Knight's attempt to blame left for instigating “racial animosity” falls flat

Written by Eric Schroeck

Published

In a July 16 Washington Times op-ed, Robert Knight of Coral Ridge Ministries claimed that the left has tried “to instigate racial animosity in America” and called the NAACP's resolution denouncing “racist elements” within the tea party movement “absurd,” claiming that it was “the latest gambit in the campaign to divide Americans and perhaps even to spark violence.”

So it had to sting for Knight when, two days later, a prominent tea party leader was expelled from the movement over a racially charged blog post.

Ouch.

While Knight's claim was already weak -- Media Matters has documented the right-wing media's desperate attempt to erase evidence of bigotry and racism from within the tea party movement -- it completely collapsed on Sunday when tea party leader Mark Williams and his organization were expelled from the National Tea Party Federation over a racially charged blog post written by Williams.

Media Matters has previously noted Williams' long history of incendiary and racially charged remarks.

Knight also used his Times column space to trumpet the phony New Black Panthers scandal, claiming that “Justice Department officials won't prosecute any cases involving minority defendants, according to J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department attorney who resigned in protest.” Media Matters has documented that Adams is a right-wing activist whose accusations don't stand up to the facts and that numerous media and political figures, including Fox News contributors and Republicans, have dismissed the phony scandal. In fact, the Republican vice chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has called the case “small potatoes” and recently stated that her fellow conservatives on the commission said they wanted to use the case to damage the Obama administration.

On top of that, Knight pushed the false claim that Arizona's controversial new immigration law “bars racial profiling.” In fact, law enforcement officers have expressed the concern that the law introduces racial profiling, and legal experts have rejected the claim that the law's language eliminates the risk of racial profiling.

Not surprising from a Washington Times contributor whose last column was a homophobic screed fearmongering about the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.