Recently, liberal elitists who are bent on keeping minority voters firmly in the grasp of the Democratic Party have attempted to paint the Tea Party with the race card, accusing the movement as unfriendly to people of color like me. Nothing can be further from the case. An ever-increasing number of free-thinking minorities and independents are embracing fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited constitutional government.

Black Americans make up about 13 percent of the population nationwide. According to a recent New York Times survey, about 11 percent of people sympathetic to Tea Party principles (smaller government, free markets, lower taxes, and fiscal responsibility) are black. That makes the Tea Party very close to representative of our national population. Without survey stats for Mississippi, its hard to say here, but I know I and many other nonwhites are very dedicated to the Tea Party movement.

The tea kettle has become the new melting pot. That frightens Democrats.

Kim Wade

Jackson