Tea Party expels Williams, affiliate group

WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Tea Party coalition has expelled the Tea Party Express over Mark Williams' satirical letter from "Colored People" to Abraham Lincoln, a spokesman says.

"We have expelled Tea Party Express and Mark Williams from the National Tea Party Federation because of the letter that he wrote," National Tea Party spokesman David Webb said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation."

In the letter he posted on his blog, Williams, a conservative radio talk show host, wrote in what he called the voice of slaves: "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.

"We Coloreds 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!"

The racist rantings appeared as the national Tea Party denied any racism beyond fringe elements within the organization in response to an NAACP resolution calling on Tea Party leaders to "repudiate those in their ranks who use racist language in their signs and speeches."

Williams had been a Tea Party star, attracting to his rallies among other national figures Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 candidate for vice president who some see as a White House contender in 2012.

Williams, who resigned last month as Tea Party Express chairman to lead protests against a proposed mosque near Ground Zero in New York, has since posted an entry urging supporters to "fight those who seek to divide us by race." He has remained spokesman for the Tea Party Express.

Also appearing on CBS, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous complained some of those claiming Tea Party affiliation carry racist signs and use racial slurs.

In Kansas City, Mo., site of the NAACP national convention, the civil rights organization noted a group calling itself the Council of Conservative Citizens of St. Louis and invoking Tea Party ties proclaims "black people are not equipped to participate in democracy," Jealous said.

Webb countered the NAACP has tried to capitalize on isolated cases of racism to brand the entire party as bigoted, which he called "blatantly false."