Waters: Probe 'birthers and the teabaggers' at rallies for racist views

The media should investigate the racial views of conservative activists like the ones who descended on Washington last weekend, one liberal congresswoman said Wednesday.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said that it's not enough for African-Americans to levy allegations of racism against the right-leaning protesters, and that the media must look into their views.

"I want those people talked to; I want them interviewed," Waters told the liberal Bill Press Radio show in a podcast. "I want journalists to be all over those rallies and the marches with the birthers and the teabaggers."

"What I'm looking for is the very people who carry the signs who are referring to the policies in very, very strange ways like 'Obamacare' and 'Barry Obamacare with Kennedy,'" she said. "What I've been interested in is hearing from those people that everybody's referring to -- everybody on the Mall, in the rally."

Tens of thousands of conservative activists took to the National Mall last weekend to protest the Obama administration, specifically its stance on healthcare reform. Examples of incendiary rhetoric touching on racial overtones from some protesters have emerged on blogs in the days since the rally.

"I think it's not enough for African-Americans to say what they think, what they suspect," Waters said. "I think that if you put the microphones in front of them, if you do the interviews, they'll tell you what they believe, what they think."