Civil Rights Leaders Urged to Denounce Leftist Calls for Violence Against Black Justice
Washington, D.C. - Project 21 Fellow Deneen Borelli is urging liberal civil right leaders to denounce violent, racist rhetoric against black Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with the same vigor with which they sought out alleged racial extremism within the tea party movement.
"The NAACP, Al Sharpton, Marc Morial of the National Urban League and others command national attention whenever they allege racism in the tea party movement, but they've so far ignored the revolting comments caught on video in which leftists call for the hanging of a black Supreme Court justice," noted Borelli, who is a frequent speaker at tea party events. "Comments such as these must be denounced far and wide, regardless of the political orientation of the person saying it. Calls for torture and lynching are not a matter of left and right -- they are always wrong."
Hundreds of liberal activists protested outside a conservative gathering in Rancho Mirage, California January 30. Christian Hartsock, an independent journalist attending a nearby Common Cause-sponsored conference affiliated with the rally, videotaped interviews at the protest.
Because a rally theme was the Supreme Court's Citizens United campaign finance decision, Hartsock asked people about Justice Thomas.
Among the more outrageous and radical comments captured on video by Hartsock:
* A man said Thomas should be impeached and "put... back in the fields." The same man also said Justice Samuel Alito "should go back to Sicily" and Fox News president Roger Ailes "should be strung up... kill the bastard!"
* A woman suggested that punishment for Thomas should be to "cut off his toes one-by-one and feed them to him."
* Another woman, speaking about Thomas, said, "I'm all about peace... but I would say torture" him.
* Yet another woman threatened Thomas and his family, saying: "String him up... and his wife, too. Let's get rid of Ginny [Thomas]."
* A man said the way to deal with Thomas is to "hang him."
* A woman identifying herself as "Momma Donna" called herself Fox News host Glenn Beck's "worst nightmare" and issued a challenge to duel Beck, warning "I pack Glock" -- a handgun.
Along with the participants of the Common Cause conference, Hartsock said the rally was composed of people affiliated with Greenpeace, Code Pink, Progressive Democrats of America, organized labor groups and others.
Groups in the civil rights establishment, particularly the NAACP, unsuccessfully tried to portray the tea party movement as racist and extremist through presumptive allegations, misleading and sometimes doctored photos and web sites such as TeaPartyTracker.org (which apparently went dormant just before the 2010 elections). It is shocking that these groups and their leaders are now saying nothing about this blatant exhibition of violent radicalism on the left.
"The silence of the civil rights establishment is shocking. It would seem to demonstrate a political filter in which some incivility and racism is tolerated," added Borelli. "In this twisted situation, race is used as a tool to maintain power and keep their followers on the liberal plantation."
On July 17, 2010 on the Fox News Channel, Borelli asked NAACP senior vice president Hilary Shelton if his group would "issue a statement condemning those individuals" who target black conservatives for abuse based on their politics. At the time, Shelton replied, "Why, yes, ma'am... Just give us some details." Despite the fact that he promptly was sent details and then a follow-up letter, no condemnation was ever issued by the NAACP.
Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie has also repeatedly challenged Al Shaprton, Marc Morial and former D.C. congressional delegate Walter Fauntroy to debate their past allegations about tea party extremism, but has yet to receive any replies.
Hartsock's video and Shelton's broken pledge can be seen (as of February 6, 2011) at conservativeblog.org .
Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives since 1992, is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research (http://www.nationalcenter.org
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