Former NAACP Head Speaks at Washington University; Urges Young Blacks to Lead and Warns of Tea Party Intentions

Civil rights leader Julian Bond has a message for young African Americans; "Get with it."

During a speech Friday at Graham Chapel on the campus of Washington University, Bond, the former Chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said, "your group (young African Americans) has been notably absent from the fray." He said young black people need to "step up and do what others before you did and take your place in the leadership of this movement (civil rights) and make sure it succeeds."

Bond said the racial picture in America has improved remarkably in his lifetime with the election of President Barack Obama. However, he said America has not entered "racial nirvana across the land," as some people believe.

"Our response to the first black president shows that we are still a country at war with itself." Bond said President Obama's victory did not herald a post civil rights America or mean that race has been vanquished. He said instead there is evidence it fomented racial attitudes.

"President Obama is to the Tea Party as the moon is to werewolves," he said.

During his speech, Bond took aim at members of the Tea Party, cautioning people about electing Tea Party candidates who he said "proudly proclaim I hate government and now I'm in it."

He urged blacks and Latinos to work together for social justice in America, instead of fighting for "which has the least amount of power."

Bond's address was titled “Post Racial America: Fact or Fiction?”