More than a dozen African American speakers gathered in Washington today to help the Tea Party Express shed its ties to former chair, spokesperson and racial burr in its saddle, Mark Williams. Though the TPE never publicly rebuked Williams after his racially controversial blog post led to his resignation from the group, the speakers from the podium at the event today -- billed as a National Black Conservatives Rally -- were more than willing to call him out.
"How many times do they have to pluck that bad apple out of the barrel before people quit focusing on it?" said Herman Cain, an African American talk show host. "The [tea party] movement is millions of people and hundreds of organizations.
But though the speakers at the podium denied it, Williams was the reason for the event today. His antics -- which rose to the level of national attention after the NAACP passed a resolution claiming that the tea party harbors racism in its ranks -- caused the first serious self-reflection on race relations in the movement and, today, led to some African Americans associated with the TPE to criticize the group over how it dealt with it its one-time star.
"No matter his intention, Mark's response was unwise," said William Owens, an African American conservative and a regular on the Tea Party Express' bus tours. Williams said he understood that the TPE's "slow response" to Williams' "satirical" blog post about the NAACP might have "made things look" like the organization was supporting Williams, but Owens said that wasn't the case.
"It was out of loyalty to a friend," Owens said. "He has apologized and we have forgiven him."
Owens had harsh words for the Tea Party Federation, which publicly repudiated Williams and kicked the Tea Party Express out of the movement after the blog post became a national controversy. I asked him to weigh in on the move, considering that he was speaking on behalf of the only tea party group to be publicly rebuked by another for racism.
"For them to take that upon themselves was totally out of context," Owens told me. "There has been no judge and jury set up to condemn them or any other group."
The speakers at Wednesday's event spent the majority of their time talking not about Williams or the Tea Party Express, but about the notion that the movement is defined by racism. As we've heard a lot lately, black conservatives in the tea party movement strongly reject that notion, and today was no exception. When the unique racial mix of the speakers (only one was white) was set aside, the message from the event today was similar to one heard at every tea party rally: the left is racist for talking about race, and groups like the NAACP reject any African American who refuses to vote the Democratic party line. Meanwhile, the speakers said, the tea party is the home of positive race relations in the country.
"You're not just going to eradicate racism in America, because it's in our hearts," Selena Owens, wife of William, said. "But you're not going to put it on our backs either just because we're speaking out against a president who happens to have a darker color to his skin."
Alan Keyes, perhaps the most famous black conservative, offered largely the same message. But he also weighed in on Williams when I asked, condemning the former tea party superstar for making a mockery of race relations in the country.
"I think what happened to Mark Williams is an illustration of two things," Keyes said. "First of all, it's always dangerous -- especially when you're dealing with an environment of deep hostility and nobody's going to defend you -- to deal with really serious issues in a satirical or comedy way."
But Taitz told TPMMuckraker she is convinced that none of the members of the court read her request, and that clerks made the decision for the justices. She cited a passage from a book [ http://www.amazon.com/Making-Your-Case-Persuading-Judges/dp/0314184716 ] co-authored by Justice Antonin Scalia in which, she claimed, Scalia said that less than one percent of cases are actually read by a judge.
"It was never seen by Justice [Clarence] Thomas, there's not evidence it was seen by Justice Thomas," Taitz said. "I don't believe the Justices read a word of the pleadings." She said she wanted to see the original court document with the signature of a member of the court.
A federal judge's October 2009 ruling required Taitz, a lawyer and dentist who has filed several suits claiming President Barack Obama is not a natural born citizen, to pay the fine for filing "frivolous" litigation. Taitz was attempting to misuse the federal court system to push her political agenda, the judge said.
Taitz said after Thomas denied her motion, she went to Justice Samuel Alito because he reportedly has his own clerks read the briefs, which he said made him more independent. Alito, claimed Taitz, was also the only member of the court who did not attend a meeting with Obama a few days before his inauguration. She found the meeting inappropriate because she had an open court case involving Obama at the time.
"That's a clear conflict of interest, that's lack of impartiality, and Alito was the only justice who didn't attend this meeting," Taitz said. "Thousands of people have written to the Supreme Court that this is totally improper."
Taitz said reports that there was a lien on her house were untrue, and that she would be able to cover the $20,000 fine with donations from her supporters. "I have means to pay, the public is collecting funds," Taitz said. She said she received $3,500 in four or five days. "Within a month, I will have the $20,000," Taitz said. "Most of them are contributing maybe $20, $25 dollars, there's a lot of support."
Taitz didn't see the decision as a setback, claiming the movement is building steam. "According to the latest CNN poll, 6 out of 10 American Citizens doubt Obama is legitimate. How can he continue leading the country with such a record of report?" Taitz said.
In parallel with the certiorari I will be filing an appeal in an international court of Human Rights. The world needs to know about the fact that United States has an illegitimate usurper sitting in the White House without a Social Security number of his own and without a long form birth certificate. The world needs to know that our judicial system beacame a sham, when the most important issue of legitimacy of the US president was never heard on the merits., where brave members of the US military Like Major Stefan Cook or Lt. Col Lakin are persecuted and where attorneys like me a persecuted. It was important for the world to know about the human rights violations in Stalinist Russia, in Iraq, in Iran. It is important for the world to know about the Human Rights violations in the United States during the illegitimate regime of the Kenyan born communist dictator Barack Hussein Obama aka barack (Barry) Soetoro, aka Barack (Barry) Soebarkach . How could those judges decide that questioning this usurper is frivolous if they don’t even know Obama’s legal last name and if they have in front of them a testimony of the senior deportation officer of the Department of the Homeland Security, stating that the Social Security number that he is using 042-68-4425, was issued to another individual in CT?
She had mentioned trying [ http://wonkette.com/413874/orly-taitz-thinks-un-canwill-protect-her ] this before, but doesn’t Orly know by now that international courts are UnAmerican™? International courts want to prosecute us for believing in God and killing brown people in wars. Don’t do it, Orly! It’s a trap! International courts love poor/brown people!
YES, it is a God-given human right that we should never have to live under a president who is black. So the only higher power you can appeal this decision to, Orly, is God himself. How could He let this happen to us?
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