A Democrat's 'race-baiting' Tea Party attack: 'Beyond the pale'?

The Right takes umbrage after Rep. Andre Carson accuses Tea Partiers of wanting to see blacks "hanging on a tree"

Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.)
(Image credit: Facebook/Congressman Andre Carson)

Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) is facing a fierce backlash for telling a largely black crowd at a Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) event in Miami that "some of them in Congress right now with this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me... hanging on a tree." After audio of Carson's speech was posted on a conservative website Tuesday, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) — the only member of both the CBC and Tea Party Caucus, and no stranger to racially inflammatory comments — said he might quit the CBC over Carson's "race-baiting" remarks. Carson is standing by his words. But did he go too far?

This is way over the line: Black Democrats have long accused the Tea Party of racism, says Doug Ross at Director Blue. But Carson has taken that critique to a dangerous new extreme. Accusing the racially diverse, law-abiding Tea Party movement of being a violent lynch mob is "beyond the pale." The remark could incite "violence and unrest." Indeed, if even one person takes Carson's hateful lies seriously, "a terrible set of consequences can result."

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