Tea Party Activists: 21st Century Civil Rights Leaders

On August 21, 2011, Rep. Maxine Waters, a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, at what was supposed to be a “jobs fair”, in Inglewood, California, made the following statement: “This is a tough game. You can’t be intimidated. You can’t be frightened. And as far as I’m concerned — the tea party can go straight to hell and I intend to help them get there!”

At a town hall meeting in Miami, Florida, on August 22, 2011 Rep. Andre Carson, also a Congressional Black Caucus member, charged that there are members of congress, who are Tea Party members, that have nefarious intentions towards Americans of African descent. Among his accusations:

•The Tea Party is stopping change in Congress

•”This is the effort that we are seeing of Jim Crow”

•”Some of these folks would love to see us as second class citizens”

•”Some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me hanging on a tree”

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), another member of the Congressional Black Caucus, at the same “jobs fair” in Miami, Florida, stated: “Let us all remember who the real enemy is,” she said. “The real enemy is the Tea Party. The Tea Party holds the Congress hostage. They have one goal in mind, and that’s to make President Obama a one-term president.”

The hate rhetoric of the Congressional Black Caucus members, who took an oath in Congress to represent all Americans, without prejudice or preference, is a clear indictment of their own lack of discretion and integrity. It is irresponsible. Most of all, it is simply not true.

At a time when they were supposed to be discussing job opportunities and the U.S. economy, Black Caucus members were desperate to hide the truth from their constituents. The truth is that they have betrayed their trusted supporters. They have, in fact, been adversarial to the civil rights of their constituents and to the economic stability of their communities.

Black Caucus members know what they have been hoping Americans of African descent would not come to realize: The Tea Party is the 21st Century Civil Rights Movement in America. Furthermore, Tea Party leaders such as Rep. Allen West, Danna Loesch, Herman Cain, Matthew Kenney, and numerous others, are indeed the true Civil Rights leaders of our time.

Civil Rights are best defined as constitutional rights which protect individual freedom from the over reach of both government and the private sector. These rights are solely determined by the principles outlined in the U.S. Constitution and, subsequently, guarantee the privilege of all Americans to exercise full citizenship against any and all forms of discrimination and oppression.

Absalom Jones, Frederick Douglass, Martin L. King, Jr. and countless civil rights leaders and activists of the 18th and 19th Century all fought for the same principles that the Tea Party of the 21st century fight for today: Limited government, individual freedom, and free market.

The desegregation of schools via the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954 was based upon the concept of “choices in education”. Civil Rights leaders argued that children of African descent deserved access to quality schools with equal opportunity to compete towards American exceptionalism.

Here in the 21st Century, children of every ethnicity are discriminated against and forced to remain in failing schools that are often plagued with violence. Their parents are not afforded the same choices as those who are economically advantaged, such as Representatives Carson, Wilson, and Waters.

Black Caucus members have sought to undermine the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, motivated by crony capitalism. They have been heavily funded by powerful teachers unions, compelling them to vote in opposition to schools of choice. Contrary, therefore, to the accusation that the Tea Party is the enemy, the voting record of the accusers indicts them as the enemy of the civil rights of poor people.

Tea Party leaders such as Rep. Allen West, have been a relentless voice on behalf of poor families who do not have a voice in the Congressional Black Caucus, nor in the Democrat Party, whose Representatives voted 100 percent against the D.C. Voucher Program. Tea Party leaders across the nation continue to lift their voice for schools choice. The media does not show this side of the equation.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 served to help end discrimination in employment against Americans of African descent. Its purpose was to protect the aforementioned Americans from being excluded from competing in a free market society. “Big Labor” was mostly responsible for this discrimination.

Forty seven years after the Civil Rights Act was passed, Representatives Waters, Carson, and Wilson, along with every Congressional Black Caucus member, voted against a bill which would have helped to create jobs for all Americans in general, but especially in urban communities (https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll144.xml). This bill was intended to repeal “The Davis Bacon Act of 1931”, which is the only remaining Jim Crow Law in the nation.

Tea Party Leaders, Rep. Allen West and Rep. Michelle Bachman, voted for freedom. They voted on the side of those who are poor and need an opportunity to compete for jobs. They voted against the Davis Bacon Act. Tea party activists across the nation are mobilizing against this harsh discrimination which disproportionately impacts communities whose residents are predominately of African descent. They are, in fact, fighting for the civil rights of these Americans.

Tea party leaders are fighting to help hold government accountable to being true to the Constitution of the United States of America. No one stands to benefit from the success of Tea party activism more than Americans of African descent, which are the most vulnerable of the workforce. Who are disproportionately impacted by draconian regulations on businesses that force large corporations to send jobs overseas and that prevent small businesses from being able to expand and increase employment in urban communities.

The struggle of Americans of African descent during the civil rights era of the 19th and 20th century is an inspiration to Tea Party leaders, who today fight for the civil rights of all Americans, regardless of ethnicity.

In his speech “Our God is Marching On”, Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. stated:

“I know you are asking today, “How long will it take?” Somebody’s asking, “How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?” Somebody’s asking, “When will wounded justice, lying prostrate on the streets of Selma and Birmingham and communities all over the South, be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men?” Somebody’s asking, “When will the radiant star of hope be plunged against the nocturnal bosom of this lonely night, plucked from weary souls with chains of fear and the manacles of death? How long will justice be crucified, and truth bear it?” I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because “truth crushed to earth will rise again.” How long? Not long, because “no lie can live forever.” How long? Not long, because “you shall reap what you sow!”

Tea Party Leaders, America’s 21st Century Civil Rights leaders are certainly frustrated at being falsely accused of racism by liberal media and deceitful Black Congressional Caucus members. How long will it take before this injustice stops? Not long, dear readers, for, as the Late Dr. King so eloquently preached: “No lie can live forever” and those who tell the lie, shall reap what they sow.