Tea Party To Hold Summit To Combat NAACP's Charges Of Racism

[Lisa Wolfe]

Tea Party To Hold Summit To Combat NAACP's Charges Of Racism
The Huffington Post   |  Elyse Siegel First Posted: 07-19-10 11:53 AM   |   Updated: 07-19-10 12:06 PM

Tea Party leaders plan to hold a summit this summer to address recent charges of racism made against the conservative movement.

A Philadelphia, Pa. Fox affiliate reports on the event scheduled to take place on July 31 at Independence Mall in Philadelphia:

The rally, called Uni-Tea, will feature white and black Tea Party supporters in all-day event that will feature live music, a web cast and plenty of Obama bashing.

The site for the event features 13 speakers, with at least 8 speakers being persons of color.


(Then-candidate Obama delivered an address on race in Philadelphia during the 2008 presidential campaign.)

David Webb, co-founder of the group TeaParty365, first proposed the idea of holding a "tea summit" in an appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation" over the weekend.

"Think what it would mean to this nation if we would have an open forum and a real summit, a real 'tea summit' instead of a 'beer summit' on race relations," Webb said invoking a meeting Obama held last summer with Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Mass. police officer James Crowley following a racially-sensitive altercation between the two men.

Webb also expressed his openness to holding joint-town hall meetings to engage Tea Party supporters with members of the NAACP on the issue of race.


NAACP CEO and President Ben Jealous, who also appeared on the Sunday morning program, responded to the idea favorably, but was careful not to lose sight of the matter at hand.

"We can certainly plan something, absolutely," Jealous said, but emphasized, "There should be no debate about racism."

The remarks from Webb and Jealous -- as well as news of plans to hold the Tea Party summit -- come amid debate surrounding charges of racism made against the Tea Party movement by the NAACP in a resolution the organization passed at its annual convention in Kansas City, Mo. last week.