The Tea Party is currently trying to deny the perception that there is a streak of racism among its ranks. One of the more obvious clues is the classic Obama “witch doctor” sign, which the Tea Party organizers first dismissed as the work of “a few bad apples,” but later attributed to sabotage by a group called “Crash the Tea Party”–though that now-defunct (and never prevalent) group did not form until a year after the witch-doctor signs started appearing. (Though they did serve as a great excuse for the Tea Partiers to hide their extremists behind.) The problem is that there have been a good number of racist signs (not to mention Confederate flags) held up at Tea Party rallies, which neither the organizers nor the participants seem to mind at all.

This week, Mark Williams, the former chairman of and current spokesman for the Tea Party Express organization, got into trouble when answering an NAACP call to repudiate racist factions within its ranks. Instead of issuing such a repudiation, instead of even just denying that such elements existed, Mark williams thought it’d be clever to instead write a snarky fake letter from NAACP president, Benjamin Jealous, to Abraham Lincoln. The letter (now removed from his site) is as follows:

Dear Mr. Lincoln

We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!

In fact we held a big meeting and took a vote in Kansas City this week. We voted to condemn a political revival of that old abolitionist spirit called the ‘tea party movement’.

The tea party position to “end the bailouts” for example is just silly. Bailouts are just big money welfare and isn’t that what we want all Coloreds to strive for? What kind of racist would want to end big money welfare? What they need to do is start handing the bail outs directly to us coloreds! Of course, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the only responsible party that should be granted the right to disperse the funds.

And the ridiculous idea of “reduce[ing] the size and intrusiveness of government.” What kind of massa would ever not want to control my life? As Coloreds we must have somebody care for us otherwise we would be on our own, have to think for ourselves and make decisions!

The racist tea parties also demand that the government “stop the out of control spending.” Again, they directly target coloreds. That means we Coloreds would have to compete for jobs like everybody else and that is just not right.

Perhaps the most racist point of all in the tea parties is their demand that government “stop raising our taxes.” That is outrageous! How will we coloreds ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn? Totally racist! The tea party expects coloreds to be productive members of society?

Mr. Lincoln, you were the greatest racist ever. We had a great gig. Three squares, room and board, all our decisions made by the massa in the house. Please repeal the 13th and 14th Amendments and let us get back to where we belong.

Sincerely

Precious Ben Jealous, Tom’s Nephew NAACP Head Colored Person

Got that? In an attempt to claim that neither he nor his group is racist, he publishes a letter claiming that the NAACP is a group of “colored people” who are lazy, shiftless parasites who live off the government dole, expecting white people to be taxed so they can buy wide screen TVs. In fact, black people like the idea of whites taking care of their needs so much, they want slavery re-instated because they don’t want to have to find jobs.

Yeah, that’s not racist at all.

Ok, shooting fish in a barrel, I know. Still, it’s kind of hard to see that and not wonder how far gone people like this are.

Keep in mind, also, that Williams not only believes that there is not a racist bone in his body, but that the NAACP is instead a whole bunch of anti-black racists. Just because someone claims or even thinks they’re not racist by no means indicates that they are not, in fact, flaming racists.

On the same day, Williams held that not only was the Tea Party not racist, but that the NAACP was; quote, “Racists have their own movement. It’s called the NAACP. ” He also took a hit at the NAACP, claiming it was racist because it is “an organization with the words ‘colored people’ in the title.”

Now, either Williams was being disingenuous, or he is woefully ignorant of recent history; at the time the organization was formed, the term was one considered a respectful replacement for the alternative–it was only after the term was abused in radically racist ways later on that it became uncivil. The name was kept for continuity, and, one might assume, as a reminder of exactly why the term fell out of use in the first place.

Williams, however, took it not only as a way to throw the accusation of racism back at the NAACP, but in his “letter to Lincoln,” he went all Rush Limbaugh and used the term excessively, as if it was OK because it was part of the name of the organization.

Williams also reiterated an excuse I have heard many times, including from commenters here, which is supposed to cover Tea Party organizers and leaders from having to take responsibility for their organization: “I am not a leader of anything. The tea party movement is a grassroots, bottom-up organization.” Interesting for an organization with chairmen, spokesmen, and highly-organized teams across the country which have combined into a federation setting up series of coordinated nationwide tours and events, issuing press releases and having leaders, spokesmen and other representatives make endless television appearances. But they’re not organized! And have no leaders who can make statements!

The whole “we’re just a bunch of folks who got together” meme is in part a way of claiming legitimacy via grass-roots origins (partly true), but is also used as a way to dodge responsibility. When Williams was asked to condemn racism in his group and at his rallies, he said he couldn’t because he (former chairman of and then spokesman for the Tea Party Express) was not a “leader.” He claimed, “I’ve been appointed a leader by the media apparently. Everybody who goes to a tea party is a tea party leader.”

Well, apparently this leader-less non-organization suddenly experienced some form of manifestation because the Tea Party Federation (not an organization, mind you!) kicked Williams and his Tea Party Express non-organization out of the non-organized federation of leaderless citizens, right after it (collectively, one may assume) itself accused the NAACP [PDF] of being racist for suggesting that the Tea Party has racist elements. So, I guess that by ejecting Williams and the Tea Party Express for… um… well, they didn’t say. But it’s clear it was for racism, and since the Tea Party has no racism, and they’re ejecting Williams and his group for (apparently) being racist, that means that the Tea Party Federation must be racist!!!

So we are to believe that the Tea Party movement, since it is not an organization and has no leadership, is incapable of making official statements or censuring its out-of-control fringes–even though it has just done exactly that, within a few days of the events that prompted such action.

Fact is, there has always been structure, they have always had leaders, and currently they have lots of spokesmen and representatives, and have always been capable of making statement and taking stands.

They’ve just been too afraid of alienating the mass of their membership by doing so. Until now, as Williams pretty clearly crossed a line, and being a leader and spokesman, could not be dismissed as “someone in the back of the crowd.”

William’s response to being booted? Get this: “That careless individual tea partier who assumed the mantel of ‘leadership’ did so long enough to turn a critical and serious movement and delicate peace with skeptical groups into a World Wrestling style personality conflict with me at the center.” So, the Tea Party Federation is in fact not an organization, and despite the federation’s spokesman issuing a press release from the federation’s web site after an organization vote was taken to approve the action, it was actually just one self-anointed, attention-seeking non-leader.

Somehow, I don’t think this whole “we’re just an unorganized crowd of folks” thingy isn’t working out for them so well in the long run.

But by all means, do please keep going. You’ve already practically handed Harry Reid his re-election (not that I think he’s the most capable Senate leader by a far cry), have caused Democrats to win safe conservative seats here and there, and stand as the best chance for Democrats to stem the loss of seats in the midterms after winning the White House.