Memo to Charlie Rangel: You’re in some pretty uncharted waters if former Gov. David Paterson — son of one of your closest friends and allies — is publicly taking you to task for your racially charged remarks.

The hoopla began with a Rangel slam against the Tea Party: “It is the same group we faced in the South with those white crackers and the dogs and the police,” the Harlem congressman told Politico. “They didn’t care about how they looked.” In other words, the Tea Partiers are the heirs of Bull Connor and the segregationists.

A few days later, as a guest on Mike Huckabee’s radio show, Rangel was treated to a thumping — not by an outraged Republican, but by Paterson. “I thought it was totally out of line for the congressman to lump what went on during the desegregation movement in with the people who just have honest political disagreements,” Paterson said.

Paterson went on to add that he didn’t find the Tea Party’s views on government spending and lower taxes “to be particularly strident.”

There’s an irony here that Paterson — the state’s first black and legally blind governor — may appreciate, even if Rangel does not. Far from being akin to the violent segregationists of the 1960s, the Tea Party has made today’s Republican Party more diverse.

"We take no issue with the Tea Party movement. We believe in freedom of assembly and people raising their voices in a democracy. What we take issue with is the Tea Party's continued tolerance for bigotry and bigoted statements. 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."

I grew up in Florida and experienced "Jim Crow" firsthand, and just the shouting of the shibboleth — "take our country back" — makes me cringe because these words are a throwback to a time of segregation that has left an ugly stain upon this nation's conscience. I have known the experience of drinking water from "colored" fountains, and beginning each school year with secondhand books. It still raises hackles when segments of the Tea Party wax nostalgic about those days, when for many of us, they were nightmares.

My repartee to the Tea Party: "back to what?" For most people of color, these words suggest a day and time when life for the black man in America was "separate but always unequal." Historically, black people see these painful experiences through the prism of our collective experiences in this country, which historically have not been good.
...Ben Jealous NAACP



IMHO
'take America back' is ambiguous enough to stir up different emotions from different people,,,,,there was no IDEAL time in American history and some of those 'constitutional' times were much worse for some than for others

,,'move America forward',, seems more of a philosophy for all to get behind,, but that's just me

Is this him?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6W-TizrAXc

Is this him?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6W-TizrAXc

What we take issue with is the Tea Party's continued tolerance for bigotry and bigoted statements.

"We take no issue with the Tea Party movement. We believe in freedom of assembly and people raising their voices in a democracy. What we take issue with is the Tea Party's continued tolerance for bigotry and bigoted statements. 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."

I grew up in Florida and experienced "Jim Crow" firsthand, and just the shouting of the shibboleth — "take our country back" — makes me cringe because these words are a throwback to a time of segregation that has left an ugly stain upon this nation's conscience. I have known the experience of drinking water from "colored" fountains, and beginning each school year with secondhand books. It still raises hackles when segments of the Tea Party wax nostalgic about those days, when for many of us, they were nightmares.

My repartee to the Tea Party: "back to what?" For most people of color, these words suggest a day and time when life for the black man in America was "separate but always unequal." Historically, black people see these painful experiences through the prism of our collective experiences in this country, which historically have not been good.
...Ben Jealous NAACP



IMHO
'take America back' is ambiguous enough to stir up different emotions from different people,,,,,there was no IDEAL time in American history and some of those 'constitutional' times were much worse for some than for others

,,'move America forward',, seems more of a philosophy for all to get behind,, but that's just me

What the Tea Party means by 'take America back' is that they want to take America back from the politicians who seek to turn the USA into the United Socialist States of America.

That Charles Rangel and Ben Jealous are making a straw-man argument about the Tea Party is so obvious that even David Paterson sees it.

What the Tea Party means by 'take America back' is that they want to take America back from the politicians who seek to turn the USA into the United Socialist States of America.

the ones who even know what that means might, I Believe a majority who just repeat it as justification, are actually quite upset at the idea of becoming a minority white country,,and harbor quite a bit of racism towards non whites,,, albeit the subtle kind that Im not permitted to bring up without being labled a 'victim',,,by some lazy thinker,,,

and when THEY say take it back, they mean take it BACK to when their privilege was well protected and acknowledged,,,

http://depts.washington.edu/uwiser/racepolitics.html

the ones who even know what that means might, I Believe a majority who just repeat it as justification, are actually quite upset at the idea of becoming a minority white country,,and harbor quite a bit of racism towards non whites,,, albeit the subtle kind that Im not permitted to bring up without being labled a 'victim',,,by some lazy thinker,,,

and when THEY say take it back, they mean take it BACK to when their privilege was well protected and acknowledged,,,

http://depts.washington.edu/uwiser/racepolitics.html

This is supposed to be proof? A liberal biased survey with cooked up results? This is a liberal think tank.They have an agenda. Why didn't they survey the NAACP as well?


Come on harmony you got to do better than this.