A top lawmaker in the Congressional Black Caucus says tea partiers on Capitol Hill would like to see African-Americans hanging from trees and accuses the movement of wishing for a return to the Jim Crow era. 
 
 Rep. Andre Carson, a Democrat from Indiana who serves as the CBC’s chief vote counter, said at a CBC event in Miami that some in Congress would “love to see us as second-class citizens” and “some of them in Congress right now of this tea party movement would love to see you and me ... hanging on a tree.” 
 
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 reset Carson's quote, West's response POLITICO 44 
 
 Carson also said the tea party is stopping change in Congress, likening it to “the effort that we’re seeing of Jim Crow.” 
 
 The explosive comments, caught on tape, were uploaded on the Internet Tuesday, and Carson’s office stood by the remarks. Jason Tomcsi, Carson’s spokesman, said the comment was “in response to frustration voiced by many in Miami and in his home district in Indianapolis regarding Congress’s inability to bolster the economy.” Tomcsi, in an email, wrote that “the congressman used strong language because the Tea Party agenda jeopardizes our most vulnerable and leaves them without the ability to improve their economic standing. 
 
 “The Tea Party is protecting its millionaire and oil company friends while gutting critical services that they know protect the livelihood of African-Americans, as well as Latinos and other disadvantaged minorities,” Tomcsi wrote. “We are talking about child nutrition, job creation, job training, housing assistance, and Head Start, and that is just the beginning. A child without basic nutrition, secure housing, and quality education has no real chance at a meaningful and productive life.” 
 
 Carson is hardly the first lawmaker to use heated rhetoric. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) yelled “you lie” as President Barack Obama was addressing Congress. Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) yelled “baby killer” at former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) as abortion was being discussed during the health care debate. 
 
 Carson, who represents Indianapolis, is the second Muslim to ever serve in Congress. He has been in office since 2008 and took the seat that was held by his late grandmother — Democratic Rep. Julia Carson. 

 What happens when your entire political philosophy is so discredited that you can’t even make a coherent argument for it any longer? If you’re Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN), it’s simple — you just call your opponents who are winning the debate “racists” and accuse them of being comfortable with lynching: 
 
 A top lawmaker in the Congressional Black Caucus says tea partiers on Capitol Hill would like to see African Americans hanging from trees and accuses the movement of wishing for a return to the Jim Crow era. Rep. Andre Carson, a Democrat from Indiana who serves as the CBC’s chief vote counter, said at a CBC event in Miami that some in Congress would “love to see us as second-class citizens” and “some of them in Congress right now of this tea party movement would love to see you and me…hanging on a tree.” 
 
 It’s not the first time the “Jim Crow” accusation has flown this year. Earlier it was the chair of the DNC, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who tossed out that smear, only to shamefacedly retract it when it made national news. Why? Because it was reprehensible demagoguery of the worst kind, a fact that was obvious to everyone — or at least obvious to everyone outside the CBC. 
 
 Via the Right Scoop, Allen West is now reconsidering his CBC membership: 
 
 Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com 
 
 And for good reason. The civil-rights movement was not a political effort aimed primarily at deficit spending and massive government growth. It was a movement intended to eliminate real and official racial discrimination. Carson’s words are not just evil, they are entirely ignorant and as damaging to the cause of equality as they are to rational political debate. Not only should Carson be reprimanded for his words, he should really be shunned, and hopefully replaced in the next election by voters in his district. 
 
 Update: I had initially identified Carson as D-IL, but he is D-IN. I’ve fixed it above.
– Indiana Rep. Andre Carson is taking a lot of heat today, after comments he made accusing the Tea Party of being racist were posted on The Blaze (see video). “This is the effort that we’re seeing of Jim Crow,” Carson declared at a Congressional Black Caucus event last week. “Some of these folks in Congress would love to see us as second-class citizens. Some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me ... hanging on a tree.” Right-wing blogs like Hot Air cried foul. Rep. Allen West told Fox News that invoking lynching was “reprehensible” and said it was making him reconsider his Congressional Black Caucus membership. But a Carson spokesman tells Politico he stands by the comments. “The congressman used strong language because the Tea Party agenda jeopardizes our most vulnerable and leaves them without the ability to improve their economic standing,” he said.