Bond: NAACP is still needed

[Neil D]

DETROIT // Those who question the need for an NAACP in the post-civil rights era need only look at the Supreme Court's recent decision concerning integration in public schools or the federal government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said last night in a speech kicking off the organization's 98th annual convention.

"As we find ourselves refighting battles we thought we had already won, we are reminded that the NAACP is as needed now as ever before," Bond said to a crowd of several thousand at the Cobo Conference/Exhibition Center.

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Bond's 45-minute remarks served as a rallying cry for the thousands of rank-and-file members of the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He said that despite recent setbacks, which include financial troubles and the departure of its president and CEO, the nation's oldest civil rights organization remains strong and has much work to do.

The 67-year-old civil rights stalwart rattled off a list of problems that minority communities endure: poverty, a biased criminal justice system, denial of voting rights, unequal education, disparities in earning power and job opportunities, and lack of health care.

"Ninety-eight years after it began, the NAACP is still fighting to eliminate the racism and prejudice that feed these inequalities and social ills," he said. "As long as these issues exist, the NAACP will be needed as an aggressive force seeking to eradicate them."

Bond did not shy away from what has become his annual blistering critique of the Bush administration. Three years ago, Bond's convention speech harshly criticized President Bush's domestic agenda and the war in Iraq, prompting an Internal Revenue Service probe into the group's tax-exempt status. Bond called the inquiry politically motivated, and last year the IRS dropped the investigation, concluding that the speech did not violate rules prohibiting political activity by tax-exempt groups.

Last night, Bond took jabs at the administration's handling of voting rights and Hurricane Katrina, and urged that there be "no more Bush appointees to the Supreme Court."

The high court's recent decision that school systems cannot seek to achieve or maintain integration through measures that take explicit account of a student's race is akin to condemning "minority children to secondary status before they've even started secondary school," Bond said.

"Truth is, there are no nonracial remedies for racial discrimination," said Bond, who teaches courses at the University of Virginia and American University on the civil rights movement. "In order to get beyond race, you have to go to race. To suggest race neutrality as a remedy for racial discrimination is sophistry of the highest order."

Hurricane Katrina, Bond said, serves as the best examination of "the state of race in Bush's America." The storm and its aftermath exposed the race and class chasms in society today and government inaction to repair them, he said.

"We ought to use the lessons of Katrina to recapture the race issue from the political right, to return to a time when whites say, as President Johnson did in 1965: 'Their cause is our cause, too. Because it's not just Negroes, it is all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.'"

In his remarks, Bond was frank about the sudden resignation of NAACP President and CEO Bruce S. Gordon, who Bond said "couldn't align our mission with his." He also spoke bluntly about the organization's recent budget shortfall, which resulted in 70 employees losing their jobs.

"The NAACP will emerge from this period healthier than we were before," he said to rousing applause. "The right-sizing process, as painful as it is for those most affected, forces us to be a leaner, meaner and keener organization."

Bond applauded local branches for their efforts in fighting injustice and noted recent opinion polls that he said confirm that blacks still look to the NAACP for leadership. He stressed that the NAACP is actively searching for a CEO and has embarked on an effort to raise more than $100 million by its centennial celebration in 2009.

Earlier, NAACP leaders made a plea for donations. In a scene reminiscent of a Sunday morning church service, ushers walked the ballroom aisles with collection plates, asking members to drop in contributions as organ music played.

That didn't sit well with members such as Artina Shumpert, 45, of Peru, Ind., who recently rejoined the NAACP after not having been active since she was a teen.

"It just seemed too forceful," she said. "I don't believe in doing things that way. When I was active, we used to go door to door getting members."

But Shumpert, a steelworker, who rejoined the NAACP to fight discrimination in her small town, said she was inspired by Bond's remarks, particularly his words about the devastation of Katrina and the government's inadequate response.

"He just hit the nail on the head," she said.

Others said the collection was fitting and sent a message to anyone in doubt of the NAACP's relevance.

"I thought it was absolutely appropriate," said Harold Crumpton, president of the St. Louis branch. "It was a demonstration of the dedication of the NAACP's branches. It sent a signal to the world that we are not going anywhere."

[lazarus]

Of course its needed.

We need a name change though.....Anti Racism Alliance.....Black and Proud....The New Black Panthers.....Black Consciouness Collective.....Black Family Research Council.....Focus on Humanity...Skin Deep......

I could go on.

[Neil D]

Of course its needed.

We need a name change though.....Anti Racism Alliance.....Black and Proud....The New Black Panthers.....Black Consciouness Collective.....Black Family Research Council.....Focus on Humanity...Skin Deep......

I could go on.

Hmmmmm...."The New Black Panthers"....isn't that kinda a stealth name?......

[Kountzer]

the letters naacp is recognized world wide, which is why they keep the name. people don't pay attention to what the letters mean.

The names 'the new black panthers' is already taken. Activist quannel x (probably sic) is a member of such a named group, or at least he was. I don't know how well know quannel is, but here in houston he is in the news all the time.

[olger]

How about the Justice Brothers? or is that already taken?

[Amelia]

How about the Justice Brothers? or is that already taken?

[lazarus]

the letters naacp is recognized world wide, which is why they keep the name. people don't pay attention to what the letters mean.

The NAACP just seems very conservative and dare I see impotent. They seem to be a relic from a "bygone era" They need to get some leather jackets and Don Cheedle to do some ads for them.

[lazarus]

Introducing the Urban Justice League!

[John317]

In what ways would you like to see the NAACP change? What do you think it should do?

[lazarus]

The problem with the NAACP is that it has something of the "patrician" about it. They have some good ideas/programs but they seem to be part of some kind of civil rights establishment...stuffy, reactionary and tired.

Bond has said some of the right things as the new leader but at 67 you have to wonder if he has the ideas and the stomach fight that will be needed to change the organisation

Name Change

Focus less on past achivements and more on the current struggle.

Reconstruct the movement by starting at the grass roots. Going into neighbourhoods and starting chapters led by local people.

Focus on black men.

Teach stratergies to communities that work.

[olger]

[D. Allan]

Quote:

Focus on Humanity

Sounds good!

NAACPP

new american alliance of colored and pale people

[John317]

Sounds like a good plan. I think they need to try harder to bring the races together rather than trying to divide them. A lot of whites are ready to embrace blacks-- and many already do-- but Caucasians sometimes feel put off by what they preceive to be prejudice or resentment against them.

I hope you write to the NAACP about your ideas. Maybe if enough people say the same thing, you'll see some real changes.

I remember Bond from the civil rights movement of the 60s when I was kid. I was very impressed by him in those days. But I must admit that I am disappointed in the results of those struggles. Disappointed in both whites and blacks. Young blacks don't seem aware of what's been accomplished and what's more they generally have little or no respect for blacks or whites who fought so hard for those advances. I wonder if it's because their parents or grandparents don't teach them. I see a lot of very angry young blacks who are destroying themselves. It's something I have to deal with practically every day.

[Kountzer]

There's this book I read and even bought, and still have, but seldom pay attention to, called "the crisis of the negro intellectual" by Harold Cruse. It was written back in the mid sixties. The book is sort of a history of african american self help, or activist groups, going back to slavery. It goes into detail about the naacp, and tells a lot of stuff about the organization a lot of people don't know. For example, the organization came into existance with a lot of assistance from white Jewish people. there are a lot of parallels between the struggles of the 2 groups, namely blacks and jews. The first board members of the naacp were predominantly jews, if I remember correctly. I don't know how true that is today. About the only groups I pay any attention to these days are my job and the group with the 3 angels msgs.

DB