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Put up or shut up

It's time for prominent Tea Party leaders to step forward and deal with racism within the Tea Party

After Tea Party leader Mark Williams attacked the NAACP with a racist blog post, one national Tea Party group — the Tea Party Federation — distanced itself from Williams. But the most prominent leaders have stayed silent, and even the Federation used the opportunity to again bash the NAACP and downplay Williams' leadership role.

There are countless examples of racism within the Tea Party movement, and the weak reaction to Mark Williams tells us that tolerance for bigotry extends into the highest ranks of Tea Party leadership. It's time to force Tea Party leaders like Sarah Palin and Dick Armey to either publicly confront the problem, or admit that the Tea Party thinks it's fine to look the other way.

Please join us in publicly challenging Tea Party leadership by signing the following open letter.

Add your voice now!

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Below is the message we'll send to Tea Party leadership on your behalf. You can add your own personal comments in the box to the left.

Dear Dick Armey, Sarah Palin, and other Tea Party leaders,

In response to the NAACP's call for you to root out the racism that exists within your own ranks, many of you responded by denying any problem and attacking the NAACP. Even after Tea Party Express leader Mark Williams showed, undeniably, that virulent racism exists in the top ranks of Tea Party leadership, you have continued to deny that there is any significant problem. Many of you have remained altogether silent on Williams' offensive rhetoric; those of you who have denounced it have tried to claim that Williams wasn't a major leader in the movement.

I'm calling on all Tea Party leaders to take two steps to confront the racism that exists within the Tea Party movement:

  1. Publicly denounce Mark Williams' racist rhetoric and make it clear that he, and the bigotry he stands for, are not welcome in the Tea Party movement
     
  2. Adopt a clear policy stating that racist and bigoted rhetoric and imagery will not be tolerated and will result in expulsion from Tea Party organizations

As leaders in the Tea Party movement, you have a choice: you can act decisively to confront and expel the racism which exists in your movement; or you can make clear, with your continued silence and denial, that your movement welcomes and relies on racism and bigotry.

Sincerely,

[your name here]