Bertha Lewis Formerly of Acorn speaks to Young Democratic Socialists

Former ACORN head Bertha Lewis told a group of the Young Democratic Socialists on that they should "do everything [they] can" to build their organization, and then insisted that our times are worse than internment under the Japanese and the years of Jim Crow laws (h/t Morgan Richmond at BigGovernment):

Any of these groups that says, "I'm young, I'm Democratic, and I'm a socialist," is okay with me. You know that's no light thing to do -- to actually say, I'm a socialist. You've got to know, actually, we are living in a time that's going to dwarf the McCarthy era. We are living in a time that'll dwarf the internment era of internment during World War II. We are right now in a time that is going to dwarf the era of Jim Crow and segregation.

They are coming and they are coming after you, and they are going to be brutal and oppressive. They've already shown it. ... This is not rhetoric or hyperbole -- this is real. ... This tea party so-called movement -- a bowel-movement in my estimation -- and this blatant uncovering and ripping off the mask of racism...

Bertha's group lost its congressional funding after videos were released depicting actual ACORN workers offering advice on how to hide income from prostitution from the government as well as how to lie to get mortgages. This video demonstrates a contrast to rhetoric about alleged fear-mongering among Tea Party protesters. Read more here.