Kurt Wallace recently sat down with civil rights leader Niger Innis to talk about Democrat Representative Alan Grayson’s racist comments about the tea party, where he compared them to the Ku Klux Klan.
Representative Alan Grayson: This shutdown ended up costing America $24 billion, that’s almost $100 for every man, woman and child in this country. Frankly, they want their money back, and they want the Tea Party out of their lives. At this point, the Tea Party is no more popular than the Klan.
Kurt Wallace for Rare: Alan Grayson sent out a fundraising letter with an image of a burning cross with the words “Tea Party” engulfed in flames, comparing them to the KKK. He also tweeted out “The Tea Party: ‘No more popular than the Klan.’” He continues to stand by his assessment, saying “The Tea Party candidates, including my opponent in the last election, have endorsed forcing Hispanics to speak English.” He added, “One could go on and on, because there is an overwhelming evidence that the Tea Party is the home of bigotry and discrimination in America today, just as the KKK was for an earlier generation. If the shoe fits, wear it.” What is the Tea Party? Is the Tea Party actually made up of people who are bigots, and why are they getting attacked as being like the KKK? Here to discuss, Niger Innis, currently serving as the National Spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality Core and is the chief strategist for the TeaParty.net, and Niger, thank you for joining us today.
Niger Innis: It is my pleasure to be on with you, and you know, what an irony that not only a black man, but a civil rights leader also has the hat of being of one of, I say with humility, one of the leaders of the Tea Party movement, leading an organization — the TeaParty.net — that has three million members across this country. So, for Alan Grayson, to do what I think far too many Democratic politicians do, which is prostitute the legacy and the history of black Americans for their own political game, is disgusting and deplorable.
