Tea Party Opening Address: Tancredo Laments Lack of Literacy Test

by Karen Hatter | February 6, 2010 at 10:06 am

1451 views | 92 Recommendations | 33 comments

Former Republican Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, who served 10 years in the U.S. Congress, delivered the opening night keynote address on February 4, 2010 at the Tea Party National Convention, held in Nashville, Tennessee. The event is scheduled to conclude today, February 6, 2010.

During his speech, he stated that people who couldn't spell the word 'vote' or say the word in English, were responsible for electing Barack Hussein Obama and putting a" .... committed socialist ideologue ...." in the White House.

His remarks prompted laughter and applause from the audience.

Mr. Tancredo is a staunch advocate against immigration.

His website displays the credo, "For our borders, for our culture, for our future."

The opening-night speaker at first ever National Tea Party Convention ripped into President Obama, Sen. John McCain and "the cult of multiculturalism," asserting that Obama was elected because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country."

The speaker, former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., told about 600 delegates in a Nashville, Tenn., ballroom that in the 2008 election, America "put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House ... Barack Hussein Obama."

Tancredo did not stop at the Democratic president -- ripping McCain, R-Ariz., the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, for shaping up to be a repeat of "Bush 1 and Bush 2."

"Thank God John McCain lost the election," he said, voicing his belief that McCain would have presided over big budgets and lacked a tough stand against immigration.

Tancredo served 10 years in the House of Representatives and made a name for himself with his ardent opposition to immigration. He believes the 2008 election served to galvanize the right.

"This is our country," he told the crowd. "Let's take it back."

There was a time when literacy tests, as well as poll taxes, were used to prevent the descendants of the formerly enslaved of African descent from participating fully as American citizens in the voting process.

The practice of administering literacy tests was first instituted in the state of Mississippi in 1890. The southern states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia followed suit in adopting the strategy.

The literacy tests were implemented as a means to skirt the 14th and 15th Amendments, as pertained to so called Negroes (Black people), with the amendments guaranteeing certain rights to all citizens and the right to vote.

The 1890 Constitutional Convention of Mississippi marked a new departure, however, in the recommendation of an education test as a means to effect racial discrimination. The Supreme Court of Mississippi commented on the ways in which Blacks’ racial characteristics rendered them unfit to exercise the suffrage:

Within the field of permissible action under the limitations proposed by the Federal Constitution, the Convention swept the field of expedients to obstruct the exercise of suffrage by the Negro race. By reasons of its previous condition of servitude and dependency, this race had acquired or accentuated certain peculiarities of habit, temperament, and of character, which clearly distinguished it as a race from the whites.[25]

Also at NowPublic :

List of Scheduled Events at Tennessee National Tea Party Event

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Karen Hatter

at 10:45 on February 6th, 2010

A technical glitch has occurred with the result being the links to the excerpted items are not being displayed in the highlighted excerpts.

Okay, I was able to repair the missing links issue. Yay, me!

Sputnic

at 11:37 on February 6th, 2010

So people that have not had access to a decent education will not be able to vote for one. Doubt that will happen, still... better make sure

Karen Hatter

at 12:46 on February 6th, 2010

Sputnic, in the past, the literacy tests implemented, beginning in 1890, and used against Black people was known to be disproportionately administered by poll officials.

Often those Black citizens wanting to exercise their right were required to explain more complicated portions of the Constitution while White citizens were given easier passages to interpret.

The testing was extremely subjective, left to the whims of those manning the polls, who were mostly White in those days.

A poll tax was also often asked from Black voters and a variety of tactics were used to prevent Black citizens full particpation in the voting process.

From Striking Down the White Primary :

In the Jim Crow era, Southern whites used two main legal strategies to prevent African Americans from voting. The first involved using poll taxes, literacy tests and other tactics to disqualify blacks. The second was the so-called "white primary," which the Democratic Party used to keep blacks out. Private organizations that barred African Americans would nominate whites to run for elected office. Technically, blacks could still vote in the elections, but because all the candidates were nominated in the white primaries, blacks could never vote for a candidate of their choosing.

Okay, I have NO idea why the excerpt posted this way!

Hugh Askew

at 10:27 on February 6th, 2010

Here i thought he was getting after the Sarah Palin supporters....................................

merlingraycat

at 11:01 on February 6th, 2010

My Mother told me that in her day, which would have been in the 1920's and 1930's, one could be called out and not be able to vote if you were not a property owner. So this is nothing new unfortunately.

Karen Hatter

at 11:05 on February 6th, 2010

No, Merlingraycat, it indeed is nothing new and a possible attempt to go backward to those times.

Rory Cripps

at 16:39 on February 6th, 2010

Karen:You've stated in your story that he's against immigration. Is he really against immigration or just illegal immigration? And if he is against immigration as you say he is does that mean that he's against all immigration? According to your story, it sounds that way.

stejeb

at 11:15 on February 6th, 2010

It's great to have a land where free speech is possible, even if you do have oddballs that come out with diatribes that offend almost anyone with intelligence in a modern society.

Pity they don't have a test to check how many brain cells speakers have before they open their mouths and come out with this sort of racist nastiness.

Karen Hatter

at 11:26 on February 6th, 2010

Well said, Stejeb.

Amy Judd

at 11:22 on February 6th, 2010

"Mr. Tancredo is a staunch advocate against immigration."

Judging by his comment no kidding!

Karen Hatter

at 11:25 on February 6th, 2010

Yup!

Mary Richard

at 12:16 on February 6th, 2010

Funny, he doesn't look native to me.

Nope, upon checking, I see his grandparents were Italian immigrants. Hmm ...

Hugh Askew

at 12:49 on February 6th, 2010

If he was born in the USA, he is native - sorry - that is the law.

Hugh Askew

at 11:45 on February 6th, 2010

Stejeb: "Pity they don't have a test to check how many brain cells speakers have....."

Hatter: "Well said, Stejeb."

So, if i read this correctly, literacy tests - bad, intelligence tests - good.

Karen Hatter

at 11:49 on February 6th, 2010

Hugh, I liked the part of Stejeb's statement that said:

Pity they don't have a test to check how many brain cells speakers have before they open their mouths ....

stejeb

at 11:51 on February 6th, 2010

I agree that people should be citizens in order to vote, a willingness to learn the language should be a requirement of citizenship even, but as far as litteracy goes, there are plenty of people born in America, the same as here in the UK who would fail such a test, they still have a right to vote.

And if I was an American, I'd be a little bit more than angry with someone who implied that voting for Obama meant I was illiterate.

YankeeJim

at 11:51 on February 6th, 2010

"How many of yous guys could pass it? How many of yous guys were with me in the beginning?" SP

Some guy in the back stands up and yells, "I were Sarah!"

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 12:31 on February 6th, 2010

If the issue here is that non-US citizens are voting, then why doesn't he say so? Why is the teaparty even relevant, after all it is supposed to be a fringe movement?

If they are fringe, let them have their conference and come Monday they will return to obscurity. Or could it be, that they are really seen as a threat?

Hugh Askew

at 12:48 on February 6th, 2010

Well cowboy, therein lies the problem.

They are a threat. Were they not, articles like this would never appear here or anywhere else - save the websites of the fringe types.

Because they are a real &/or perceived threat, they must be marginalized by those that oppose them. Thus, whack-job articles must be written, phone calls must be made, else - !! horrors of horrors !! - the dread hillbilly tea bag types might actually influence the sheeple to get their message elsewhere, AND vote real important people out of office.

Karen Hatter

at 13:09 on February 6th, 2010

Hugh, those you have called " .... the dread hillbilly tea bags .... " are a minority and will not be influencing large percentages of voters.

There has been over analysis and misplaced credit given to those calling themselves members of the Tea Party movement for various outcomes of late, like the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts, when, in reality, there are a variety of other factors that contributed to those outcomes.

For example, he is pro choice and to the majority of the Tea Party, that position does not represent the majority of those in the movement.

Hugh Askew

at 14:47 on February 6th, 2010

I would say wait til November before you count the votes.

Not even sure if the "Tea Party" folks will have much actual effect on the outcome, but there is a large backlash coming. Bash them if you like, but don't underestimate the sentiment.

Karen Hatter

at 12:55 on February 6th, 2010

At the risk of being accused of being dismissive, Karl, I will state that some of the elements that seem to be part and widely representative of the so called Tea Party movement, like the birthers, the anti-Obama crowd, and when I say the anti-Obama crowd, I mean those who have been saying he is evil and the anti-Christ, were elevated to a position of prominence by the media.

Those truly attempting to address social ills in a concrete, sensible fashion, would seem to need to figure out how to merge elements of their movement that are stuck on 'fringe'.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 13:06 on February 6th, 2010

I'm not taking your comments as being dismissive, but personally I don't see any percentage in the politics of personal destruction of either side. There has been enough back and forth on either side.

Obama was elected by the majority of Americans, the whole country, if not the whole world should tackle the world economy and get on with it.

Does anyone even realize that there was a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Nunavut today? These folks are trying to get the financial system regulated and are actually working on solutions.

Karen Hatter

at 13:25 on February 6th, 2010

Karl, that often tends to be America.

We get stuck on the menutia of racism and stupid, losing sight of things that should be given more attention.

I watched Tom Tancredo's speech on CSPAN and was appalled to hear him mention a literacy test.

All of us over 50 are well aware of how that exercise played out in American society.

I thought it worth noting there is someone calling for a return to a possibly discriminatory practice, depending upon how this at present only alluded to test may be implemented.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 14:03 on February 6th, 2010

This is supposed to be the post-racial era and the post racial President. I spend my formative years in Germany until age 13. In other words I grew up amongst rubble and in a war torn country with very few material goods. Our treats back then were apples, plums and on a good day a glass of milk.

The cause of this was a horrible regime that found itself an enemy and moved on to try and take over Europe. My mother, who is still alive still tells me stories of running to an air raid bunker being strafed by British and American aircraft.

My point here is, that we can't hold on to the past forever, although it is important not to forget history, it is also very important to move on.

It is important that we remember the holocaust, but we can't let it rule our lives.

I saw extreme hatred in the Balkans based on 800 years of occupation of various empires. These hatreds are carried from generation to generation, again not a pretty picture.

We really have to try and get along with each other, the alternative is not pretty.

Karen Hatter

at 10:28 on February 7th, 2010

Thank you for sharing your personal history, Karl.

It is a moving saga.

All you say is very true.

However, in America, we have a tendency, from time to time, to want to forget the past ALONG WITH the history.

America's history makes it difficult for various segments of American society to view its history in the same manner.

The revealed knowledge and belief that America was founded contrary to the lofty imagery and educational lessons previously taught in America for hundreds of years, has taken some ground, with those voices that say, wait a minute, some of those days weren't good old days for all of us, makes some in America squeamish.

Many Right Wing ideologues and White supremacist/nationalist advocates, like Patrick Buchanan and David Duke, respectively, share some of the same beliefs, among them, that being White America is being overrun by non Whites, legally and illegally.

Pat Buchanan and David Duke both have claimed that only White people built America.

America's most valuable lesson must be tolerance, not the 'I have freedom of speech' tolerance that allows some to voice the most despicable racially charged soliloquies but, the acknowledgement that there must be a demand to treat everyone in America as equal citizens.

Currently, the extreme elements of the Right Wing are organizing politically and attempting to erode the fabric of America by scaring certain segments of America into believing they must fear all non White people, for any number of reasons.

This has been played out before in America and needs to come to an end.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 12:33 on February 6th, 2010

I really think a lot of these arguments take away from the real issues, jobs, the economy and health care for the 21 Million uninsured.

Oops I have healthcare:)

denailnotariverin egypt (not verified)

at 13:25 on February 6th, 2010

The cat's out and won't go back in the bagThese nationalist tend to have a racist core. It ios all about "reclaiming" the country, which basically means kicking out the "foreigners"Australia had it with One Nation, Europe has had many of them and we saw how that wentHopefully, now the general public will understand the nature of the Tea Party beast and what it really means. It is a regressive social movement that would take the US back to where it can't go in a global economy, a multicultural reality and an advanced technological ageThe feelings of xenophobia around these crowds and the outrage that a black man could lead the country has always been the heart of that populist protest. It's out in the open now, finally and even Fox and denial crowd that inhabits here can't mount any meaningful defenseDon't like them there foreigners go join the Tea Party

laughorcry (not verified)

at 17:42 on February 6th, 2010

The international press is having a field day with what is (or should be ) a cultural cringeblogs.aljazeera.net/americas/2010/02/06/tech-shy-tea-partyFunny - this is just grist for the mill