By Dianne Anderson

Denials over racism in the Tea Party is becoming a little less believable lately, especially after the group’s leading spokesman, Mark Williams’  letter to President Lincoln mocking Blacks as lazy “colored people” and slaves who love “maasa.”

In his mock letter that he signed as “Precious Ben Jealous, Tom’s Nephew NAACP Head Colored Person,” Williams wrote: “How will we coloreds ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn?”

"We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing,” said Williams on his blog, which has since been taken down.

“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 the past, Williams, the spokesperson for the Tea Party Express, has also referred to President Obama as "Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug."

In Orange County, NAACP member Earl Dearing said that the NAACP resolution was a very important move for the organization, because the Tea Party has overstepped its boundaries and has been racially offensive in several ways.

He condemned the Tea Party for promoting racism in the United States, and its derogatory stance against the President.

“The Tea Party is trying to do everything that they can to disgrace the President,” he said.

Looking out over the past year, he and other members agree that it’s time to apply even more pressure to the Tea Party to get control over its racist leanings.

“There’s a lot of racism within the Tea Party; they want us to tolerate this disrespect? They’re doing things that haven’t been done to any president ever,” he said.

Farrell Chiles, on the executive committee of the San Gabriel Valley branch NAACP, attended last week’s national NAACP convention in Kansas City where Ben Jealous took the official stance in calling for a resolution to end racism in the Tea Party.

“We had a resolution before the floor regarding the Tea Party, and call to identify, and get rid of, the racist element that’s part of the movement. Otherwise, we are going to hold them responsible for their actions,” Chiles said.

In the past year since President Obama took office, all of the signs have been hard to miss. At Tea Party rallies across the nation, racially charged signs are always visible, some with violent connotations, like “Kill the bill” showing a gun pointed at President Obama.

“Whoever their leadership is has to come out with public statements saying they denounce racism in the Tea Party, and then take it a step further, and make a statement to their members that it will not be tolerated and for them to move on,” he said.

This week, the National Tea Party has distanced itself from Williams, who was one of its primary spokespersons.

Contrary to reality, polls show that a large population of whites and about half of the Tea Party believes that African Americans receive favoritism from President Obama.

Jesse Johnson, vice president of the Long Beach NAACP, also attended the conference, and said that the NAACP conference was focused on productive issues.

Although it is ironic, he said, that even after the Williams letter, the Tea Party still claims that they are not racist.

At the NAACP conference, Johnson said that there was good dialogue, good presenters, and a lot was accomplished.

In the months ahead, the organization will brush off the rantings of hatemongers and continue its voter registration drive. It will also help round up the community for the March on Washington D.C. on October 2.

“That’s a good thing, in the long run,” he said. “For Congress, it will be a wake-up call to do what they need to do, and give a little extra to the minority, especially the African American population.”

The October march is to basically make the president and Congress realize the damage of skyrocketing unemployment for African Americans, a rate that is now at a 25-year high.

No matter the background noise from the Tea Party, the NAACP will continue its work in the coming months, he said.

Voter and political fatigue around other heavy issues have some Democrats wonder if they can hold on to their seats come November.

“We’re going to continue with voter registration drives throughout the country. It’s important that we do that because if you look at the number of folks that come out to vote in [non-presidential elections], it doesn't look good.”