Sarah Palin rebuts NAACP charge of Tea Party racism

Using her favored and unorthodox means of communicating with nearly 2 million followers via her Facebook page, Sarah Palin Tuesday night expressed sadness over an as yet unpublished NAACP convention resolution accusing Tea Party activists of tolerating racist elements in their midst.

The former Republican governor of Alaska, who appears to be positioning herself for a possible run at the 2012 GOP presidential nomination using the disgruntled Tea Party's concerns over expanding and fiscally irresponsible government as a major portion of her base, said:

I am saddened by the NAACP’s claim that patriotic Americans who stand up for the United States of America’s Constitutional rights are somehow “racists.” The charge that Tea Party Americans judge people by the color of their skin is false, appalling and is a regressive and diversionary tactic to change the subject at hand.

Earlier Tuesday at its annual convention, the NAACP passed a resolution after mostly closed debate that a spokesman described as calling "on the Tea Party and all people of good will to repudiate the racist element and activities within the Tea Party."

Such a hot-button statement was certain to insert the old organization into the week's news flow as it seeks to stay relevant among numerous looming economic and Latino issues. And Palin's unsolicited response had the same effect for her.

Normally, The Ticket would publish the text of the controversial resolution here. But the group ...

... will not release it until its board passes on a final version in October. The complete text of Palin's statement appears below.

However, Ben Jealous, the association's newly elected president (see photo below), was an outspoken critic of the political protest movement this week, saying it divides the country and "represents a small and dying demographic."

Jealous added: 'It's time for the Tea Party to be responsible members of this democracy and make sure they don't tolerate bigots or bigotry among their members."

Late Tuesday, Tea Party favorite Palin posted her response. Among other things, she said:

It seemed that with the election of our first black president, our country had become a new “post-racial” society. ... We, as a united people, applauded that sentiment. We were proud of that progress. That’s why it is so sad to see that 18 months later, the NAACP is once again using the divisive language of the past to unfairly accuse the Tea Party movement of harboring “racist elements. ...

The only purpose of such an unfair accusation of racism is to dissuade good Americans from joining the Tea Party movement or listening to the common sense message of Tea Party Americans who simply want government to abide by our Constitution, live within its means, and not borrow and spend away our children’s futures. Red and yellow, black and white, this message is precious in all our sights.

Palin said she had just returned from a few days of visiting a remote Alaskan village with the family of her husband, Todd, who is a Yupik Eskimo.

"In the decades that our families have blended," Palin wrote, "I have never heard one proud, patriotic member judge another member based on skin color. Both Todd and I were raised to measure a person according to their capacity and willingness to love, work, forgive, contribute and show good character. We’re joined by the vast majority of Americans in this belief."

Full text of Palin's statement below.

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The Charge of Racism: It’s Time to Bury the Divisive Politics of the Past

I am saddened by the NAACP’s claim that patriotic Americans who stand up for the United States of America’s Constitutional rights are somehow “racists.” The charge that Tea Party Americans judge people by the color of their skin is false, appalling, and is a regressive and diversionary tactic to change the subject at hand.

President Reagan called America’s past racism “a legacy of evil” against which we have seen the long struggle of minority citizens for equal rights. He condemned any sort of racism, as all good and decent people do today. He also called it a “point of pride for all Americans” that as a nation, we have successfully struggled to overcome this evil. Reagan rightly declared that “there is no room for racism, anti-Semitism, or other forms of ethnic and racial hatred in this country,” and he warned that we must never go back to the racism of our past.

His words rang especially true in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 presidential election. It seemed that with the election of our first black president, our country had become a new “post-racial” society. As one writer in the Washington Post stated: “[Barack Obama’s] election isn’t just about a black president. It’s about a new America. The days of confrontational identity politics have come to an end.”

We, as a united people, applauded that sentiment. We were proud of that progress. That’s why it is so sad to see that 18 months later, the NAACP is once again using the divisive language of the past to unfairly accuse the Tea Party movement of harboring “racist elements.”

Having been on the receiving end of a similar spurious charge of racism (in a recent frivolous lawsuit which was finally dismissed by a federal judge), I know how Tea Party Americans feel to be falsely accused. To be unjustly accused of association with what Reagan so aptly called that “legacy of evil” is a traumatizing experience, and one of which the honest, freedom-loving patriots of the Tea Party movement are truly undeserving.

On this subject, I can recommend the statement issued by a man I was proud to endorse, Tim Scott, the GOP candidate from South Carolina’s First Congressional District. Tim, poised to become the first African-American Republican Congressman from the former Confederacy since Reconstruction, is himself a sign of a hopeful, truly post-racial future for our country. It gives added meaning to his warning that “the NAACP is making a grave mistake in stereotyping a diverse group of Americans who care deeply about their country and who contribute their time, energy and resources to make a difference.”

The only purpose of such an unfair accusation of racism is to dissuade good Americans from joining the Tea Party movement or listening to the common sense message of Tea Party Americans who simply want government to abide by our Constitution, live within its means, and not borrow and spend away our children’s futures. Red and yellow, black and white, this message is precious in all our sights. All decent Americans abhor racism. No one wants to be associated with any organization that is in any way racist in sentiment or origin. I certainly don’t want to be. Thankfully, the Tea Party movement is not racist or motivated by racism. It is motivated by love of country and all that is good and honest about our proud and diverse nation.

Like President Reagan, Tea Party Americans believe that “the glory of this land has been its capacity for transcending the moral evils of our past.” Isn’t it time we put aside the divisive politics of the past once and for all and celebrate the fact that neither race nor gender is any longer a barrier to achieving success in America – even in achieving the highest office in the land?

I just spent a few beautiful Alaskan days with some beautiful Americans in my husband’s birthplace – they are Todd’s family and they are Yupik Eskimo. In the decades that our families have blended, I have never heard one proud, patriotic member judge another member based on skin color. Both Todd and I were raised to measure a person according to their capacity and willingness to love, work, forgive, contribute, and show good character. We’re joined by the vast majority of Americans in this belief whereby we measure a man by his character, not his color. Because of amazing efforts and accomplishments by those who came before my generation, it is foreign to us to consider condemning or condoning anyone’s actions based on race or gender. Being with our diverse family in a melting pot that is a Native village just days ago reminded me of that.

So to leave that remote village and return back to “modern civilization” only to hear of the NAACP’s resolution today suggesting that we Tea Party Americans don’t respect equality makes me sad for those who choose to divide these great United States. It is time to end the divisive politics. -- Sarah Palin

Photos: Getty Images; Lawrence Jackson / Associated Press (Jealous).

Comments

[Fedup real tpartier]

I don't care if fatty NAACP President Ben Jealous uses this as an opportunity to have his 5 minutes of fame or politick.
I don't care if Sarah Man Jaw Palin is in complete denial minus
her latest drill baby drill lobotomy. She's old, give her a break.
I don't care if Rand Runny Mouth Paul isn't as intelligent as his credentials indicate. I only care that the true message of t party politics and the conservative right isn't affected by these inbred idiots. Theparty puports itself to be educated and intelligent. These folks? Educated, I think not unless you count diploma mills and rote

[Uh huh. Right, right . . .]

Uh huh. The tea party are a bunch of nice old ladies like Sarah ManJaw Palin only concerned with fiscal budgeting and less govt interference. Right, uh. NOT.

Clean up the nut cases holding signs with Obama bearing a bone through his nose or racial epithets with " go back to Afica" then I'll listen.

Cough cough. By all appearances there seemingly is quantum amount of denial among some conservatives and t party nuts. Sarah Man Jaw Palin being one of them. Ya ya she's forgiven, I'd leave the country if she were ever elected.

And for the record, I'm a republican who is totally embarrassed by the neo Nazi militia like fringe groups appearing all over these blogs claiming to be party members or fiscal conservatives.

I'm saddened by the lack of integrity our conservative t party leaders illustrate not condemning or weeding out these backwards Low IQ inbreds. Not all conservatives align with embarrassments like Man Jaw Palin or Rand runny mouth Paul.

[Mike T]

Mr. Uh huh. Right, right…
You are neither Republican or Conservative but you are a liar. You sneak on to places like this one and try to spread your Progressive, Liberal propaganda and think that no one will recognize it for what it is. Neo Nazi! Man Jaw Palin! Rand Runny Mouth Paul! And you dare to speak of someone else’s IQ! I will be happy to compare IQ’s with the like of you on any day. No, you are not at all what you claim to be and it is woefully apparent.
Do yourself a favor and get someone else to write your next post for you. Perhaps it won’t be as shabby an attempt at spreading political fodder as this attempt was. And shame on you for being a liar.

[SarahPwhitey]

Given the wide racial diversity the Tea Party embodies, how can anyone percieve we're racists? Why, we have light white folks and dark white folks, and some folks are a fleshy peach color and some are almost albino for crying out loud! See, we are very diverse in race.

We are who we associate with. The tea party is what it is through actions of it's followers, not the hollow words of it's leaders.

[KATHY]

I am always suprised to find that whites feel they know more about racism than blacks. We has known racism since the first slaves landed on the shores of this country and has continued to this day. The day that Sarah Palin can say she has been a vicitim of racism then we can talk.

[corneliusvansant]

Understandably, given that racism continues to plague America and that this is an historic presidency, the NAACP is defensive to the point of paranoia. Nevertheless there is NO evidence of TEA Party racism other than the statements of highly partisan members of congress.

People of color are welcome in the Tea Party struggle. For it is about liberty and liberty trumps, not just color, but life itself; the proof lies in Arlington Cemetery and in manifest graves all over the world in the fight against socialism.

This president is exerting a radical progressive agenda, and that is irrelevant to his ethnicity. Leftists (of all colors) are manipulating African Americans and playing a dangerous game of racial confrontation for political gain.

At one rally, an African American man spoke to an overwhelming white crowd. What he said propelled a thunderous prolonged standing ovation. "I am not an African American - I am an American."

He later said on Fox that the moment was the most inspirational of his life. But this conservative fighting socialism would be called "Uncle Tom" by the NAACP, in effect a scarlet letter, an excommunication from the community. It is nothing less than ideological bullying.

[Anthony]

White people should stop apologizing for racism as if racism is white man's decease. Black people are just as racist. White people should stop defensive about racism. Talk to chinese and indians and you'll see that black women are more racist towards them. Opra was so excited for barak because he is black. Can white person be so overtly racist and get away with it?
I hope Sarah does not become an apologist for the tea party. Just be proud of it.

[joe killsonsight]

as an american indian(creek)with a 148 IQ,and a tea party member,I have not seen racism except from whites,blacks, and hispanics who want illegals here in my country.The redman was here first and the dems donot support us over the invaders.It is not rascist to disagree with the pres or his policies.When people of color disagree with whites,is that racist?

[Lucy]

read the resolution, it said do not tolerate the bigoted elements. Tell me with a straight face that they do not exist? They do and you know it, and I am shocked that Saintly Sarah the true american christian really believes there is not a bigotted element. I personally hold alot of the same beliefs of the Tea Party but will not support the mean spirited and yes sometimes bigoted elements of the Tea Part.

[Fresno Attorney]

Despite being one of, if not the most peaceful movements in history

[Montana]

The Tea Bag Party are just “haters not debaters” or as others have dubbed them “screamers not dreamers”, with their failed attempts at stopping Healthcare reform, they say they respect the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence but they do not mind passing laws, through weak Governors (no one voted for this crazy) who only cares about getting elected Governor, on the backs of undocumented workers, that will not pass Constitution muster.

Brewer signed into law;
1. S.B. 1070,
2. No permit conceal weapons law,
3. The famous Birthers law,
4. Banning Ethnic studies law,
5. Banning human-animal hybrid (aren’t most GOPers crossed with the Reptilian race?)
or are they just giving Laurence Gonzales, some great promotion material for his new book “Lucy”.

6. Could she be behind the Mural in Prescott, Arizona, ordered to be whiten,
7. On deck to pass, no citizenship to babies born to undocumented workers,

8. If she can read she should look up Arizona’s House Bill 2779 from two years ago (which was un-constitution and failed when legally challenged),
9. The boycotted Martin Luther King Day, what idiots don’t want another holiday? Yes, you guessed it Arizona.

Well Arizona, you can boycott new holidays and keep passing crazy laws and the rest of us will continue to challenged them in a court of law and continue to add cities to our Boycott of your state.

I real cannot believe anything that comes out of Brewer’s mouth, in an interview she first said her father had died in Germany fighting the Nazi in World War II (war ended 1945) but of course we find out the truth that father was never in Germany and died in California in 1955. But we are suppose to believe everything else she says, right! No one voted for you for Governor, yet you keep listening to the tiny brains of the crazies and signing into law everything that comes into their feeble minds, it only make you look dumb, stupid or racist, or maybe all three.

As for the Tea Bag Party, their phony patriotism is sickening; they are just racists going by another name. We all know you are just itching to put a sheet on their head? Let’s face it the Republicans had eight years to deal with health care, immigration, energy (remember Cheney’s secret meetings with oil companies where loosening regulation and oversight were sealed), climate change and financial oversight and governance and they failed. It appears that the Republican Party is only good at starting wars (two in eight years, with fat contracts to friends of Cheney/Bush) but not at winning wars as seen by the continuing line of body bags that keep coming home. The Republicans party will continue turned inward to their old fashion obstructionist party (and their Confederacy appreciation roots) because they continue to allow a small portions (but very loud portion) of their party of “birthers, baggers and blowhards” to rule their party. I will admit that this fringe is very good at playing “Follow the Leader” by listening to their dullard leaders, Beck, Hedgecock, Hannity, O’Reilly, Rush, Savage, Sarah Bailin, Orly Taitz, Victoria Jackson, Michele Bachmann and the rest of the Blowhards and acting as ill programmed robots (they have already acted against doctors that perform abortions).

The Birthers and the Tea Bag party crowd think they can scare, intimidate and force others to go along with them by comments like “This time we came unarmed”, let me tell you something not all ex-military join the fringe militia crazies who don’t pay taxes and run around with face paint in the parks playing commando, the majority are mature and understand that the world is more complicated and grey than the black and white that these simpleton make it out to be and that my friend is the point. The world is complicated and people like Hamilton, Lincoln, and Roosevelt believed that we should use government a little to increase social mobility, now it’s about dancing around the claim of government is the problem. The sainted Reagan passed the biggest tax increase in American history and as a result federal employment increased, but facts are lost when mired in mysticism and superstition. For a party that gave us Abraham Lincoln, it is tragic that the ranks are filled with too many empty suits and the crazy Birthers who have not learned that the way our courts work is that you get a competent lawyer, verifiable facts and present them to a judge, if the facts are real and not half baked internet lies, then, and only then, do you proceed to trial. The Birthers seem to be having a problem with their so called “Internet facts”. Let’s face it no one will take the Birthers seriously until they win a case, but until then, you will continue to appear dumb, crazy or racist, or maybe all three. I heard that Orly Taitz now wants to investigate the “Republican 2009 Summer of Love” list: Assemblyman, Michael D. Duvall (CA), Senator John Ensign (NV), Senator Paul Stanley (TN), Governor Mark Stanford (SC), Board of Ed Chair, and Kristin Maguire AKA Bridget Keeney (SC), she wants to re-establish a family values party, that is like saying that the Catholic Church cares about the welling being of children in their care, too late for that. Yee Haw!

[Dogmeat]

The problem is this. Tea Party candidates will win a number of these congressional races because local districts are often safely partisan in nature. They can make their wild, unfounded claims, crazy accusations, etc., and win. That means not only are we likely to see an increase in Republican seats in both houses, we're likely to see more antics, more insanity, more stupidity. At the same time they're going to do everything they can to derail Obama's policies which will likely mean high unemployment, a moribund economy, and more compromises on policy positions that make no one happy.

That could literally mean that if the Republicans put up a legitimate candidate in 2012, they could win. Such a result is bad enough, but the likely response for the Democrats is to move further to the "middle" to placate voters. As we've seen over the last decade, the "middle" in American politics is basically on the verge of being an 80s Republican. Increasingly that means we'll have a political landscape of a conservative party and ratfuck insane parties. The former, given it's track record, slowly moving to the right, the latter, given it's track record, loudly screaming "socialism, communism, fascism!!!"

If we continue on this course, privatization will be socialism.

[Dogmeat]

I want to take this opportunity to thank the Tea Party for electing Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown since he voted for the Financial Reform Bill and help the President of the United States with another legislative victory, thank you Tea Party. Have you heard of “Unintended Consequences” or “Blowback”? Was he working for the Tea Party, himself or our Country, hmmm only you can answer this one?