Advancing The Cause?
The NAACP just has it all wrong.
by Ron Bronson, Jr.
June/July 2000
For nearly a century, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has served as an organization dedicated to working for the equality of black people (minorities, but we all know the truth..) in the United States. While their efforts in the first sixty percent of this century should be applauded, I must state that I’m extremely suspect of their true commitment to equal rights. After all, if we’re all equal and blacks were to perhaps reach equal footing as a group, then what would we need them for?
While I would be the first to admit that racism still exists, does the government have an obligation to force people into thinking differently? My answer is no. Surely, the federal government had an obligation to ensure that states and communities were adhering to federal law and when blacks were denied the right to vote (that they are guaranteed under the law) or adequate education, but to say that the federal government, corporations or communities should be diverse in their hiring simply because it’s “the right thing to do” is absurd.
Suppose for instance, that you owned a business and someone told you that you had to spend your hard earned profits (or to incur losses) to actively recruit, train, retain and promote “highly qualified” individuals of “African-American” (or whatever we’re calling ourselves this week) descent, not because it’s going to increase your profits or increase productivity, but simply because your potential employee’s great great grandparents or someone even farther removed than that, might have been subject to involuntary servitude that was forced upon them by someone who probably wasn’t related to you. (After all, you’re family probably hasn’t been in the country that long. Hell, maybe you’re Canadian!) Wouldn’t you be fighting against this group? No, you’re afraid that you might be called a racist! (GASP)
Yet, the NAACP has gone further than just demanding jobs for “qualified” blacks. (After all, if they’re qualified..why do they mention training?) They’re “boycotting” the State of South Carolina, to demand that the Confederate Flag be removed from the state’s capitol. Is anyone really naive enough to believe that black people are such a financial boon to an economy, that a boycott from us would even matter? Aside from a few sporting events (imagine that, blacks & sports. Never would’ve guess it!) the boycott has been a complete failure. In fact, the South Carolina Department of Tourism is reporting that tourism was higher during the supposed “economic sanctions” imposed by the almighty NAACP.
The sanctions, coupled with the campaign to remove the flag, the call for more minority hiring in sports and television are simply ways to give the NAACP some feeling of self-worth. I’m sure membership and dues in communities are rising due to all their publicity. But what are they really accomplishing? Does that child in the after school program in Newark, NJ feel the impact of the NAACP and their work to “advance” colored people?
If Mr. Mfume and his organization are truly dedicated to the cause of empowering black people to make a difference, they’ll being working in the same communities their chapters are located, they’ll pool their resources and will stop using race as the crutch that impedes black progress. Regardless of what they say, if black people could achieve greatness during slavery, Jim Crow and in spite of all that was done to stop, there is NO reason why anyone should be crying today.
I won’t use the same cliché about Dr. Martin Luther King and his dream, because I have too much respect for the man and ideals he stood for. (Even amid the things he did wrong, he was still a great man and is deserving of a proud, untainted legacy.) But, the fact is that the day is going to come when people are going to get sick and tired of feeling guilty for something that had nothing to do with and if the so-called black “leadership” in America doesn’t wake up, they may find themselves in a bind that they never imagined they’d be in.
Of course, they could always move back to Africa. I hear Zimbabwe is hiring.
Ron Bronson, Jr., is originally from Plainfield, NJ. His essays and columns have been published in various publications including USA Today, Washington Witness and is the Editor and Publisher of The Schoolhouse Review. He has previously served as Director of several national student-run organizations, including The ChangeAmerica Foundation and is a veteran of the US Air Force. Presently, he student at Monmouth College in Illinois majoring in Economics with double minors in Philosophy/Religious Studies and Political Science. After graduation intends to pursue his PhD in Public Policy.
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Copyright © 2000 Ronald Bronson, Jr. and The Multiracial Activist. All rights reserved.