If They Quack Like Racists, They're Probably Not Ducks

You would have to be blind not to see it, deaf not to hear it. You don't even have to go to a tea party rally to know that there are many racist people in its ranks. All you have to do is turn on your radio or television, and if you are not offended by the signs they carry and the things they say, you are in denial about racism in America. It's on display!

Yet when the NAACP rightfully called on the tea party to denounce and root out the bigots in its ranks, some people had the gall to flip the accusation. In their warped minds, it was the NAACP that was promoting racism. Their audacity is remarkable.

Of course, not all tea party activists are racists. Most of them are legitimately concerned about big government and our skyrocketing national debt. But when they attend these rallies and stand next to right-wing extremists and white supremacists who use racial slurs, spew the N-word, spit at black lawmakers, bash immigrants and carry stuffed monkeys and images of witch doctors in tasteless efforts to depict President Barack Obama, they are all guilty by association. This is not something about which to be complacent. It's un-American simply to look the other way.

I support immigrant rights activists and their efforts to gain some kind of amnesty for undocumented immigrants. But I don't go to their rallies because I refuse to stand next to left-wing extremists who carry pictures of the murderer Che Guevara, threaten to retake the Southwest or wave foreign flags, giving the stupid impression that they are invading this great nation.

Yet under the banner of the tea party, wackos are allowed to get away with blatant racism. And if you complain, they will say you are the racist!

The NAACP resolution didn't accuse the tea party of racism; it simply asked its leaders to weed out those who are giving their movement a terrible image. "What we take issue with is the tea party's continued tolerance for bigotry and bigoted statements," NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said. "The time has come for them to accept the responsibility that comes with influence and make clear there is no place for racism and anti-Semitism, homophobia and other forms of bigotry in their movement."

Yet instead of heeding the request, some tea party leaders spewed even more of the hatred we see on display at their rallies. Others tried to cover the sun with one finger.

Some said there is simply no proof to support the NAACP's claims. Sarah Palin called the NAACP resolution "false, appalling and ... a regressive and diversionary tactic." She said it is an example of "typical divisive politics that is so absolutely unnecessary." Instead of admitting there are at least some racist "tea baggers" and condemning their behavior, the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate actually called on President Obama to repudiate the NAACP resolution and "set the record straight."

Some tea party leaders with obvious political aspirations say this resolution was not passed because minorities have legitimate concerns, but because they are driven by political motivations.

"We (National Association for the Advancement of) Colored People have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing," Williams wrote in his pathetic satirical letter. "Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!"

If this man is not a racist, no one is!

In interviews last week, Williams also claimed the NAACP members are "professional race baiters" who make "more money off of race than any slave trader ever." Since 1909, no other organization has done more to fight racism and discrimination against all Americans. But Williams said the NAACP belongs in "the trash heap of history where they belong with all the other vile, racist groups that emerged in our history."

Again, the word hypocrisy is not enough!

Williams went so far that the National Tea Party Federation was left no choice but to do what the NAACP requested. Although he had removed his letter to Lincoln from his website, he was booted from the federation.

Some tea party leaders also have spoken out against racism in their movement. But it's clearly not enough to dissuade the most radical racist elements from using the movement as the new Ku Klux Klan. There is no denying that white supremacist organizations have participated in tea party rallies and that they represent a dangerous threat to democracy.

If tea partyers were only about cutting taxes and limiting government, perhaps they would have much more support. But when they scoff at charges of racism and resist repudiating the white supremacists among them, when they dismiss the problem as a minor issue created by "fringe elements," they do a terrible disservice to their movement.

Unfortunately, it's becoming evident that the glue that holds tea baggers together is not their quest for lower taxes and smaller government, but their resentment for what the majority of us did in 2008, when we elected our first black president.

Remember when some naive people thought that the election of Barack Obama marked the end of racism in America? Au contraire! It marked the beginning of a new wave of bigotry that now is showcased at tea party rallies. When they talk about "taking our country back," they are really talking about preserving their white privileges.

When they are asked to expel the bigots from their ranks, they conveniently claim that the tea party is not a party, but a patchwork of small, local groups that are hard to control.

But we all know the old duck test: "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck." However, if they quack like racists, they're probably not ducks.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM