the NAACP. Whatever biases individual members harbor should not impugn either organization. This petty back-and-forth says more about the people lobbing charges than their targets.
ppcllc - July 21, 2010 at 12:28 am
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ppcllc - July 21, 2010 at 12:40 am
asaoud:Fortunately, I can think for myself, and neither Fox News, Bill O’Reilly nor Glenn Beck are my oracles. My opinions are formed after analysis of the facts, which — with omnipresent cellphone videographers, Youtube and other websites, and the Freedom of Information Act — are easy enough for anyone to discern. Truth has nothing to do with party affiliation, philosophy, or even personal bias.If, in the face of clear and overwhelming evidence, you don’t recognize Obama to be an incompetent, arrogant, lying, self-absorbed, corrupt, power-hungry malcontent and subversive, I suggest you ask your psychiatrist to explain “confirmation bias.”And now, drheingold, I am done.
ppcllc - July 22, 2010 at 1:42 am
7/22/2010If it makes you liberals (who usually object to my commentary) feel any better, let me publicly condemn Andrew Breibart (who released a deliberately misleading edited tape of Shirley Sherrod addressing the NAACP) as a complete asshole. Although he previouly legitimately outed corrupt ACORN employees, he (along with vast numbers of other Republican and conservative schmucks) couldn’t avoid shooting himself in the foot.Jeff Steele