Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, said in a statement on his Facebook page that he'll remain as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. He had threatened to step down from the largely Democratic group after one of its members, Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., criticized the Tea Party at a town hall in Miami, where he suggested some of its members would like to see African-Americans "hanging on a tree."
West said he met with the caucus's chairman, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., to express "my condemnation of recent comments from fellow CBC members, especially Rep. Andre Carson," he said.
"Cowards run from challenges, while warriors run to the sound of battle," West said. "I will not be resigning from the Congressional Black Caucus. Constitutional Conservatism is now and will in the future be a part of the Congressional Black Caucus."
"There may be those who criticize my decision but consider if Henry O. Flipper or the Tuskegee Airmen had taken the easy out over the hard in," he adde. "Those men are part of my legacy as a career military office, a proud legacy."
West also said he and Cleaver would be "issuing a joint statement on policies to rectify the disastrous unemployment statistics in the black community."
West, elected in 2010 with Tea Party support, is one of just two black Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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