THE TELEGRAPH: Michelle Obama has provoked controversy by giving the keynote speech for a civil rights organisation which has formally accused the American Tea Party movement of being 'racist'.
The First Lady said that her husband's presidency had been made possible by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) and urged the group to "increase its intensity".
The organisation later issued a motion condemning the Tea Party movement – which is closely linked to the right wing of the Republican Party – as racist.
The motion threatens to turn race into an important issue in this autumn's midterm elections as several members of the movement are standing for the Republican Party.
Mrs Obama's appearance at the organisations's annual conference in Kansas City, was primarily focused on warning African-Americans about the dangers of childhood obesity.
However, she also lavished praise on the NAACP. Mrs Obama said: "I know that I stand here today, and I know that my husband stands where he is today, because of this organisation – and because of the struggles and the sacrifices of all those who came before us.
"When African American communities are still hit harder than just about anywhere by this economic downturn, and so many families are just barely scraping by, I think the founders would tell us that now is not the time to rest on our laurels.
"When stubborn inequalities still persist – in education and health, in income and wealth – I think those founders would urge us to increase our intensity, and to increase our discipline and our focus and keep fighting for a better future for our children and our grandchildren."
In its motion, the NAACP said the Tea Party movement engaged in "explicitly racist behaviour" and called for people to "stand in opposition to the drive to push our country back to the pre-civil rights era."
The increasingly influential Tea Party movement has been embraced by a series of senior Republicans including Sarah Palin, the former vice-presidential nominee. >>> Robert Winnett in Washington | Tuesday, July 13, 2010
