NAACP Stands by Chapter President Calling Sen. Tim Scott a Ventriloquist’s ‘Dummy’

Mediaite.com:

The NAACP’s North Carolina President Rev. William Barber II ignited a firestorm when, in an extensive profile in a South Carolina paper, he attacked Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) as a being a puppet and a tool of the “extreme right wing.” Scott did not respond in kind, but Republican officials demanded that Barber and the NAACP disavow those comments. Far from distancing themselves from Barber or his statement, the NAACP issued a statement defending the North Carolina-based chapter official and standing by his comments. 

“A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy,” Barber said of Scott, one of just two African-Americans in the U.S. Senate.

“Dr. King emphasized love and justice rather than extremism,” a statement issued to Fox News read. “Unless we stand for justice we cannot claim allegiance to or pay homage to Dr. King.”

“In a state such as South Carolina, politicians, whether they be black or white, should not be echoing the position of the far right,” the statement concluded. 

RELATED:  Sen. Tim Scott Responds to NAACP Official Who Called Him a Ventriloquist’s ‘Dummy’

Black Republican Allen West Will Join Congressional Black Caucus

Politico.com:

Allen West is coming to Washington with a message for the all-Democratic Congressional Black Caucus: He wants in.


West told POLITICO he’d “absolutely” be interested in joining the CBC. “That has been a monolithic voice in the body politic for far too long. There is a growing conservative black voice in this country,” West said, that needs to be represented in Washington.


West, of Florida, and Tim Scott of South Carolina will be the first two black Republicans to serve in Congress since J.C. Watts, who refused to join the CBC, and the first black GOP members from the Deep South since Reconstruction, but the two have different ideas about whether they should join the CBC, which hasn’t had a Republican member since Connecticut Rep. Gary Franks, who lost his seat in 1996.


“I haven’t really decided. I’m probably leaning against it at this point,” said Scott, whose 89-year-old grandfather was with him Tuesday night when he won a seat in South Carolina’s 1st District. “My experience has been the whole notion of one nation — so I really shy away things that create some kind of boundaries. ... It highlights the divisions I’ve been pushing forward to erase.”

That's right, we're not a monolithic voice.