During a telenews conference on Wednesday, Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP, along with Leonard Zeskind and Devin Burghart of the Kansas City–based Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights released the findings of their 'Tea Party Nationalism' report. The report reveals that the Tea Party Movement and (one of its fractions), The Tea Party Express, are aiding and abetting racists and bigots across the country.

What began as resolution in July, with the NAACP condemning racist elements within the Tea Party, evolved into an unprecedented data-driven report, in which researchers aggressively sought empirical data to support the NAACP's claims.

The Tea Party report details the group's disturbing relationship with white supremacists and militia groups, including Billy Joe Roper Jr., one-time leader of the National Alliance, an organization dedicated to the creation of an all-white country and the requisite expulsion or murder of Jews and people of color.



It also describes instances of the use of the N-word and Islamophobia. Confederate battle flags, signs that read "America is a Christian nation" and racist caricatures of President Barack Obama have also been an undeniable presence at Tea Party events in both local communities and in Washington, D.C.

Founded on the premise that government is too intrusive and far-reaching, the Tea Party's mission statement is "to attract, educate, organize and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets."

While in theory these are all noble goals that form the core values of American society, these same goals and values have only been used as the vehicle to drive its message of separatism to the masses. With a predominately white male base that proudly marches and screams, "Give me my country back!" the Tea Party is a clear reflection of the Ku Klux Klan, also founded on similar principals laid out in 1867.

"George Wallace spoke of a 'conservative revolution' in his inaugural speech in 1963," said Rev. William Barber during the telenews conference. "Extremists felt this divisionist posture gave them license to spew hate language. One has only to look at the social, political and historical markers during this volatile time to realize the effect [these hate groups have] on America's psyche. Four girls killed in Alabama, Medgar Evers murdered and a president assassinated. This white supremacist, anti-Semitic rhetoric cuts at the heart and soul of public life."

In a foreword to the study, Jealous clarifies his stance:

"We know the majority of Tea Party supporters are sincere, principled people of goodwill. That is why the NAACP, an organization that has worked to expose and combat racism in all its forms for more than 100 years, is thankful Devin Burghart, Leonard Zeskind and the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights prepared this report that exposes the links between certain Tea Party factions and acknowledged racist hate groups in the United States. These links should give all patriotic Americans pause.

"I hope the leadership and members of the Tea Party movement will read this report and take additional steps to distance themselves from those Tea Party leaders who espouse racist ideas, advocate violence or are formally affiliated with white supremacist organizations."

While I am sure many Tea Party members are sincerely frustrated with "big government" and do not believe in supporting a government that does not reflect their capitalist values, it is clear that one of their main sources of anger and frustration is their belief that resources are being spent on social programs designed to assist minorities who have been historically discriminated against and marginalized in the United States.

Though some Tea Party members can pretend to be all-inclusive, their hate-filled, pseudo-Christian rhetoric suggests otherwise.

From the first lady caricatured as a monkey to the "Birther Movement," the Tea Party has been lock step with bigoted extremists since its inception, and high-profile Republicans such as Sarah Palin and Dick Army, with their passive racist stances, continue to fuel a group of people already in a frenzied state of anger and bigotry.

When asked did he believe that the Tea Party was at the pivotal point of being strictly a hate group, Jealous had only this to say:

"David Duke [former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan], says he has found a home in the Tea Party. No one party in this country should be a home for him."

In a statement responding to the report, The Tea Party dismissed it as unfounded:

"Here we go again," said Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation. "This is typical of this liberal group's smear tactics."

Unfortunately, based on the findings in this study, the Tea Party's "home" is infested with racism, anti-Semitism and misguided rage. Hopefully this country will stand with the NAACP and repudiate the racist factions within the Tea Party before the dangerous climate of the 1960s is fully revived.


*** The Tea Party Nationalism report can be viewed on teapartynationalism.com***