Lavandera, who is covering the Tea Party Express' cross-country tour, highlighted the race issue from the beginning of his report, which first aired 13 minutes into the 8 am Eastern hour: "The crowds turning out for the Tea Party Express rallies are overwhelmingly white. Is this lack of diversity a problem for the Tea Party movement? We're taking a closer look."
The correspondent noted some of the apparently "subtle efforts to make the tea party appear diverse," such as a hip hop performance and speeches by black tea party activist Lloyd Marcus. Marcus stated that "there's not a lot of black folks here, basically, because they haven't seen the light yet. They are still hypnotized by the first black or African-American president. But they haven't really looked at the man and what he's doing." This assertion is supported by a Gallup poll from earlier in March that found that President Obama's approval rating among blacks is at 89%, down slightly from 96% in August 2009.
But instead of focusing on this statistic as a possible cause for the lack of minority turnout at tea parties, Lavandera hinted that racism was actually to blame for this phenomenon:
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Critics argue there's an anti-minority undertone to these rallies. One anti-tea party protester lashed out at a campaigning candidate about the issue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: Other than the people that are covering the story here, the only people I see are retired white people.
LAVANDERA: At the Tea Party Express kickoff rally, one woman carried a sign with a stuffed monkey that read, 'Send Obama back to Kenya.' Tea party activists signs also rail against immigration reform with a tone that could offend Latinos. Tea party activists, though, say attempts to portray the group as racist or not open to welcoming minorities is a biased, unfair attack.
MARK WILLIAMS, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: Don't believe the crock you're reading in some media about racism. I don't see the lack of diversity at all.
LAVANDERA: Tea party chairman Mark Williams argues the movement is incredibly diverse, and says there are no specific efforts to reach out to minorities.
LAVANDERA (on-camera): So there's no sense that you, maybe, need to go out and target black people, Hispanic people, to bring them into the fold.
WILLIAMS: All they need to do is read the Constitution and they'll come find us.
When the CNN replayed the correspondent's report during the 3 pm Eastern hour of their Rick's List program, an on-screen graphic bluntly stated, "'Not A Lot of Black Folks Here:' Tea Party Express crowds show little diversity."
This liberal slant against the tea parties isn't surprising at CNN. Almost a year ago, former correspondent Susan Roesgen slammed the movement as "anti-government...anti-CNN...and not really family viewing." Later that year, CNN journalist Jim Spellman tried to portray the participants at the Tea Party Express's cross-country bus tour last summer as a bunch of extremists.
