"Founded more than a century ago to promote black equality, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is seeing remarkable diversity in its leadership ranks. It's the result of an aggressive effort over the past four or five years to boost NAACP membership and broaden the civil rights organizations' agenda to confront prejudice in its many forms."
I'm guessing by now you've figured out that I didn't write that lede. It came from the non-partisan, apolitical Associated Press. As a former contributor to the organization, I was intrigued by the concept. Gee, I thought, they've promoted a white businessman from the South to a leadership position. Why not? They've elected a divisive former Congressman who helped found the Congressional Black Caucus, and a convicted violent felon as head of the organization. Why shouldn't they have a raving capitalist oppressor in a position of power? Celebrate diversity.
Alas, I was disappointed to find out there's a limit to the organization's tolerance of people who are different from the oppressed black masses still being held in bondage by the white man. The Worcester, Massachusetts chapter elected, gasp, a gay black man to head the local committee. The Worcester president announced that this is "the new NAACP." Now I'm not ignoring the white man who was recently elected to head the Jackson State University Chapter, but, well, it's a college. When they graduate, they'll find that white men actually have no interest in the plight of black people. All white people are racists, even those who aren't consciously racist. It's a racial genetic defect from which all white people suffer.
What made the Worcester "breakthrough" interesting is that among the very few issues on which the black population is far to the right of the white population is gay issues. That got me thinking that the organization's near-unanimous support of all things Obama makes sense in more ways than one. Like Obama being out of tune with fundamental American values, the NAACP is out of tune with the majority of blacks. The formerly great organization has slipped into meaninglessness of late, and it has now proven that the agenda of the left trumps the agenda of the majority of the people it has sworn to protect.
I applaud the Worcester chapter for recognizing that a person's sexual preference has very little to do with civil rights and discrimination against blacks and other persons of color. But it also seems to me that they have bought into the left's grand strategy of equating past slavery and Jim Crow with the current nearly non-existent oppression of homosexuals de facto and the total non-existence of oppression of homosexuals de jure. Even legal discrimination (as opposed to oppression) has disappeared in nearly every jurisdiction except for the dubious "discrimination" against gay marriage. I simply can't see how the election of one gay man to a post at one chapter demonstrates how the NAACP has in any way returned to its original goal.
Monday, March 28, 2011
NAACP Discovers Diversity
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17 comments:
No question in my mind, Hawk-- it doesn't represent any such return at all. We really have seen enough black people make it to the upper middle class to actually become something more than lock-step liberals. I don't kid myself, though. The percentage is very low, and as we know, any black who doesn't tow the line is quickly branded as a "Tom."
In some ways, I see the NAACP as having some remarkable similarities to unions. What may have once been a noble mission is now an organization that is a bloated buracracy bent on self-perpetuation. As such, they are like political parties where instead of intelligently looking at each issue individually, they automatically are "against" anything their political opponents are for.
The Democratic Party is beholden to the NAACP. The NAACP has proven that it is not for "equality" and "fairness" but in actuality are for extra benefits being given to minorities. They are agenda driven also, calling for tolerance while being the most intolerant of all.
Tennessee: I agree. There are still pockets of de facto discrimination which the NAACP could do some good with. But its main purpose was accomplished with the Civil Rights Acts and years of successful litigation. In order to justify its existence today, it would have to address highly-limited issues and perhaps things like scholarships. That would mean a drastic reduction in its size and funding. Like unions, the entrenched leadership cannot allow that, so it has to create phony issues and support left wing causes.
Teresa: The Democrats do indeed count on the NAACP to keep the membership in line and throw resources at Democratic politicians. Solid issues of discrimination get lost in the shuffle of finding racism where it doesn't exist. Obama and Holder have stoked imagined racism in a way rarely seen even among Democrats. It's just old-fashioned croneyism. You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours. And to hell with real issues.
naacp = giving me a ho-hum, and that is being extremely generous.
they are grasping for relevance for the oppressed, yet are attaining intolerance with a side of thuggery. they can't spin that clean no matter how they try.
I'll agree with the idea that the NAACP = Unions an idea whose time came and went...
on the subject of colors -- I've always wondered, was it a purple, people-eater or an eater of purple people?
If it was the former, then I nominate it as the next diverse head of the NAACP...
Patti: And how about those black farmers, huh? There has been discrimination against three times as many black farmers as there are, well, black farmers. Keep those check rolling in. The entire original purpose of the NAACP was to bring whites and blacks together for the common goal of equality. Its current goal seems to be to divide whites and blacks by blaming everything that goes wrong in the black community on whites.
rlaWTX: The background singers in the Sheb Wooley hit asked the same question--"purple people?" LOL
Purple would be an acceptable color to the NAACP, since it isn't white--the only unacceptable color. I stopped contributing to the NAACP when I realized that they no longer saw it as a contribution to a common cause, but rather their due for all my past sins. Sorta like "slave reparations," which I also had no part in.
I wonder how long it's going to be before being gay fully replaces being black as the celebrated minority (it's starting to happen already) and the black community gets attacked for being bigoted and narrow-minded. If or when that happens, it should be an awesome showdown.
T_Rav: And you can add to the formula the fact that gays are among the wealthiest of demographics. I can't wait to see how they're going to plead poverty and blame it on heterosexuals. But that's how the "oppressed minority" game book plays it.
One of the first things you discover about the NAACP when you go through college in the past couple decades is that "diversity" means "liberal blacks." It does not include anything else.
I'm not sure how their relationship with gays will ultimately turn out. They seem to be competitors for the affections of the federal treasury and the black community isn't very accepting of gays, so I'm thinking this is the rare exception. I guess we'll see though.
Aw come on Lawhawk what do you expect these people at the NAALCP to get a real job.
Like so many American institutions, the only reason they exist at a point is to bilk society. Race is an industry now, where the leaders live in lavish opulence, while their plebes fight for the table scraps - - held in Sec 8 prison camps, with democrats and the NAALCP, The Urban League, Jesse Jackson, Louis the lip Farrakhan, Al Sharpton, democrat party, etc. as the guards. It’s truly sad.
Andrew: I suspect that a gay black NAACP leader in Worcester would be much the same as one in Berkeley or San Francisco. Tokenism. But I could be wrong, and in fact I actually hope I am.
Stan: Let's face it. The race-baiting industry has done very well so far under the Obama administration. They not only get moral support, but just in case, they have the Attorney General in their hip-pocket.
LawHawk,
I beg to differ on your opinion about the race-baitering industry doing very well. About 90% of their prior successes is the white-guilt they induce. They are losing that edge. More people are realizing that they aren't guilty of racism in the first place. Yes, the idiots have an Attorney General, but he leaves after this administration goes away.
Their industry is damaged beyond repair now. It relied on white-guilt. Whites aren't feeling that guilt anymore. In fact they are feeling pretty much put upon now.
Joel: I don't really see that we're in disagreement. I'm pretty sure you're right about white guilt fading rapidly. I was merely pointing out what is happening today with the assistance of the first "post-racial President" and his minions. With Holder, the race-baiting industry has probably reached its high water mark, and will now recede, beginning in 2012. And the article was, of course, about the desperation of the NAACP to find issues to perpetuate itself.
LawHawk,
We are not in disagreement. I see more and more that the sand that NAACP is built on is being washed away, not by us the American people, but by their own people. Overuse of the race card, obvious racism practiced by Obama and Michelle, and obvious racial discrimination by the Attorney General and his office are washing away all that holds the NAACP up. NAACP is scrambling now, and won't recover it's past glory.
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