NAACP poised to denounce tea-party movement

WASHINGTON — The NAACP is expected to approve a resolution at its annual convention condemning the tea-party movement for harboring "racist elements that are a threat to our democracy," a spokeswoman for the civil-rights organization said Monday.

The proposed resolution states the "movement is not just about higher taxes and limited government but something that could evolve and become more dangerous," NAACP spokeswoman Leila McDowell said. Delegates gathering in Kansas City will consider the resolution as early as Tuesday.

The resolution would be the latest and perhaps the most pointed denunciation of the tea-party movement, which has pushed back against recurring accusations of racism since its inception a year and a half ago.

Tea-party supporters also have a distorted view of race relations, the resolution says, citing poll data that found that 25 percent believe the Obama administration's policies favor blacks over whites, and 52 percent believe "too much" has been made of the problems facing black people, compared with 28 percent of the general population.

Critics have noted signs carried by tea-party supporters that mock President Obama and his Kenyan ancestry and to repeated questions by protesters about Obama's U.S. citizenship.

The accusations intensified after reports a tea-party protester directed a racial epithet at Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a longtime civil-rights leader, during a Washington rally in March.

Then and now, tea-party leaders have distanced themselves from what they described as the work of fringe elements. Several also questioned the legitimacy of the Lewis report, asking why it was not caught on video.

In response to the NAACP resolution, two tea-party leaders said Monday that any racism among the groups was the responsibility of a few bad actors and not the larger movement.

"There certainly are people who have been involved in tea-party events or call themselves tea-party leaders who have done these things. And we've said we're not going to put up with it," said Jenny Beth Martin, founder of the online network Tea Party Patriots.

Mark Meckler, also of Tea Party Patriots, suggested the NAACP was biased against whites. "It's a little ironic that an organization that has lost legitimacy through its own racism is trying to call another racist," he said.

The NAACP's move comes as the group and other parts of the Democratic base are seeking to reactivate voters who mobilized to elect Obama. The group announced an Oct. 2 rally in Washington as an answer of sorts to the tea-party protests. The "One Nation" campaign also would involve a coalition of labor groups.

"We have to get up off the couch," said McDowell, the NAACP spokeswoman. "We have to demand the change that we voted for."

Publicizing what it sees as racist and extreme behavior within the tea-party movement is part of that effort.

The proposed resolution asserts that "hard-core white supremacist organizations have participated in and occasionally lead tea-party rallies." McDowell said the statement was based on academic research on tea-party groups and referred to a faction in the larger movement.

Meckler said the accusation was untrue and unfounded. "I've never, ever heard of such a thing," he said. "Never had that complaint. Never seen it personally."

"I just don't see racism in the tea-party movement," said Brendan Steinhauser, director of campaigns for FreedomWorks, which organizes tea-party groups. "Racism is something we're absolutely opposed to.

"The NAACP has more of a political agenda now, but I would hope that they would appreciate the fact that the tea-party movement has a lot in common with the civil-rights movement. I'm personally inspired by what the civil-rights movement did, and I want them to know that."

Information from The Kansas City Star is included in this report.