'Will the NAACP repudiate racism?'

WASHINGTON – Prompted by the NAACP's call for the tea-party movement to repudiate racism, the author of "The Tea Party Manifesto" has done just that, while calling on the NAACP to live up to its own demands by purging itself of all forms of bigotry.

In his column yesterday, Joseph Farah, author of the new book as well as editor and chief executive officer of WND, offered what he believes is a statement that explains what the tea-party movement is all about while unequivocally repudiating racism: "The tea-party movement seeks to promote the proper role of government in America – namely as the protector of all people's individual, God-given, inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, without regard to race, color or creed."

He also offered a personal denouncement of all forms of racism: "If anyone hates other people and wishes them ill because of the color of their skin, that person deserves to be vilified and berated."

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But today in his WND column, Farah said the ball is now in the NAACP's park.

"Will the NAACP repudiate racism as unequivocally as I have?" he asked. "I am making the charge that the NAACP is actually doing something far worse than harboring racist feelings and thoughts. I am accusing the leadership of the group of exploiting racism for political and financial gain. I'm accusing the NAACP of propagating the myth that racism is somehow a one-way street – that blacks can never be guilty of bigotry and that whites can never be victims. Unfortunately, in 2010, that's where the racism battleground has shifted, and groups like the NAACP need to recognize it."

Farah is challenging Ben Jealous, the chairman of the NAACP, to consider whether he will "repudiate ugly, hateful racism – especially official, institutionalized racism – on behalf of his organization."

Farah points to the dismissal by the U.S. Justice Department of a criminal case against members of the New Black Panther Party charged with intimidation of white voters at a polling place and the subsequent testimony of the U.S. attorney handling the case that it was done so for racial reasons as an example of the new form of racism rearing its head in America.

Farah asks Jealous, will he join the chorus for "a full and complete and impartial investigation of the Justice Department's actions and inactions in the New Black Panther Party case? If not, why not?"

Further, he asks: "Will you repudiate racism of all kinds in America, including the most overt and institutionalized kind when government enforces racial preferences in hiring, firing, college enrollments and awarding of contracts? If not, why not?"

Lastly, he challenges: "Will you state as clearly as Martin Luther King Jr., the father of the modern civil-rights movement in America, did, that our goal as a nation should be to create a society in which all are judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character?"

Farah points out that he marched for civil rights with Martin Luther King because of that dream for a color-blind society, but sees that dream being betrayed by groups like the NAACP, which, he says, have sold out for government giveaway programs and racial preferences.

If you are a member of the media and would like to interview Farah about his book, "The Tea Party Manifesto," or his challenge to the NAACP, e-mail [email protected].