Jesse Jackson, Al Shapton downplay NAACP's tea-party criticism

Two prominent African-American leaders on Wednesday downplayed criticism of the tea-party movement after conservatives nationwide took aim at an NAACP resolution alleging “elements” of tea-party racism. The Rev. Jesse Jackson told reporters in Kansas City that the focus on the tea party was a “diversion” from more important issues, while NAACP President Ben Jealous said the resolution was just a small part of a bigger agenda and blamed the media for focusing too much on the tea party. Conservatives reacted angrily after learning of the resolution, approved by delegates at the NAACP’s national convention this week in Kansas City. Columnist Cynthia Tucker, who is black, called the resolution “inappropriate, narrow-minded and divisive,” while Timothy Johnson of the Frederick Douglass Foundation said “the NAACP no longer speaks for the average African-American … the Tea Party movement has nothing to do with race.”...more