Race Wars: André Carson Smears the Tea Party

September 5, 2011 By 26 Comments

In the wake of the attack on Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January, when overheated political rhetoric became the subject of overheated national debate (even though it had nothing to do with her shooting), President Obama called for a new era of civility in politics. A National Institute for Civil Discourse was even created to research and promote respectful political dialogue.

Rep. André Carson of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) must not have been paying attention. He is standing by the unconscionable race-baiting he displayed at an Aug. 22 CBC town hall meeting in Miami. In a video compilation of footage from several such events during August, Carson can be heard accusing Congressional Tea Party members of exhibiting the racism of pre-civil rights era legislation:

I’m saying right now, under [CBC] Chairman Emanuel Cleaver’s leadership, we have seen change in Congress… but the tea party is stopping that change. And this is beyond symbolic change. This is the effort that we’re seeing, of Jim Crow.

It gets more outrageous. “Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see us as second-class citizens,” Carson continued, to supportive cries from the audience. “Some of them in Congress right now with this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me — I’m sorry, Tamron [town hall moderator Tamron Hall from MSNBC] — hanging on a tree.” This last rhetorical flourish earned rousing hoots of agreement from his audience.

Carson’s office defended his remarks by saying they were “prompted in response to frustration voiced by many in Miami and in his home district in Indianapolis regarding Congress’ inability to bolster the economy.” Suggesting that only non-whites are economically disadvantaged, and that the anti-big government Tea Partiers’ agenda is to advance white corporate interests, the spokesman went on to say that

[t]he Tea Party is protecting its millionaire and oil company friends while gutting critical services that they know protect the livelihood of African-Americans, as well as Latinos and other disadvantaged minorities…

So, yes, the congressman used strong language because the Tea Party agenda jeopardizes our most vulnerable and leaves them without the ability to improve their economic standing.

Carson’s remarks came a mere two days after Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters from California, also member of the CBC, said at a California town hall that “the Tea Party can go straight to hell.” This crudity came shortly after both Vice President Joe Biden and Democrat Rep. Mike Doyle were quoted as comparing the Tea Partiers to terrorists (a word Biden later denied using), and after Democrat Rep. Luis Guitierrez called them “arsonists.” Farewell, new era of political civility.

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About

Mark Tapson, a Hollywood-based writer and screenwriter, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center. He focuses on the politics of popular culture.

  • StephenD

    Allen West is a beacon of light in the CBC and may prove yet to be the only person able to turn it around. Should he leave they could confidently point to him and say they have at least one good thing come out of them.
    Folks like Carson and Waters, well, you know as soon as they begin to loose the argument they start with charging their opponent with racism. Does anyone really listen to these idiots any longer? They have become as little children that resort to name calling when they don't get their way; Unworthy of the office they hold.

  • PatriotX

    We as an entire nation need to get off of the “victim” trip and stop depending on the government for help. We need to help ourselves. People like Allen West should be what black people root and push for. We as black people need to carry that man on our shoulders to D.C. if we have to. I’m not applying this to every “minority” but the fact of the matter is, the world doesn’t owe us anything. We don’t possess the ownership rights to oppression and suffering and the world does not revolve around the so called “race problem” between blacks and whites in the U.S. or anywhere else for that matter. The only thing that’s stopping blacks or anybody from accomplishing whatever they want to accomplish nowadays is their minds.

    Allen West, from what I saw, has alot of the qualities of character that our society should see as positive, honesty and integrity being two of the biggest. They are rare jewels that should be protected and treated with respect for the value that they carry with them. In the world of politics they are priceless. I’ll never forget it, he said right off the bat, “I’m going to make decisions that not all of you are going to like. I say that because I’m going to be honest with you I’m not going to lie to you and tell you what you want to here. To do that is the mark of a politician not a leader.” You don’t get much more honest than that. That man has the country’s best interest at mind, not his own, not the party’s. That kind of honesty and integrity should be encouraged, protected and promoted. He’s not going to compromise our values, he’s not going to “sell out” as alot of blacks accuse him of doing, he’s not going to fold or give in to evil or political correctness. He’s going to call something for what it is and deal with it and in light of our current conflict with the growing threat of an even more volitale middle east, these traits are exactly the kind of qualities we are going to need to shield us and help us deal with this growing threat and the threat from within our borders.

    • Dennis X

      dilbert already sold out to the out laws mc . taking money from them was the same as taking money from the kkk, the exact same!

    • John_Kelly

      Brilliant Comment PatriotX.

      As the old saying goes "a single drop of ink can produce the words that make a million people think."

      Keep up the good work.

  • PatriotX

    If there was ever a time to come together as a nation and stop letting other people separate us into categories, it’s now. We need to stop thinking of each other as white, black, asian, latino, middle eastern…etc. We can be proud and preserve our individual heritages and still be cohesive yet at the same time keep our focus on battling and weeding out all forms of influence that violate the values and ideas that compose the foundation of this country. We either stick together or all bow to Allah together. He’s not the same god Christians worship and shariah law is not what you want in place of the constitution which is Iran’s and many radical organization’s goals are within our border. It should be treated and fought with the same type of resolve and zeal that we fought communism with.

  • Amused

    Civil Discourse ?? Dear author – that ended a few years ago , and it ain't comin'back anytime soon … in fact it's gonna get worse before it gets worse .

  • Bertram Cabot Jr.

    Indianapolis Star reporter Erika Smith admires Andre Carson for his "guts".
    http://tinyurl.com/3vgp48s

  • Guest

    The moron is a two-bit, affirmative action hack, who couldn't pour piss out of a boot with the directions written on the heel.

  • fisherKing

    Compare the coverage of the tea party with the anti-war left. There was no mainstream coverage of leftist calling 9/11 a much deserved bloody nose or renouncement of citizenship, or becoming human shields so Udai Hussein can run his rape rooms, or aiding al-Qaeda in Fallujah.

  • AL__

    andre carson is a goat with a hijab

    • John_Kelly

      Great comment AL, I laughed so hard that I sprayed coffee all over my laptop screen.

      I have a friend who raises goats and I have never seen a goat as ugly as Andre Carson.
      The guy would scare a pit bull off its chain!

  • Fred Dawes

    Why is it that blacks feel hate? one word..Racists… Blacks and hispanic and our yellow brothers and sisters hate a people that could make nothing into something.

    But understand our white brothers and sister hate we the people so much we may have to do the right thing once more, if you know what i mean?..( :- ) AND WE THE PEOPLE MAY HAVE 100 MILLION DEAD But we Will win this coming war and we will once more have the BOOK Of Doom for our enemies, Long live the ideals of LIBERTY, Over evil doers.

  • CisscoKidd

    Andre Carson will always be able to do and say anything he wants and get away with it, simply because he is a minority. I mean, if flash mobs of blacks are allowed to attack whites and get away with it, then it surely goes without saying Andre Carson can certainly say anything he wants and everybody will bow down and listen. You see, in the United States, government and society must always be "sensitive-to-the-needs" of its minorities. It doesn't matter which minority it is or what they may do, government and society in the United States must still be "sensitive-to-the-needs" of its minorities. Anything LESS, would OFFICIALLY OFFEND the minorities.

    • Questions

      With Andre Carson, it runs in the family. His late grandma, Congresswoman Julia Carson, held the Indiana seat he now holds. She was a fanatic, too.

    • John_Kelly

      Great comment CisscoKidd and right on the money !!

  • CisscoKidd

    When minorities OFFICIALLY become OFFENDED, all the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons and Jeremiah Wrights come out of the woodwork and start screaming RACISM. Everybody but everybody knows, when the big "R" word surfaces, everybody but everybody runs for cover. Everybody hides. Note: Even though the minorities expect to be able to do and say anything they want, they still expect to receive special handouts from the government and get special preferences in education and employment through Affirmative-Action as well. The white man is on the short end of the stick when it comes to these free gifts. In fact, the white man gets particularly shafted with Affirmative-Action since the minorities receive special and big-time preferences in education and employment. Yes, even though the white man gets particularly shafted by Affirmative-Action, the minorities continue the fashionable trend of hating the white man. Otherwise, we would have a sign that things are changing. For example, a possible sign of things changing here would be seeing all the minorities banding together to have Affirmative-Action stopped. We haven't seen that. So, things continue on as they have been, and, Andre Carson continues on as he has, too.

    • Dennis X

      you had affirmative action for over 400 years , now you have white privilege. your unemployment rate is the lowest of any group, you make more money than any other group, maybe its just you.

      • Questions

        My foot. Blacks weren't even in this country in appreciable numbers until the late 18th century. None of my wealth is attributable to that phantasm, "white skin privilege."

    • John_Kelly

      Brilliant comment CisscoKidd. Keep them coming and if you ever run for office you have my vote.

  • tagalog

    Maybe Carson can join with Son of Union Thug Hoffa and take the Tea Party out.

    Maybe if they join up with Maxine Waters they can not only take the Tea Party out, but send them straight to Hell.

    Racist bastards don't deserve any better.

    • Questions

      You're missing the point. Hoffa is simply following in the footsteps of his dad. Race has nothing to do with his outburst. He's an economic populist of the Left, with the classic bluster stil intact.

      By the way, what's wrong with "racism" anyway? If blacks can stick up for their own kind, why can't we?

      • tagalog

        When I think of Democrats calling names, I always remember Mayor Daley responding to the talk of "Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago" during the 1968 Democrat Convention, you know the convention where he gave the order to the Chicago P.D. to shoot to kill demonstrators. What he said was not heard over the noise of the conventioneers, but some lip reader put it together later. Pretty raw.

        When Senator Abraham Ribicoff protested Mayor Daley's cops carrying out his thug-like orders on the floor of the convention, Mayor Daley is reported to have said, “F**k you, you Jew son of a bitch! You lousy motherf**ker! Go home!”

        And that was at his own; you can imagine what 43 years and decades of friction with the Republican Party and grassroots populism have done to the psyches of our leftie leaders.

  • FlyanSosser

    Questions–

    OK, then its decided. The whites get to stick up for their own kind, too, then. Its time to even up the numbers. What numbers am I speaking of? Well, its these numbers. This kind of thing just aint right–
    http://www.americancivilrightsreview.com/Aussieon…

    How about them numbers? Are these numbers good numbers or are they bad numbers?

  • olustee

    Racist rhetoric is grounded in a sense of moral superiority: calling someone a racist automatically declares the following: "You are morally deficient. And if I can accuse you, then no one can accuse me, because if you're a racist and I call you a racist, that means that I am morally superior to you. And being morally superior means a great deal to me, because (ya know) if I can't make someone be and feel morally inferior to me, how can I be morally superior? And that's a problem for me because, ya know, if I can't be morally superior to someone, that means I'm worthless, because (I admit it) I can't think of a single thing good about myself except my capacity to make someone else feel morally inferior to me.

    So keep this in mind, people: every time I accuse someone of being a racist, I'm really telling you about my own sense of moral inferiority.

  • John_Kelly

    The one glaring truth about Andre Carson that is conveniently missed by the mainstream media is………..he is a Muslim.

    Therein lies the true root cause and motivation for his racist rants against the Tea Party.

    The truth is that Andre Carson as a Muslim has no allegiance to America or the Constitution.

    This arrogant hypocrite would be only to happy to lead America down the path of a race-fueled Civil War as it would fit the Islamic agenda.

    We are seeing the tip of the iceberg as the Liberal Democrat agenda is now playing the race card as they have no cards left.

    Obama has proved to be a total failure but he knows that descent into chaos has been tried and tested (when all else fails) by his cousin Raila Odinga in Kenya two years ago.

    Beware America the President you elected will stop at nothing to be re-elected.

  • james

    Check out Carlos May he is running against this extremist. His website is http://www.carlosmay2012.com