A left-leaning organization that opposes white nationalism and white privilege has issued a report confirming that the tea-party movement not only is not dying, it continues to grow significantly.
The report comes from the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, which boasts of “new hope” for its “dreams for social and economic justice.”
The group is led by Leonard Zeskind, who describes himself as “a leading authority on white nationalist political and social movements.” He was trained as a community activist and and has work for more than a decade in the field.
The report, “The Status of the Tea Party: Membership, Support and Sympathy by the Numbers,” looks at the state of the movement that arose in response to Barack Obama’s far-left agenda and helped Republicans regain the House in 2010.
“Against IREHR’s expectations, the national organizations at the center of the tea party movement have maintained stable memberships in 2013,” states the report, which analyzes membership, location and commitment to the ideals of the movement.
“During the past year, tea parties have endured leadership changes, significant splits, and the emergence of competitive forces. Nevertheless, core membership numbers have neither receded nor died, but grown by four percent.”
The report notes that opposition to the tea party’s goals have “hardened,” but tea-party members have responded by a surge of commitment.
The report says the “core membership” is estimated at more than half-a-million people, concentrated geographically in the South, even though some local groups no longer are “active” and staging events.
“At its core, this report is a wakeup call for everyone who cares about human rights. The tea party threat to human rights remains persistent on a multitude of fronts,” Zeskind said.
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