By Alexis Garrett Stodghill

Rep. Allen West is becoming famous for saying the most ridiculous things. As a man who entered Congress not even a year ago, he has transformed from being the Tea Party poster boy for their claims of racial inclusion into a figure who inspires vigorous head scratching with his boisterous words. Having JUST left behind the rancor caused by comparing himself to Harriet Tubman and black Democratic leaders to overseers on the Democratic plantation (I kid you not), Rep. West couldn’t just sit back for a moment and relax. That mouth had to keep on flapping — but now instead of trash-talking obvious enemies, he has decided to take on his real nemesis: GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain.

Yes, another overly loud and painfully cantankerous Tea Party “favorite,” who also gleans his popularity from the fact that his blackness seems to prove that the overwhelmingly white political organization is not racist. Rep. Allen West probably does not appreciate his doppelganger, who is stealing his shine as the black far right lap dog. And he made his feelings known in a rather lengthy offhand comment made to left-leaning political site, Talking Points Memo. When asked his opinion of Cain’s recent apology to Muslim groups for making inflammatory comments against them, Wild Wild West had this to say:

Cain issued an apology to Muslims in July following his meeting with officials at a Virginia mosque for a “discussion about religion and politics.” The meeting came after Cain claimed that American communities had the right to ban mosques in their neighborhoods.

His apology earned him a verbal beating from former supporters on his Facebook page and on anti-Muslim blogs.

Not gonna happen with West, the Tea Party favorite told TPM following a news conference at the Capitol Hill screening he hosted of an anti-“Ground Zero mosque” film.

“He did not frame things in a very good objective and historical assessment, and I think he kind of got himself backed into a very ugly corner,” West told TPM. “I would never give anyone the opportunity to come back and exploit me making some type of gaffe, and I think that’s what happened.”

By L. N. Rock

The anger and hostility between the NAACP and the so-called Tea Party movement started back in 2010, at its annual convention in St. Louis; the NAACP passed a resolution denouncing the “racist element” within the tea party movement.

The 2010 resolution said the Tea Party members have used “racial epithets,” have verbally abused black members of Congress and threatened them, and protestors have engaged in “explicitly racist behavior” and “displayed signs and posters intended to degrade people of color generally and President Barack Obama specifically.” At the time, Ben Jealous head of the NAACP, specifically pointed to signs at rallies portraying President Obama as a witch doctor, and to claims made by Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., that Tea Party protestors opposing health care reform hurled racial slurs at them.

Then in October of 2010, The NAACP, organized (a poorly organized and poorly attended protest) march in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 2nd, billed as the next step in building momentum against the Tea Party. Since the failure of the march, the NAACP has been largely quiet about the Tea Party, and has been trying to rebuild its name as a relevant player in 2011.

Black American Tea Party loyalists held their first rally outside the 102nd NAACP National Convention in Downtown Los Angeles to challenge the racism allegations against the so-called Tea Party movement. The Black Tea Party members denounced the NAACP as “morally bankrupt.” Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, organizer of the South Central L.A. Tea Party, and no stranger to name calling had some choice words for the NAACP:

“The NAACP is a partisan tool of the Obama Administration. For decades, this group has supported left-wing polices which have created dependency, destroyed black families, and hurt race relations.”

Rev. Peterson also made the following allegations.

NAACP spreading lies about the Tea Party. NAACP has made numerous false allegations of “racism” against Tea Party groups, but has yet to provide a shred of evidence backing up their baseless claims.

The NAACP is a partisan tool of the Obama administration. The group blindly supports Barack Obama’s out-of-control federal spending and bailouts.

The NAACP has remained silent on black on black violence. And they refuse to address recent news of black thugs attacking whites and flash mob crimes across the country—but NAACP President Benjamin Jealous says he’s “deeply concerned” with the lack of black news anchors on Television.

The NAACP has aligned itself with the United Federation of Teachers to block 22 of the worst performing schools in New York City from being shut down. More at hinterlandgazette.com

Black conservatives are really taking big media heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement—and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. As an example, as reported by The Root, Charles Butler, a black, Chicago-based conservative talk show host, has been in shouting matches and called a traitor to his race because of his affiliation with the largely white Tea Party movement.

I’m not sure how the Black Tea Party organization can be successful at engaging the NAACP in a conversation when they are having issues working within their own organization. It will be interesting to see how the so-called Black Tea Party confronts the NAACP in the future. It should make for interesting entertainment, seeing that both groups are more interested in showboating and grandstanding.

L. N. Rock is a management consultant, Democratic strategist, and 2008 credentialed blogger at the Democratic National Convention. He blogs at African American Pundit

Herman Cain is making headlines again for his unusual perspectives on race and politics. Not content to call the breeding ground of left-leaning candidates a “Democratic plantation,” Cain’s latest quip blames the poverty of black voters for the lack of diversity seen on the right. What’s the main reason black voters are rarely seen at Tea Party rallies according to Cain? Why it’s simple economics of course. African-Americans are on average just too poor to attend, the GOP presidential hopeful believes.

Herman Cain explained this shift of blame onto African-Americans to Talking Points Memo:

Asked why more African Americans haven’t joined him at tea party rallies and conservative conventions like the Faith And Family Conference in DC this weekend, the millionaire ex-CEO has a different explanation. African Americans, Cain told TPM, are too poor to tea party.

“They can’t afford to,” Cain said. “So I think the first reason is economics. If you just look at the sheer economics of it.”

“If you look at the typical income of a black family of four it’s going to be lower than a non-black or white family of four,” he explained. “Generally speaking on average, white families are much more economically prosperous than black families. So, many black families don’t have the economic flexibility to go to a CPAC conference.”

Most tea partiers, Cain said, “own their own business, or they have the type of job where they have the flexibility where they can go to the rally.”

“Or they’re retired,” he added.

As one of the front-running candidates for the GOP presidential nomination, Cain is in a rare position to guide his fellow Republicans towards making their party more inclusive. Instead of offering solutions for the obvious lack of diversity in the far right, Cain chooses to use his position as an African-American to justify why so few blacks have joined them. Herman Cain’s identity grants him an air of authority as he makes excuses for the right and its failure to attract black voters — and he gets more creative in providing their cop-outs every day.

If Herman Cain continues to make excuses for the lack of people of color represented in the GOP, it will remain what he depicts it to be — a party for old, rich white people. It’s a shame that a man who wants to be president cannot see that America is so much more. Herman Cain should want to be part of a political force that seeks to mobilize the entire nation, not only those who can afford to support the Tea Party’s cause.

Day by day, politics becomes funnier by the minute.  I could never fathom an African-American that would support or aspire to be a leader in the Ku Klux Klan.  What an extreme and idiosyncratic thought!  Thus far, I do not know of any Blacks who would tread down this lonely road.  But, it appears that there may be a few African-Americans who are walking toward this road, as evidenced by Black Tea Party Leaders stating that President Obama and the Democrats are re-enslaving America.  Wow!

In defense of the Tea Party, I do believe that there are some hard-working, patriotic and decent citizens who disagree with democratic policies and government’s role in their lives.  Although somewhat extreme in most cases, one has to respect their ideological views relative to politics.  But, when you see signs that explicitly target President Obama as a “Communist,” “Hitler,” “Lenin,” “Colored People,” and “The N-Word” and African-Americans and Hispanics being spit on at Tea Party rallies, one has to wonder whether it’s really about differences in public policy views or the fact that there is a sun-burnt face in the White House.

As with affirmative action, many Tea Party Leaders are now playing the reverse victim role by stating that racists in their movement are outsiders who have infiltrated to discredit their cause.  Really?  If this holds true, then why aren’t these outsiders removed from the rallies with their hate-filled signs and rhetoric.

In the face of observing this type of malevolent and abhorrent behavior from a first-hand perspective, the Black Tea Party Leaders believe that the master slaveholder President Obama is going to place everyone back into the cotton fields for long and treacherous work under the merciless sun.  It would seem to me that someone who has spearheaded health care reform, credit card reform, tobacco reform, Wall Street reform, fair sentencing, ethics reform and equal and fair pay would be considered an abolitionist.  If it were somehow true that President Obama was the master slaveholder, then what should we consider Bush and Cheney?

Let’s consider the beautiful works of Bush and Cheney, such as the broken No Child Left Behind education system, failed leadership after September 11, a $9.2 trillion deficit, the veto of expanding children’s access to health care, an unnecessary war in Iraq, a lack of response relative to Hurricane Katrina and a lack of proper oversight of greedy financial institutions that nearly brought the world to its knees.  Doesn’t this sound like the wonderful and courageous acts of John Brown, Levi Coffin, Harriet Beecher Stowe or Elijah Lovejoy?  Resoundingly, no!

It is simply not wise for anyone, exclusive of race, to suggest that the democratic policies of the Obama Administration are re-enslaving America.  It is extremely disrespectful to our African-American predecessors who were treated as subhuman and who had to endure horrible and barbaric acts of evil, such as forced labor, lynching, rape, auctions, and pain induced by whips, chains and other instruments of cruelty.  Ideological battles are understandable, but to invoke the thought that an atrocious system that enslaved African-Americans for over 400 years is comparable to the America that we currently live is simply not fair and prudent.

Anthony Jerrod is a bestselling author, speaker, and public policy expert.

(Washington Post) — I have never participated in a “tea party” demonstration or rally. Nor do I think I ever will. The reason is simple: I am black and I am proud and no self-respecting black American would ever openly join that conservative movement or support its goals. Right?

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