After making several controversial remarks that came to a head with a satirical but offensive blog post, the Tea Party Express and Mark Williams in particular were effectively “expelled” from the tea party movement by the National Tea Party Federation.

This expulsion comes on the heels of a controversial resolution by the NAACP demanding that tea party leaders condemn statements and acts within the tea party movement alleged to be racist.

The Federation, which claims to represent 85 different tea party groups nationwide, told the Tea Party Express to oust Williams after he posted a satirical letter from “colored people” to President Abraham Lincoln protesting the end of slavery.  It was not the first controversial statement from Williams.  When the Tea Party Express refused to disassociate itself with Williams, the National Tea Party Federation disassociated the Express from its coalition.

Project 21 members are speaking out about the issues surrounding the Williams/Tea Party Express expulsion.

Bob Parks:

After many days of backtracking — and even hiding — because of vague accusations and possibly some downright lies, officials within the NAACP appear energized by the boneheaded comments of one Mark Williams, with calls for the Tea Party to commence with an internal racist witch hunt.

While black conservative tea party participants can be likened to Jewish guards in Nazi concentration camps by guests on CNN, it’s the tea party that’s expected to police who says what.

This is one of the dangers of some of the tea parties that have become moneymaking enterprises.  They assume unelected positions of prominence and become unofficial spokespersons whose gaffes effectively tarnish good people to the delight of a political opponent.

(Bob Parks is a member of the Project 21 national advisory council and the webmaster of Black-and-Right.com.  He is also a producer with the Media Research Center in Alexandria, Virginia.)

Kevin Martin:

Once again, the tea party movement has shown it can police itself and remove rouge elements if they crop up.  Mark Williams may have thought he was engaging in satire, but his efforts went over the edge is now costing him his position and former prestige within the movement.

We of the tea party movement are a diverse group of Americans.  Since the movement’s inception, it has been clear we will not allow rouge elements to endanger that diversity or give ammunition to detractors seeking sap the energy and drive that is attracting more American with each passing day.

(Kevin Martin is a member of the of the Project 21 national advisory council and has run a environmental contracting business in the Washington, D.C. area.)

Mychal Massie:

While Mark Williams said something stupid, it doesn’t — in my mind — rise to a level that necessitated his being forced to step down or away from the tea party movement.  This is America, and freedom of speech is the first and foremost right protected by our Constitution.  Williams spoke freely based on that right, not to whether or not someone else liked what he had to say.  Yet he is paying a price for it.  For some, this is a sign that the system works.  But it remains is in contrast to the lack of self-control on the left, where unprovoked and demonstrably offensive statements and actions enjoy a double standard and where the cries of foul and feigned insult are being voiced from those who are held to no standards of civility.

(Mychal Massie is chairman of Project 21, a columnist at WorldNetDaily, and a former talk show host and businessman.)

Joe Hicks:

Facts matter very little to leftists and liberals.  The NAACP recently passed a resolution calling on the tea party to reject the racist elements within its ranks.   This resolution ignores the fact that various tea party figures have consistently made it clear that racist behavior is not welcome at tea party events.

Now, Mark Williams, a self-described tea party “leader,” has been quickly denounced by a national “federation” of tea party activists for comments as racially crude as they were dumb.  Ah, but the liberal hypocrisy continues.  Not only has the NAACP continued to be mute about anti-white and anti-Semitic comments from members of the New Black Panther Party, but they also allegedly lobbied the Justice Department on behalf of this hate group.  They supposedly asked that the federal lawsuit for voter intimidation against the Panthers be dropped.

And, while I’m exploring this vein of left/liberal hypocrisy, I’m wondering if any liberal woman’s organization will denounce the recent comment from leftist comedienne Kathy Griffin who called Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown’s daughters “prostitutes.”

(Joe Hicks is a member of the Project 21 national advisory council and host of the “Hicks File” at PJTV.com.  He is also vice president of Community Advocates, Inc. and the former executive director of the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.)