THE TEA PARTY AND MINORITIES – What Can Be Done To Attract Them?
I am often asked by many in the Tea Party Movement what can be done to attract more Blacks and minorities to attend and become involved with a movement that is dedicated to restore and save our Republic. It is a very valid question, and it is a subject that deserves research and honest answers.
The Tea Party has been accused of racism by the main stream media and several Civil Rights Groups since the group has formed and received national attention. In all of these cases this charge is fallacious; built on imagined perceptions. There are, however, several reasons why these charges are brought against the Tea Party Movement, and these accusations must be answered.
Many media outlets have printed stories about the exclusion of minorities from the Tea Party without any real proof other than announcing the fact that Blacks are not present at rallies or Tea Party meetings and events. In almost all of the instances, the media fails to observe the fact that there are few minorities in the area they are reporting from.
Understandably, this leaves one with the impression that The Tea Party, at least on the surface, does not welcome Blacks or minorities. They discourage the necessity that one must look at “who”, “what”, and “why” when reaching this conclusion and also take into account the “where” factor.
When The Tea Party first began, the plea was made to all citizens to think about the direction that our government leaders were taking this country. Topics such as excessive spending, expanded vs limited government, the rejection of more and higher taxes; and universal health care were the main concerns. These concerns are common to every American. So in reality, The Tea Party began with an open invitation to every American because the issues that The Tea Party found important were issues that should bind citizens to rally for a common cause.
The issues however that have divided Americans from the inception of this movement could be described as racial because, in the minds of the majority of Blacks and minorities, The Tea Party is viewed as a movement that is against a person who has won the election to The Office Of President Of The United States Of America simply because of the color of his skin. Much of that perception is a result of negative media coverage by news outlets hungry to establish a sentiment of racism.
If one looks deeper at the issues and reasons that motivated the inception of The Tea Party, one would find that the movement is not picking on the person because of his or her color, ethnic background, or race. The Tea Party is motivated by a conflict of principles, values, and the beliefs of our current President Barrack H. Obama. He is viewed as a person that is at odds with the traditional American values, The U.S. Constitution and the principles of the Founders of this nation.
The Tea Party Movement and others view President Obama’s platform, agenda and intentions as unacceptable and they seeking to restore and preserve the values that made America a great nation. They realize the importance of Liberty and individual freedom and they assert these as having their origination from our Creator.
The people that are at odds with The Tea Party ignore the fact that these issues, conservative values and American principles are what drives this movement. In most cases Anti Tea Party individuals do not care about what our current President believes in or what his voting record has been in the past regarding values or The Constitution. They view his election to this Office as a victory that is long overdue and one that they have awaited for decades. They are proud of this historical moment regardless of principle. They see a Black man being picked on because of his skin color, and they rush to defend him based on that emotional link alone.
So then, how do we resolve the difference of perception and refute the charge of racism so that minorities can be attracted into The Tea Party Movement?
First of all I believe that we must ask our friends and neighbors to have an open mind. We cannot move forward and tear down the barriers if we are not open to the truth.
One question that must also be asked of Blacks and minorities is why do you hold to traditional Biblical values, and a high moral standard, but refuse to allow those values to guide your reaction to the issues that you share in common with The Tea Party? We must also ask them to compare the values that have held the Black community together for years to those that are espoused by our current President.
We must also ask our Black friends, minorities and neighbors to look at the history of the Civil Rights movement to analyze whether or not Blacks have made the progress that they sought during the movement and whether they continue on the path that Civil Rights Leaders envisioned for their future and made sacrifices for.
As we listen to the leaders of that movement we notice that they are still asking for the same things they asked for after during the inception of the Civil Rights era and they have also led the people of the Black community into a state of dependency on the government programs that were introduced to help them out of poverty and government reliance. Instead of seeking the pursuit of The American Dream for themselves, the Black community has been further destroyed by these welfare programs.
These leaders are using their positions to make sure that they will always have a position of power, a seat at the progressive table; and a steady income. They also use the lies of The Democrat left wing Progressive establishment to maintain this control over the thinking of minorities which helps to keep minorities dependent upon government programs for their very survival. That is not the American dream, and it will lead to further deterioration.
Much more could be said here as to why minorities are feeling at odds with The Tea Party. However our purpose here is to find ways to enhance minority involvement and to answer the question of how to attract this group into the Tea Party movement.
My suggestions are not exhaustive and are introduced to lead the Tea Party in the right direction.
May I suggest first of all that The Tea Party movement must begin to look at how to bring minorities to these rallies through better information of where meetings and events occur.
The movement must also take advantage of the simple message of individual freedom to educate those that may not be able to equate that message with their core values.
The movement must also encourage minority participants that are involved to seek positions of public leadership so that they can be seen by their peers and serve as role models.
The movement must also ask those that are prominent role models, and who serve as national figures that support The Tea Party to spend more time interacting with and using their images to support public relations and advertisement with those Blacks that are already serving as speakers and current members. This will show the community that a link exists between them and current minority grassroots activists. At present these people are viewed as unreachable.
Pictures of local grassroots and high profile Blacks that currently serve in the Tea Party Movement with such leaders as Sarah Palin, and others would serve as a great source of opportunity to show that national figures care and are willing to interact with minorities. Leaders such as Sarah Palin, Dick Armey, Jenny Beth Martin; and Tim Phillips are currently viewed as unapproachable figures to most minorities.
The Tea Party must also include lesser known grassroots minority speakers and others on their agenda at rallies, forums, conventions, and events. They must also be included on the rooster as national leaders of the various national groups.
The Tea Party Movement is a movement that is growing and one that needs to look at all options in order to continue to reach out to all Americans. We can unite and continue to reach out to all Americans as we break down barriers and seek to include those that may be different. America is a great nation with an exceptional people. If we are to restore, reclaim and take back our nation so that we can pass down to our future generations; the America that we had passed down to us, we must reach out to all people that hold to traditional American values, our Founding Principles; and who love our Constitution.
"FREEDOM And LIBERTY - Use Them Or Lose Them."
Sincerely;
Emery McClendon
Fort Wayne 912 /Tea Party Organizer and speaker
Recipient: Americans For Prosperity – “Right Online” Activist Of The Year Award 2010
Sincerely;
FREEDOM and LIBERTY {Use Them Or Lose Them}
Emery McClendon / KB9IBW
Recipient:2010 Americans For Prosperity "Activist Of The Year Award"
Comment
Comment by cgtexas on March 7, 2011 at 7:07pm 
Comment by Joyce Foster-Konya on March 1, 2011 at 9:53am Comment by James R. Norris on March 1, 2011 at 9:00am 
Comment by Cliff Parker on March 1, 2011 at 2:20am I want to express my sincere thanks to everyone that read and commented on this post. It was submitted to generate discussion and to move us to action.
It is no way intended to be a complete solution to the problem, but a discussion starter.
God Bless each of you and may we unite and work together to restore and preserve this Republic.
Below is a REVISED version of the original post.
THE TEA PARTY AND MINORITIES – What Can Be Done To Attract Them?
I am often asked by many in the Tea Party Movement what can be done to attract more Blacks and minorities to attend and become involved with a movement that is dedicated to restoring and saving our Republic. It is a very valid question, and it is a subject that deserves research and honest answers.
The Tea Party has been accused of racism by the main-stream media and by several Civil Rights Groups since it has come on the scene. In all of these cases the charge is invalid. There are, however, some valid observations that have led to these charges being brought against the Tea Party Movement. They must be answered if the Tea Party movement is ever to make a difference in the minority community.
Many media outlets have printed stories that would lead one to believe that minorities are excluded from the Tea Party. These assertions are made without any real proof other than the media announcing that Blacks are not present at rallies and Tea Party meetings and events. They assume that Blacks and other minorities are not welcome, then use their assumptions as proof. Superficially, this might work if one did not do his or her homework.
Let me say here to the The Tea Party: We must look at the who, what, and why of support when reaching a conclusion to this dilemma. It is also paramount that the Tea Party
Comment by USARogue on February 28, 2011 at 10:58pm Emery,
While I agree with you on many of your points I think a couple need to be clarified. As in any organization the size of the TEA Party movement there will be all levels of ideology. The spectrum of our multicultural society is broad and diverse and with that we will have a few that are outside of our Core Values and social positions.
The race card has been played ad nauseum with every rally without significant evidence since day one. The reason being we are not in lock step with the Liberal Progressive indoctrination. In fact we are the ultimate antithesis to their agenda. This is led by the Lamestream media as they demonize the TEA Party but romanticize the pro-union protests with obvious hatemongering and violence. On Sunday Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, refused to denounce the violence and vitriol of the union supporters. If you look at the videos of these "Big Tent" protests there isn't a lot of minority involvement either.
The other issue that I have encountered is the insults and anger the Left exhibits to any minority at a TEA Party rally. Uncle Tom, sell out, traitor and other pejoratives are launched at minorities because of their association with our movement. These exchanges have been shown to be violent as with Kenneth Gladny being attacked by SEIU thugs and the black gay Tea Party activist attacked in Denver.
The Tea Party can only be what it is. Peaceful, respectful, tolerant and Patriotic. Every race color and creed are welcome. We have no barriers other than un-American people wanting to destroy the greatest light of Freedom in history.
Comment by Lizzie on February 28, 2011 at 8:01pm 
Comment by Sandy Brown on February 28, 2011 at 7:40pm Comment by James smith on February 28, 2011 at 7:28pm Is black people a part of this country? If they are, I can't tell. All I see in this country is everthing supporting the white man and his laws and communities. I see nothing that supports the black man and his communities, but then writting this would make me appear as someone being racist, in which I'm not. However, it still doesn't change the truth. They talk about the founding fathers and how they set the guidlines for forming this country, when the truth is that the lawsa and rulesfor this country was established by rich white men for reich white men. When this country was established blacks wasn't considered in the equation except as slave's. Even the white women wasn't even considered in the equation except as someone to satisfy the white mans needs, even they had to fight for thier rights against the white men, and the indians didn't even stand a chance. So I ask you what is the overall objective that we as a nation of people are trying to achieve, what is the long term objective that we are trying to acomblish? Can any one answer me that?
Comment by ALice Christian on February 28, 2011 at 4:17pm Mr Emery McClendon is a welcome addition in this Tea Party and I must comment that Bill Cosby has made several statements on "we can't bleme the whites any more)
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/cosby.asp
Mr Cosby would be a great person to support the Tea Party and has anyone asked him?? Yet?? I agree with what Mr McClendon said re the minorities not joining the Tea Party but I see lately that a few have. Glad to have them.
Mr Cosby has been voicing his opinions on certain minorites actions and ethics and how the government has "spoiled" them. The biggest racist lately has been Obama who has been vacillating about whether he likes or dislikes African Americans, Christians, Patriots, the Constitution and his constant lying is disgusting.
We who are not prejudiced against anyone are judging not anyone but Obama who has been a bad example of the Black population. The man was not elected because he is partly white or black but by his promises during his campaign that proved to be lies. His ethics are null and void. Why? Because he is a Man who supports the Islamic ideology, and socialism and wishes to destroy the USA. And he has made progress in this department along with his cohorts in the Democratis party, socialists,communists and criminals.l He has hung around with all of them all his life. We are now seeing his agenda every day. It is devastating but we can see his determination to make a third world country of the USA. He hates this country and it is evident and has been since the Inauguraton. He is not qualified to be president and should be impeached if Congress had the bravery of our forefathers, who knew what they were doing
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