In an interview with Tavis Smiley and Cornel West on the “Smiley & West” radio show last week, James Earl Jones discussed his Tony-nominated role in “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” — and a little politics:

“I think I have figured out the tea party,” the actor [said]. “I think I do understand racism because I was taught to be one by my grandmother.” Jones described his grandmother as part “Indian, part black” and said she “hated everybody.”

“And she taught all of her children and grandchildren to be racist, to hate white people and to distrust black people,” he said. Asked who is grandmother loved, Jones answered “nobody.”

“But that allowed me to figure it out for myself,” he went on. “And I think I know what racism is better than anybody who has ever been a racist.”

Earlier in the interview, Jones said that he takes in as much political news as he can. “I’m always on MSNBC,” he said. “I can’t get enough of it. I even venture into the right-wing talk shows sometimes.”

Of course, tea party types are not too happy:

The Tea Party Patriots, which describes itself as the nation’s largest tea party organization, called on the actor “to apologize for his divisive and irresponsible comments” in an email sent to reporters on Wednesday. “This is another example of an actor playing the politics of division and deceit,” Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots, said in a statement.

Listen to the broadcast:

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