Inge Marler, Arkansas Tea Party Leader, Makes Racist Joke At Event

[Honey]

Tea Party leaders in Arkansas are on the defensive after a board member of a Tea Party group in the Ozarks made a racist joke at a rally over the weekend drawing laughs from the audience.
The Baxter Bulletin in north-central Arkansas reported that Inge Marler made the comments at the annual rally of the Ozark Tea Party. The remarks, which suggested that African-Americans are on welfare, were condemned by Tea Party leaders in the state. The Bulletin reported that the condemnation came after they contacted the Tea Party for comment.
The Bulletin reports that Marler, who told the newspaper she would stop using the joke, said the following as an ice-breaker in her speech:

“A black kid asks his mom, ‘Mama, what’s a democracy?’ “‘Well, son, that be when white folks work every day so us po’ folks can get all our benefits.’
“‘But mama, don’t the white folk get mad about that?’
“‘They sho do, son. They sho do. And that’s called racism.’”

Audio of the speech can be heard here.

The remarks come as national Tea Party leaders have denied accusations that their followers are racist.
Earlier this week, former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) wrote a column for the Baltimore Sun arguing that the racism charge is being used by progressives seeking to discredit the Tea Party. The NAACP has voted to criticize what it believes are racist elements within the Tea Party.

During a March debate in the Missouri House of Representatives on a bill to require presidential candidates to show their birth certificates to the Missouri secretary of state, Tea Party members of the House denied racism charges in their argument. The bill was sponsored by legislators from the Ozarks area in southern Missouri.
"I have heard our side of the aisle called racist and xenophobic, I am tired of it," Missouri Rep. Wanda Brown (R-Lincoln) said at the time. "There is nothing wrong with asking the president of the United States for his birth certificate. I am tired of being called racist."

Inge Marler, Arkansas Tea Party Leader, Makes Racist Joke At Event

[twitchy2.0]

Oh gawd. Not this crap again.

[SHELLEE]

How long until these fuckers start donning white robes and pointy hats?

[nancydrew]

How long until these fuckers start donning white robes and pointy hats?

You mean in public? They save that shit for their meetings.

[stef]

Inge Marler, Arkansas Tea Party Leader, Resigns After Racist Joke


Ozark Tea Party Founder Richard Caster





The head of a Tea Party group in north-central Arkansas said a group leader who told a racist joke at a rally last week stepped down.
Richard Caster, the founder of the Ozark Tea Party, told HuffPost that Inge Marler, a member of the group's steering committee, has left her position following an ice-breaker she told prior to a speech at a June 9 rally. Caster said Marler surprised everyone with the remark, which was not in her original speech.
"I had no idea," Caster said. "She had given me her whole speech, and it was about her growing up in Yugoslavia and coming to America. I am on stage and then she said something not like what she gave me. I was shocked. I looked at the guy next to me and he said 'oh my gosh'."
During her speech, Marler gave what she told the Baxter Bulletin was a joke she found online about black welfare recipients. Marler told the paper that she will stop telling the joke, which was greeted with laughter.
Caster did not know how to respond during the rally, he said, noting that he is "learning everyday" how to run the group, which he founded in 2009.
"She is a gray-haired elderly lady, and I did not want to go up and yank her off stage," he said. "In hindsight, I should have said something."
Caster said he met with Marler Thursday, after the story was reported in The Huffington Post to discuss the impact of the remark. He said she agreed to step down from the steering committee seat she's held since March.
"In her heart, she is a good lady but she said something stupid," Caster said. "If I said that, I would leave the movement. We are good people."
Caster, 21, is the youngest elected official in Arkansas, holding a justice of the peace seat on the Baxter County Quorum Court. The position is not a judicial one, but rather a post in the legislative branch of county government. He said the rally was a success outside of Marler's remarks, noting that 500 people attended on short notice.
Caster said that he would like the media to focus on more than the Tea Party. He would like to see more coverage of alleged rapes at Occupy Wall Street, Attorney General Eric Holder's work on the Fast and Furious program and ethics complaints against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).
"It dawned on me that this little old lady got on stage and said a two-bit, retarded joke that she should not have said and it was all over," Caster said. "It's funny how a little old lady can cause a huge stir, and people with real power and nothing happens."


Inge Marler, Arkansas Tea Party Leader, Resigns After Racist Joke

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[nana51]

I have always felt that if you tell a racist joke in public, what the hell do you say in private? Sorry, no pass because she is a little gray haired old lady, so am i.

[mjw]

The Tea Party sure knows how to pick leaders.