from "Are Tea Parties Racist? Is Al Qaeda?, Tobin Harshaw, New York Times
On Tuesday, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People released this statement: “Over 2,000 N.A.A.C.P. delegates today unanimously passed a resolution—as amended—called ‘The Tea Party Movement,’ asking for the repudiation of 'racist' Tea Party leaders.”
That same day, a White House official told ABC News’s Jake Tapper that “al Qaeda is a 'racist' organization that treats black Africans like cannon fodder and does not value human life.” (It was a followup to President Obama’s statement that “these terrorist organizations…do not regard African life as valuable in and of itself.”)
A day later, an Iowa Tea Party group “replaced a billboard comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.[...] For some observers, the sign wasn’t just in poor taste, but also 'racist'. As the New York Examiner’s Dexter Rogers put it, doubting that “the Tea Party members actions are not predicated on some level based on race is idiotic. Iowa is vastly white state. The billboard was placed there strategically to induce a reaction from those who may harbor negative sentiment towards President Obama for his leadership skills and also for being African-American." (more)
