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September 15, 2006 05:31 PM UTC

Denver Pastors Call For Tom Tancredo's Resignation

  • 16 Comments
  • by: Druid

A group of Denver area ministers has called for Congressman Tom Tancredo to resign. The pastors are outraged at the Republican’s attendance at a South Carolina rally they claim was associated with a hate group.

Last weekend, Congressman Tancredo gave a speech at a barbecue and rally held at the South Carolina State Museum.

The podium where he spoke has confederate flags behind it, and before he left, he took part in the singing of the southern anthem “Dixie,” which has infuriated the Denver Ministerial Alliance.

“The fact that he was there, singing ‘Dixie’ with other people, that in itself is ridiculous,” said Bishop Acen Phillips with the New Birth Baptist Church.

“For a United States congressperson to attend this function and not to be concerned about the confederate flag on the same stage is a disgrace,” said Rev. Paul Burleson with the Greater Denver Metro Ministerial Alliance.

A whole roomful of ministers called on Tancredo to apologize and some even want him to resign.

In a phone interview from his Washington office, Tancredo said the event was not sponsored by hate groups and he gave the same immigration reform speech he always gives.

“I gave it in probably five or six different venues, this was just one, all of them were open to the public,” Tancredo said. “I don’t check people at the door for their private thoughts.”

CBS4’s Terry Jessup: “If they say, and they did say, if he didn’t know who was at that assembly or rally, he should’ve known, you say what?”

Tancredo: “It was open to the public.”

“I think he knew exactly what he was doing, when he was doing it, where he was doing it, and even worse, why he was doing it,” said Pastor Patrick Demmer with the Greater Denver Metro Ministerial Alliance.

The ministers said the Republican congressman has become an embarrassment.

Tancredo said they’re trying to make politics over an issue that he doesn’t see.

The song “Dixie” means different things to people, but is the anthem of some white supremacist groups. Tancredo said there’s nothing wrong with anyone singing it “if the spirit moves you, I guess.”

Tancredo said there was nothing racist in nature or tone in his speech and has no intention of apologizing for anything.

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16 thoughts on “Denver Pastors Call For Tom Tancredo’s Resignation”

    1. Ok. This may turn the tide a little bit. Tancredo still has name recognition. And in that district, my district, it seems like it is a little bit ok to be racist. It is sad.

      1. Grew up down there – got out as soon as I could.

        People have been calling for T’s resignation for years and he continues on being himself and people keep voting for him.

        I had this conversation with, I believe, Another Skeptic.  Tancredo represents his constituency well.  The district is by far mostly white, solid middle or upper class and the constituents fear losing their neighborhoods to hoards of immigrants. 

        IMO, Tancredo is overstepping his limits. As we see T’s message resonates well with hate groups, however, America’s views of immigration are more varied and nuanced than his constituents in their gated communities.  I’m looking forward to seeing him go down in flames.

        1. I am going to school in Michigan right now, so I am sort of in his district but not really. You are right he represents the majority, heavy emphasis on majority, of his constituency. But he also doesnt represent them, in congress at least. I hate the fact that he will probably get elected on being the guy who is all about immigration. yet there has been no real immigration reform.

        2. The further south you go, the worse it gets.  Bill Winter is awesome.  I don’t care what people on here say.  Yet it is possible that we will continue to get saddled with a racist representative.

        3.   Aren’t these upper middle class bigots afraid they’re going to have to start paying market price for gardeners and domestic help once all of the illegals are deported?  They should vote their own economic self-interest and get rid of Tancredo before he drives up the cost of living in Douglas County any further…..

        4. I don’t like single issue legislators.  The world is complex and the problems more so.  Tancredo uses his position as an elected representative to rail against immigrants that affect very few of his constituency.

          There is a fine line between being principled and arrogant while serving the public.

          1. Now, really, can’t you come up with something better than complaining that Tancredo’s a single issue Congressman. It’s just not true.

            So you hate conservatives. That’s ok.

            1. I saw his Social Security Speech at Grandview High School. He got railed on, and so did the lackey that accompanied him. I have never heard him come out about a single issue other than Illegal Immigration. You know what? I take that back he also advocates for the destruction of everything muslim and the middle east. Just clicked on his webpage and noticed that the “latest news” tags had three concerning immigration and one supporting a “documentary” about Islam. Im sure it has been fact checked. Thats fine if you want to play upon American fears. But since illegal immigration does not affect people in their daily lives and since CD6 is pretty white, its makes me wonder what impact he is having on his constituents. Especially since he never seems to be voting. You know what, again I apologize, It does affect some people:
              http://www1.pressdem…

            2. I grew up in his district, my parents still live there and immigration didn’t factor into our lives and doesn’t factor into the lives of my parents.  Retired, live in the house where I grew up, puh-lease, affects everyone.

              The strongest advocates I know against illegal immigration are either rich, white homeowners in CD6 where the schools, hospitals, job market…are not affected by illegals – or local governments, mostly sherrifs, who are livid at Congress and the administration for not doing their jobs.

              I don’t hate conservatives, I’m a moderate Dem and think conservatives have some good things to say.  I agree that border security is essential and has been too lax.  I don’t agree that lumping border security with immigration issues is right, though.  Tancredo is a single issue politician because all he publically speaks about and all people know him for is advocating against illegal immigration.  You can’t deny that.

            4. I’m pretty sure awhile ago Skeptic posted a diary regarding Tancredo and we had a good discussion about him. 

              I don’t fault Skeptic’s passion on immigration – just today RMN came out with a survey stating immigration as the #1 issue on voters’ minds.  The poll also mentioned %60+ were in favor of a path to citizenship. 

              So my problem with Tancredo is the hard line stance he takes on the complex issue of immigration and how he isn’t doing anything to find a solution, only lobbing grenades to keep his name in the press.

  2. Take a look at the religious leaders complaining about Tom Tancredo.

    How many are trained as ministers, preists? How many are self-proclaimed ministers, religious leaders?

    How many live the good life as leaders of their minority flocks?

    How many build their followings the same way dictators do—by inflaming hatred among their followers toward the majority?

    How many play the race card whenever they get the chance?

    How many support immigration reform, border security and enforcing American immigration and labor laws?

    How many are beating on their young followers to go to school, get good grades and make something of themselves instead of becoming destitute victims?

    How many complained about the closing of the failed Denver high school instead of celebrating the school district’s determination to improve their kids’ education?

    How many have any credibility at all?

    Tom Tancredo’s no racist, but I’m wondering how many of the complaining ministers are? How many Andrew Youngs are in that crowd?

    I’m not accusing anyone of anything.

    Just asking.

  3. I’ve rewritten the headline and edited the text of this message because I’m not accusing anybody of anything. Just asking:

    Take a look at the religious leaders complaining about Tom Tancredo.

    How many are trained as ministers, preists? How many are self-proclaimed ministers, religious leaders?

    How many live the good life as leaders of their minority flocks and how many are as poor and uneducted as their followers?

    How many build their followings the same way dictators do—by inflaming hatred among their followers toward outsiders?

    How many play the race card whenever they get the chance?

    How many support immigration reform, border security and enforcing American immigration and labor laws? How many encourage flouting those laws or say it’s not a crime that should be prosecuted?

    How many are beating on their young followers to go to school, get good grades and make something of themselves instead of becoming destitute victims?

    How many complained about the closing of the failed Denver high school instead of celebrating the school district’s determination to improve their kids’ education? How many are more interested in their personal power than in the needs of their followers’ kids?

    How many have any credibility at all and how many have a lot of credibility?

    Tom Tancredo’s no racist, but I’m wondering how many of the complaining ministers are? How many Andrew Youngs are in that crowd?

    I’m not accusing anyone of anything.

    Just asking. I hope to see some serioius replies, but probably won’t.

    1. The first page of the Weekend Journal in Friday’s Wall Street Journal carries a story about ugly racism in the second home markets in major resorts. Fortunately, Colorado is not mentioned in the story.

      But are the racist 2nd home owners described in this story the same people who send kids to college where they throw racist comments around campus and out of the stands at sporting events?

      Every time I begin to think the old racism has been overcome, a story like this shows up. Buy Friday’s Journal or if you have a paid sub to wsj.com, read this:

      http://online.wsj.co…

      If this doesn’t make your blood boil, I don’t know what will.

      The impact graphs follow:

      Discrimination apparently doesn’t go on vacation. As part of the past decade’s real-estate boom, minority home-ownership has grown. About 52% of minorities owned their own homes in 2005, up from 48.8% in 2001. Affluent minorities have also been scooping up vacation homes, nearly doubling their share of the second-home market in recent years: African-Americans, Latinos and Asians accounted for 11% of vacation-home purchases between 2003 and 2005, up from 6% in 2002 or earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors.

      But as second-home purchases by minorities have risen, so have the number of real-estate-related discrimination complaints in those markets, say housing watchdog groups and lawyers. Cases include everything from steering minority buyers away from affluent areas to the use of racial slurs. Such discrimination isn’t new, of course, and it’s unclear whether the growth in bias complaints outpaces the growth in minority second-home purchases. And vacation-home cases constitute a small portion of overall race-based housing discrimination matters, with the vast majority still coming from low- and middle-income neighborhoods.

      Still, some housing experts say they’re struck by the number of complaints in many popular vacation-home markets. In Las Vegas, there were 48 bias complaints filed last year with the local chapter of the NAACP regarding second-home transactions, nearly double the number in 2002. In Palm Beach County, Fla., there were 144 race-based housing complaints made to the local chapter of the nonprofit National Fair Housing Alliance in 2005, a 30% increase over the previous year, with many of them being filed by first-time second-home buyers. Bias claims are also up in Naples, Fla., and San Diego County, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

      I hope this isn’t going on in Colorado.

      1. This is very interesting.  The question it raises for me is this: if this is happening to those minorities who are sufficiently educated to know that there’s a process for formal complaint (such as would make up most of the second home market), how many more such incidents are ignored that occur among renters and first-time buyers who are less aware of the process for complaining.  My guess is that even if only a third to a half of those second-home market complaints are valid, it indicates that race-based discrimination happens frequently and egregiously among those who are more vulnerable and less aware of how to protect themselves.

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