While the majority of the media focuses on talking heads and high profile political types when it comes to responses to Morgan Freeman’s recent accusation that the Tea Party is racist, one Tea Party activist has a unique perspective.
Emery McClendon, Tea Party Organizer, Air Force retiree and regular guy with a 9 to 5 job in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, has a lot to say about those allegations.
“My initial reaction was ‘What movie is coming out? Is he trying to get attention?'” says McClendon. “The motivation is, I think, to use this as a publicity stunt. It’s a complete reversal from his previous statements on ABC.”
The previous statements McClendon is referring to are from an interview with Mike Wallace of ABC in which Freeman explains the way to eliminate racism is to stop talking about it. He also thinks that Black History Month is “ridiculous” and renders Wallace speechless when Freeman asks him about white history month.
“I’m going to stop calling you a white man and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man,” Freeman says in the 60 Minutes interview.
View a clip of the 2009 interview here. Morgan Freeman on race 2009
Freeman’s latest film, Dolphin Tale, was just released this month.
McClendon began his activism with the Tea Party in 2009 following the Rick Santelli rant about housing subsidies. McClendon saw an opportunity to get involved in framing the future of America and began work assembling the largest gathering at the courthouse square that Ft. Wayne had ever seen. More than 1,000 people from the Allen County and surrounding areas came to hear multiple speakers, experience patriotic comaraderie and protest excessive spending and overreach by the government.
McClendon now travels the country encouraging others to join the Tea Party movement.
When asked, “at the hundreds of events you’ve attended with Tea Party activists, how many instances of racism have you experienced?” McClendon wastes no time with his answer. “Absolutely zero.”
“For all the racist comments [from the media, politicians and Hollywood] to come out, I think it’s fear. Fear from the Congressional Black Caucus, fear from the establishment types, etc.,” says McClendon. “They don’t know what to do with this movement. The tea party came on strong and happened fast so they’re afraid of it.”
McClendon also thinks that many of those who are accusing the Tea Party of racism have never been to a Tea Party event. It irritates him that so many people on television who have never even been to a Tea Party rally are making racist accusations without doing any investigating on their own.
“People want to know what the Tea Party is really all about. They should at least take the time to go to at least one event and see what they don’t see on TV. I’ve witnessed firsthand how attending just one event can change opinions.”
To learn more about Emery McClendon and hear him speak at an upcoming event, you can simply Google his name for hundreds of hits or follow him on Twitter, www.twitter.com/kb9ibw which references his amateur radio handle. He is also an organizer for Ft. Wayne 9-12 project, featured on MSNBC’s “Faces of the Tea Party” and the recipient of Americans For Prosperity’s Activist of the Year Award.
Repeatedly Saun Hannidy has asked liberal callers who have made accusations about “racist Tea Party factions” and Hannidy has demanded that they tell him, “Who?”, “When were the comments made?”, “Where did you see or hear these remarks?”, “What Tea Party did you witness someone saying racist comments, or do you know of any Tea Party group that has a racist faction within it?” And always the answer is “No, I didn’t hear anyone saying anything racist.”, or “I don’t know where I heard someone say anything,”, “but I know they have to exist.”
Like in every liberal group there are racist factions or it’s the whole group or all the people who are there at some protest who are screaming something about White people doing something that is discremination against Blacks or somebody. What the truth is, is they have never heard or have seen signs or anything that was in the slightest way racist, and they know it. But liberals are just driven to make these kinds of statements because they know that somewhere, someone will believe them and turn against the Tea Parties, conservatives and conservative Republican’s.
Liberals are the biggest racists there are because they created whole policies, programs, and practices that have enslaved Blacks who have now become so dependent on government hand outs that it would be next to impossible to get them off of them. But they did when they knew they had to when the Welfare Reform Act was passed and made Blacks get off Welfare and Food Stamps and go to school or take some kind of training so they could go to work. Where do you think all these Blacks came from since then working in every kind of place where there were White people before? They all came from having to go to work because their Welfare ran out and they had to get a job, or starve.
But do we still hear that the Welfare Reform Act was a “racist” program? Yes!! As a matter of a fact Obama (repealed) the whole program right after he was elected because he said the program was “racist”. So now Blacks can live off of Welfare and get more money the more kids they have just like the program was like before the Welfare Reform Act was passed which was supposed to solve the problems with the Welfare program that allowed Blacks to live off Welfare from cradle to grave. Oh, but we’re RACISTS to want to have Blacks have a productive life where they can generate their own prosperity. But these Hollywood types don’t think that’s a good idea. What, that maybe some Black might want to become an actor or actress and take Freeman’s job away from him? Could be.
Love this guy! Too bad 90% of blacks, and the MSM, will call this man an OREO.
That is the problem with black americans. They are too scared to think outside the box that guys like Al Sharpton have built for them.
For a white person to receive criticism, that white person must accept that something must be wrong with his personality, ideas, looks, etc. It can be demoralizing. He has nothing to hide behind. For any other ethnicity? He can hide behind the banner of his race and not have to admit to personal flaws.
It is too bad that Mr. Freeman has succumbed to the propaganda of the left. Calling out the race card is old and most people don’t buy it anymore. It is divisive and destructive.
Thank you Mr. McClendon (Scottish?) for blurring the lines between the races and making us One again.
grownupright,
“For a white person to receive criticism, that white person must accept that something must be wrong with his personality, ideas, looks, etc. It can be demoralizing. He has nothing to hide behind.”
Have you been asleep for the past 2 years? With a comment like that, you would think the Tea Party IS racists for all the criticism they have received.
While I think you intended to convey that white people can’t hide behind their race, it is most shameful when white people hide behind minority ethnicities to steamroll their agenda. And I really must take this moment to laugh my rear end off… just looking at black unemployment figures is enough to convince a dullard that most blacks just don’t get it. If given the choice of independence and capitalism that would drive their unemployment numbers down, they would blissfully choose dependence and socialism… and scream for more.
If you’ve never heard Emery speak your missing a spine tingling moment! He is one of the most vibrant speakers I’ve ever heard and you certainly don’t want to follow him on stage. After listening to Emery the next guy is boring. What Emery does for our troops is heartwarming and compelling.
Go Emery!