West to Samuel Jackson: Stick to Movies, Not Politics, After Racist Jab at Tea Party

Actor Samuel L. Jackson echoed fellow film star Morgan Freeman in calling the tea party racist this week. Florida GOP Rep. Allen West, a card-carrying member of the tea party who is black, took issue with the comments.

“I think Samuel Jackson needs to pay more attention to the upcoming release of the movie ‘Avengers’ next summer and not [get] concerned with the politics and policies of the failed administration,” West told Fox News Wednesday.

Jackson, discussing the tea party, told New York magazine, “I think everything right now is geared toward getting that guy out of office, whatever that means. It’s not politics. It is not economics. It all boils down to pretty much to race. It is a shame.”

West retorted: “Samuel L. Jackson, I guess, disregards the 16.7 percent unemployment rate in the black community, a 20 percent unemployment rate for black adult males and a 45-46 percent unemployment rate for black teenagers. I think the racism that he is talking about is coming out of the White House and this administration.”