Not Too Far Below the Surface, Evidence of Racism Continues to Haunt the Tea Party

A string of events shows the Tea Party has not gotten beyond its race problems.
May 18, 2011

And some folks still wonder why the Tea Party movement has a racial image problem.

In recent weeks, white separatists wrapped themselves in a Tea Party cloak and staged a rally in Orange County, Calif. An Ohio Tea Party group sued a city school district after officials canceled the appearance of a virulently anti-Muslim evangelist the group sponsored. And then, last week, a black Tea Party Nation commentator unleashed an acerbic verbal attack on “black race pimps” that would have made David Duke blush with pride.

Lloyd Marcus, who clearly relishes his role as a black Tea Party figure who can disparage black centrists and liberals in terminology all but the crudest of white extremists would take care to avoid publicly, launched a fresh offensive last Wednesday. His latest target: the black organization ColorOfChange.org, for its campaign to pressure two regulars on Donald Trump’s television show, “Celebrity Apprentice” – Star Jones and Lil Jon – to repudiate the prospective presidential candidate for what the group describes as “race-baiting” comments Trump has made regarding Barack Obama. (Full disclosure: The co-founder of ColorOfChange.org, James Rucker, is a member of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s board.)
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