The oldest and largest civil rights organization is behaving like it’s, well, old. During its 101st annual convention in Kansas City, Mo., this week, the group announced they were going to vote on a resolution to condemn racism within the ranks of the Tea Party.
OK, so you vote to condemn racism within the Tea Party. Now what? Where do we go from here, NAACP?
And therein lies the problem regarding the organization that, for so many years, was a a safe haven and vanguard for the African American community. In it’s inception a century ago, it tossed a protective blanket over us as we cowered in fear from rabid, rancid racism. And in its early days and even as a middle-aged institution, the NAACP cocked back its shoulders, flexed its chest and proudly defended us like a big brother or uncle.
Today, the organization only makes news for something nonsensical like supporting the legalization of casual marijuana use in the state of California.
If we vote to condemn racism, and we know that the NAACP will, what good does that do? Is the Tea Party supposed to recoil in horror and fear? Will the Tea Party suddenly disband because someone called it a name? Are they going to miraculously welcome minorities into the fold?
No, they won’t. They will brush off the slight — if they even bother to stop and notice it at all — and keep pushing towards the manifestation of their goals, which is to rudely yank President Obama out of the Oval Office and return the nation to the old order.
What I would like to know is how we are going to get our community mobilized to combat and counterattack the virulent strands of hate coursing through America’s bloodstreams and infecting “legitimate” institutions like the Tea Party?
What follow-up action will the national body, the regional body and the local chapters take after the resolution is read to the media?
How are we going to get our young people excited about joining the fight in the burgeoning intercultural war? How do we get young blacks to join the NAACP at all?
To be honest, young people view the NAACP like they do their grandfather’s ’70s Cadillac — insufficient, inefficient and no longer hip. –terry shropshire
