CAIR, the national group focused on protecting civil rights for the nation’s Muslim population, is standing in support of the NAACP’s resolution calling on Tea Party leaders to repudiate racism in their ranks. In a strongly-worded statement released this afternoon, CAIR spokesperson Ibrahim Hooper said that his group shares the NAACP’s concerns about racist rhetoric found among tea partiers.
“If the Tea Party wishes to be taken seriously by mainstream Americans, it must repudiate all those who express or promote extremist, racist or bigoted views while claiming to be affiliated with the movement,” he said.
The statement comes as the debate over building a Muslim community center and mosque near Ground Zero in Manhattan has fired up many groups on the right, some of whom have suggested letting Muslims worship near the site of the World Trade Center attacks is tantamount to letting the terrorists win.
For it’s part, the NAACP resolution has produced a fair amount of outrage on the right with some tea party leaders suggesting it shows that the NAACP is itself a racist organization.
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