Is Mark Williams Over the Top? Yes. Racist? No

You may have heard about a controversy over the weekend regarding Mark Williams, spokesperson for the Tea Party Express (pictured left, far opposite his political views). Last week, he posted this satirical letter from the leader of the NAACP to Abraham Lincoln on his blog, in response to the absolutely ridiculous accusation by that organization that the tea party is in some way racist. The post has since been taken down:

Dear Mr. Lincoln

We Colored People 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 Colored People. That means we Colored People 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 Colored People 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 13^th and 14^th Amendments and let us get back to where we belong.

Sincerely

Precious Ben Jealous, Tom's Nephew National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Head Colored Person

This letter is racist, but its author isn't. The intent clearly is to satirize the NAACP's apparent opposition to policies that would wean all Americans off the government dole. The logic then goes that if they oppose that, they might have opposed abolishing slavery. The underlying message Williams is trying to get across is that the NAACP, not the tea party, is racist. Calling the NAACP racist doesn't make one racist themselves. That's just a logical fallacy.

Now, whether the satire is accurate and the NAACP truly is racist is a different matter entirely. I personally don't think that is the case. But the fact that Mark Williams made that comparison, albeit slightly misguided, should not be used as proof that there is racism in the tea party. He may be guilty of extreme misjudgment and making an inappropriate comparison, but not the racism he has been accused of.