Tea Partiers Deny The Use of Racial Slurs

There are conflicting claims emerging from the allegations last week that members of the Tea Party protest yelled racial and anti-gay slurs at members of Congress on Capitol Hill. Some are saying that people in the crowd used the N-word, and others are saying that it simply didn't happen. With regard to the use of a gay slur toward Rep. Barney Frank, some are saying that Frank cursed at the crowd before it happened.

The representatives who were walking past the crowd have a different story.

"They were just shouting, harassing," Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. said.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver said that he was spit upon.

"Today's protests against health insurance reform saw a rash of despicable, inflammatory behavior," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said.

The challenge to these claims is given by the fact that Youtube videos of the lawmakers walking by the crowd show audience members chanting "Kill the bill," but no one using the N-word. However, Cleaver spokeswoman Mary Petrovic noted that the videos were less than a minute long.

"He heard slurs," she said.

One other inconsistency in Cleaver's claim is that he stated that the protester who spit on him was arrested and that he decided not to press charges. However, U.S. Capitol Police stated that the protester was only detained and put in handcuffs, but not arrested.

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, spokeswoman for the Capitol Police, stated that,"There were no elements of a crime, and the individual wasn't able to be positively identified," she said. "(Cleaver) was unable to positively identify."

Cleaver's spokesperson stated that he chose not to identify the defendant because that would have obligated police to make an arrest.

"He was aware of that obligation and so did not make an identification," she said. "He saw who did it and he could have identified that person if necessary. But he chose not to."

Here's the bottom line on the racism that seems to be coming out of the Tea Party movement. We all know that the racism is there. We know that there is a highly irrational, extremist fringe to the Tea Party that is dangerous and unproductive for America. This is also the same extreme element that hangs on the words of every Fox News commentator and sends death threats to every black person who appears on Fox with something liberal to say.

It must also be acknowledged that these extremist individuals do not represent the core of the Tea Party movement, so the entire group cannot be held accountable for the actions of a few individuals. I'd hate to have to take responsibility for some of the dumb things done by a small number of black people, so it's not right to do that to the Tea Party Movement either. What is true, however, is that this "populist movement" contains more of a racist foundation than the group is willing to admit, and race is a large part of what makes them hate Barack Obama.

As for Cleaver and Lewis, I am not a fan of the idea of over-dramatizing the experience of walking past the Tea Baggers to get into the Congress. No, my friend, this is not a replay of Selma 1965. This is America in 2010, and our country must be given credit for making significant progress as it pertains to race. What we were witnessing is a movement by a group of people who have a legitimate right to be angry about policies that they do not approve. While I stand in support of the health care bill and the CBC, the truth is that we have to let go of the drama.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book, "Black American Money." To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.