NAACP Supports Democrats over Black people?

During a conversation between Fox News’ Kelly Wright and Wall Street Journal editorial board member Jason Riley, an interesting dialogue emerged about the NAACP.  While I am not one to spend much time pretending that the majority of conversations on Fox News actually make sense, this one got my attention.

Wright and Riley asked whether or not the NAACP’s snap endorsement of President Barack Obama’s support for gay marriage was driven by their loyalty toward Obama or by the desires of its membership.  Riley, who seems like one of those folks who might be in a hurry to dismantle the NAACP, argued that the organization’s leadership has put its loyalty toward the president ahead of the concerns of its members.

I am not with Riley in extrapolating this peculiar political move to imply that the NAACP has lost the bulk of its value.  But any fool can see that the NAACP’s endorsement of gay marriage was in direct response to President Obama’s announcement.  Any claim by the organization that their statement “just happened” to occur right after Obama’s announcement is absolute nonsense.   As a supporter of gay marriage myself, I can say that we were all talking about the issue because President Obama started the conversation.

The NAACP could have handled the Obama/gay marriage issue by simply remaining silent (as did the Urban League).  Instead, its leadership drew a line in the sand which positioned its interests to be in alignment with the Democratic liberal machine.  Money and power were the rule of the day here, and the members of the organization were not important in the NAACP’s perpetual quest to maintain good relations with King Obama.

For those who don’t know, here’s how things are working right now in the relationship between the White House and the Black community: The Obama Administration gives us its agenda and tells us to fulfill it.  The administration understands clearly that the black vote is relevant for re-election, but not relevant enough to use valuable resources to improve the lives of African Americans directly.

So, when Obama makes an announcement that is not in the interest of the majority of the black community (i.e. gay marriage), the administration gets on the Bat Phone to find African American public figures who are willing to force feed the Kool-Aid to the masses.  Massive liberal media platforms like MSNBC are enlisted as the launching pads of propaganda, where church-going Black folks are then described as illiterate Neanderthals who need liberal White people to think for us.  Those willing to share the message are rewarded in numerous ways:  Appearances by Obama at their events, their own television shows/segments and other behind-the-scenes goodies that people get for playing for the liberal team.  Truth becomes the enemy in this form of dysfunctional cronyism, and we should all be sickened by it.

The administration’s agenda is not presented to the Black community in a respectful sharing of ideas.  Rather, it is pushed forward in a manner reminiscent of how African dictators would squash protesters to protect the interests of foreign oil companies.  Those who have anything unpopular to say are told to remain dumb and silent — or called Uncle Toms for not supporting every move by the brother in the White House.   The collective political IQ of Black America dropped by 30 points after the election of President Obama, for freedom of thought and expression were quickly tossed to the wayside.

I am not one to call out those who use their leverage in Black America to make themselves into de-facto employees of the Obama Administration, because it’s quite clear who they are.  Basically, anyone you see who claims to be a Black leader but refuses to ever critique the actions of the Obama Administration is effectively working on behalf of the administration to get negroes in line with their agenda. The problem with this form of politics is that the lesson for the powers-that-be in Washington is that you don’t have to do anything for all Black people collectively;  instead, you only have to make sure its leadership is in your pocket.  As a case-in-point, you should notice how the rulers of many African countries are wealthy from foreign corporations, while the people remain in dire poverty.  The same idea is being applied right here in the US.

The factors I’ve described explain why the NAACP suddenly spoke up in support of gay marriage, even though it was in direct misalignment with the majority of its members.   The Black McCarthyism that has come into existence since the rise of President Obama should be disturbing to us all, because heavily non-Democratic forces are being used to support Democratic power.  Anyone who questions the administration or brings up legitimate concerns (i.e. poverty , mass incarceration, educational inequality, economic inequality) is immediately assaulted by one of the hired goons of the administration who has taken responsibility for keeping Black folks silent.  This does not increase our freedom as a people, it reduces it.

One can’t help but be disappointed that NAACP leadership has signed on for the Black oppression program, for its commitment to the advancement of Black people should supersede its loyalty toward any politician.  The NAACP is at its best when it is truly non-partisan, and has no permanent friends or enemies (see Colin Powell as a great example).  Only our interests should be permanent, and those interests should be related to the advancement of Black people.  Given that many of our leaders have rented themselves out to the liberal machine, it might be time for a mutiny.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

Check his exclusive video here:

————-

LIVE COVERAGE: The New NAACP: “Protecting Our BMW’s – Black Men Walking”

————-

Want to Keep Up With NewsOne.com? LIKE Us On Facebook!

MUST READS:

The New NAACP: “Protecting our BMW’s – Black Men Walking” [LIVE COVERAGE]

Shocking! 3 George Zimmerman Witnesses Change Their Stories

NAACP 500 Leadership summit

I have heavily critiqued the NAACP.

I’ve spoken about how it feels very much disconnected from my generation and I’ve watched as local chapters hold press conferences about ridiculous and frivolous issues. The nation’s oldest civil rights group to me seemed stagnant—Just a bunch of old Black folks being old and Black and not growing with the times. Yes, of course there were some places where the NAACP was still doing good work but I scoffed at it being genuinely relevant anymore.

SEE ALSO: 

What’s REALLY Going On At NAACP’s Leadership Summit? [VIDEO]

So when my co-host L. Joy Williams — an active member of the NAACP’s Brooklyn branch — wanted to invite the National  NAACP’s chairperson on to our radio show, I half-heartedly agreed and told her don’t get mad if I say something she doesn’t like.  Chairman Roslyn Brock appeared on “Blacking It Up” January 23, 2012, and when I thought I was pushing back on her and the organization she pushed back on me. She challenged me directly. She asked me if I was a member of the NAACP? If I had issues with it, why not join and voice them from within?

Why not work with them?

It wasn’t as if I hadn’t considered it before. At Netroots Nation in 2010 during the Black Caucus, the idea of “infiltrating” the NAACP was discussed by a group of very engaged Blacks who felt disconnected to the organization — but I personally didn’t follow up on that threat. The closest I came to joining was when they issued the resolution that there were racist elements in the Tea Party—which at first I thought was silly. But when the declaration caused some members of the Tea Party to respond with racism, I realized that it was sort of a brilliant move. Then within a week or two of that high profile checkmate, the Shirley Sherrod incident occurred and I crossed my arms and said “SEE.”

But as I spoke to the Chairman issuing a direct challenge to me, I felt as if I couldn’t just blow it off. If you’re going to talk smack about organizations you have to also be willing to stand up when asked. The historic nature of the NAACP can never be overstated. And with the challenge the chairman also invited me down to their annual Leadership 500 summit, a 4 day meeting of the minds discussing the path and focus of the organization.

That’s where I’m writing from now.

See Live Coverage of The NAACP 8th Annual Leadership 500 Summit, “Protecting our BMW’s – Black Men Walking,” here.

In the first full day there have been panels and discussions on a wide range of topics. There are people here that I wasn’t aware of before, like Shavon Arline Bradley, Director of Health Programs for the NAACP, who are speaking passionately and brilliantly about many issues that are plaguing our time in America. She came on “Blacking It Up” and dropped one of the scariest statements I’ve ever heard. When explaining the importance of universal healthcare and the actions that we have to take in order to make sure communities have access to fresh food and vegetables she said:

“This generation is the first one that may not live past their parents.”

Another one of my co-hosts, Aaron Rand Freeman had seen Bradley at an earlier panel and couldn’t heap enough praise on her. He was impressed by her knowledge and passion beyond belief. I mention him specifically because Aaron isn’t the type to get excited about conferences or speakers at said conferences. He’s not the type to want to join organizations like the NAACP. Yet after sitting around at the summit and observing it, he was not only excited, he was amazed. This was the NAACP people like myself and many others rarely get to see.

In recent weeks the media focus has been primarily on their recent stance on marriage equality for LGBT Americans, but there’s so much more going on. This civil rights group may be the oldest in the nation but the next generation of leaders are joining and stepping up to deal with the current civil rights issues of the day. Voter Id Laws, Healthcare, Drug laws—all of these are being dealt with head on. I thought to myself “I wish I heard more about this side of the NAACP.”

Then I realized maybe I should stop complaining and show this side of the NAACP.

An estimated 3,000 – 5,000 are in attendance.

See below for MSNBC live coverage:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

*Live Coverage of the rally has ended. Newsone will provide video as it becomes available.

‘LIKE’ NewsOne’s FB Page To Stay Up On Black News From Around The World

RELATED:

NewsOne’s Trayvon Martin Coverage

SEE ALSO:

Iranian Women Pose Nude To Protest Repression (NSFW VIDEO)

Rick Santorum Thinks NY Press Is Out To Get Him

NAACP President, Ben Jealous will travel with the group who will bring to light the recent Republican led voting laws in fourteen states, the he claims will lead to voter suppression of minorities.

‘LIKE’ NewsOne’s FB Page To Stay Up On Black News From Around The World

The Root reports:

“Now, like then, the principal concern is voting rights,” Jealous continued. “In the past year, more states have passed more laws, pushing more voters out of the ballot box, than at any point since the rise of Jim Crow. We have seen at least 5 million voters have their votes blocked by specific states like South Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, Wisconsin and so forth during the past 12 months. These include strict voter-ID bills, so-called registration-ID bills, bans on formerly incarcerated people voting and a range of other mechanisms that diminish access to the polls among minority populations.”

“The U.N. is the world’s forum for both promoting and defending democracy,” Jealous said. “In these hyper-partisan times in the U.S., we believe it is important for them to weigh in on what is happening here in our democracy. Our democracy is precious, not just to the citizens of this country but to the world.”

Read More At The Root

Leno claims that the bill would help to decrease California’s overcrowded prisons and allow people to receive treatment for addiction while keeping job prospects.

The L.A. Times reports:

“There is no evidence to suggest that long prison sentences deter or limit people from abusing drugs,” Leno said. “In fact, time behind bars and felony records often have horrible unintended consequences for people trying to overcome addiction because they are unlikely to receive drug treatment in prison and have few job prospects and educational opportunities when they leave.”

But others said the proposal will save taxpayers millions of dollars. “By changing this offense from a felony to misdemeanor, we can still hold individuals accountable for their actions while taking a huge burden off of county jails and protecting access to drug treatment,’’ said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, senior policy advocate with the ACLU of California.

Read More At The Los Angeles Times

SEE ALSO:

Will Police Racial Harassment Ever End?

Judge Rules Muslim Was Justified In Attacking “Zombie” Muhammed

I’ll admit it, I didn’t see “Red Tails.” Not because I’m as sell out who wants to see Black movies fail but because I took into account reviews from film critics and friends I respected that said it was uninspiring and cliche.

I think George Lucas should be awarded for his work for the first Star Wars Trilogy and Indiana Jones which were all excellent movies. But given the critical response to “Red Tails” it will unlikely go on in history like Lucas’ other films.

When Red Tails first came out, Lucas went on guilt-tripping campaign to get people to see his movie, saying:

“I’m saying, if this doesn’t work, there’s a good chance you’ll stay where you are for quite a while. It’ll be harder for you guys to break out of that [lower-budget] mold. But if I can break through with this movie, then hopefully there will be someone else out there saying let’s make a prequel and sequel, and soon you have more Tyler Perry.

Okay so we should go see “Red Tails” to keep Black film alive? Sorry that doesn’t work. If you want to make people see Black films, make a good Black film. By all accounts, “Red Tails” wasn’t as good as the “Tuskegee Airmen” movie from 1995. Its not enough to take into account the good intentions of a movie, the movie has to be good too.

I find it funny that George Lucas is winning an NAACP Vanguard Award before Spike Lee. Spike Lee’s contribution to Black film 30 years full of intriguing characters, smart plots artful dialogue and stunning cinematography, George Lucas helped fund a movie, that was already told and added special affects.

Where was George Lucas when “Glory” or “Miracle At St. Anna’s” came out? Both movies were war movies with all Black casts that told of Black heroism and patriotism. Both movies were also good and did not receive the guilt tripping save black cinema go-see-”Red Tails” marketing campaign.

Lucas also created the infamous Jar-Jar Binks character who many accused of being an alien minstrel show. After Lucas was criticized for not having any African American characters in he first Star Wars, he included the slick talking, morally challenged, Lando Calrissian, played by smooth Billie Dee Williams for “Empire Strikes Back”

So should Lucas get an NAACP Vanguard Award for funding “Red Tails” maybe if they give them out for good intentions.

The calls for outside oversight came days after Sheriff Douglas Gillespie pleaded for patience from the public and promised a thorough internal investigation of the Monday morning slaying of Stanley Lavon Gibson.

Police said Gibson, 43, rammed his vehicle into police cruisers after officers were called late Sunday to a report of an attempted condominium break-in.

Frank Hawkins Jr., president of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, noted that Gibson was black and pointed to what he called “an unprecedented number of questionable deaths” at the hands of Las Vegas police.

“There have now been 12 deaths at the hands of the police this year alone,” Hawkins said. “Local authorities have proven either unwilling or unable to address what appear to be either rogue or dangerously incompetent officers within the police department operating with impunity.”

The U.S. Department of Justice should investigate and make public its findings, Hawkins said.

ACLU chief Dane Claussen called the shooting “deeply troubling” and said it “fits into a long pattern of shootings of persons, many others of whom also were unarmed, who were not an immediate threat to anyone.”

Las Vegas police haven’t taken sufficient steps to limit shootings and aren’t properly investigating them, Claussen said.

Gibson’s friends and family members said he had a troubled personal history, was suffering from cancer he blamed on his Army service, had recently had his Veterans Affairs disability payments reduced, and was due for sentencing on an assault charge after an argument with a Veterans Affairs doctor.

Gibson’s wife, Rondha Gibson, has told reporters that her husband ran out of anxiety medication and was prone to paranoid delusions and anxiety, with fears that people were after him.

Neighbors’ videos show officers firing shots into the vehicle after it spun its wheels while wedged between police cruisers.

Las Vegas police on Wednesday identified the four patrol officers involved in the shooting as officer Jesus Arevalo, officer Malik Grego-Smith, Sgt. Michael Hnatuick and Lt. David Dockendorf. Each is on paid leave pending the internal investigation.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Gibson and his wife had moved into the condo earlier this month and he might have been confused about where he was when he confronted police.

Gibson’s Army discharge shows he separated from the service in 1992. He blamed his cancer to exposure during Operation Desert Storm to depleted uranium from armor-piercing shells used by M-1 tanks.

Department of Veterans Affairs medical records showed Gibson underwent five surgeries for a form of adenoid cancer that left his jaw disfigured and had spread to a lung.

SEE ALSO:

Jon Stewart: “All American Muslim” Most Boring Show Ever?

The civil rights organization argues in a report released Monday that the laws amount to a coordinated, comprehensive assault on minorities’ voting rights as their numbers in the population and at the ballot box have increased. NAACP President Ben Jealous says he met with assistant Attorney General Tom Perez over the weekend and personally gave Perez a copy of the report.

The NAACP says it will also send the report to other federal agencies, secretaries of state and attorneys general in the 50 states, congressional committees and the United Nations.

The organization says discipline data it reviewed in Marion County school districts indicate the schools with the largest African-American populations suspended Black students in twice the proportions one would expect based on population.

In addition, the group also found that the Back students were often disciplined for “attitude problems” like insubordination, while white students were typically only disciplined for specific offenses such as drug possession or vandalism. Although a 2004 state law prohibits disproportionate discipline, its mandate is discretionary and does not require any specific action from schools to stem the problem.

Read more at BET.com

RELATED:

FBI Declined To Pursue NYC Bomb Plot, Official Says

See also: Rep. Charles: Still Mad As Hell

See also: The Underground Railroad First Found Steam In Philadelphia

The campaign, “Stand For Freedom” was formally announced at Tuesday’s press conference, where speakers Al Sharpton, Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP, U.S. Representative Charles Rangel, and other coalition members denounced states that are considering law reforms that would put in place more stringent rules for voting and registration.

The coalition is comprised of civil rights and labor organizations, including the NAACP, National Action Network, United Federation of Teachers, National Urban League, New York Civil Liberties Union, and unions representing Asian, Latino and other minority groups.

In dozens of states, new rules to voting and registration are being presented by lawmakers, mostly Republican, that would eliminate same-day voting, and require official photo identification in order to cast a ballot. Other new laws, the coalition said, could also cut early voting and Sunday voting opportunities.

Sharpton and supporters argue that such voter law reforms hearken back to the Jim Crow laws–outlawed in 1965–which discouraged African Americans from registering to vote due to poll taxes and literacy test requirements.

Sharpton said, today’s minority voters are facing a distant cousin of the Jim Crow laws. “Generations before faced Jim Crow, we face James Crow,” Sharpton said metaphorically.

“The end of early voting and other measures is a blatant attempt to undermine the Voter Rights Act,” Sharpton said.

Proponents of this movement are concerned that new state voting laws will erode national voter turn out, and create a new wave of disenfranchisement for Americans–specifically minority groups, immigrants, seniors, working women and students.

“We are in the midst of the greatest coordinated legislative attack on voting rights since the dawn of Jim Crow,” said Jealous, NAACP national president. “Voter identification laws are nothing but reincarnated poll taxes and literacy tests, and ex-felon voting bans serve the same purpose today as when they were created in the wake of the 15th Amendment guaranteeing ex-slaves the vote–suppressing voting numbers among people of color.”

Sharpton said the new sweep of voter reform has much to do with the Republican and Tea parties’ attempt to defeat President Barack Obama in the 2012 Presidential Election. Blacks, Latinos and young voters were among the strongest voting base in Obama’s 2008 presidential victory, whom Sharpton and others argue will be most impacted by the proposed voting laws.

“They are willing to take away votes in order to take down the president,” Sharpton said.

Republican lawmakers have argued that voting and registration reform is necessary in order to prevent voter fraud, which came to the forefront in 2008 when Acorn, a group organizing minority and low-income communities, was accused of a fraudulent voter registration scheme.

Rep. Rangel, who represents New York’s 15th District in Harlem, compared the changes to state election laws to the “Ku Klux Klan without hoods.”

“This is not just for blacks, this is for the country,” Rangel said.

Rangel specifically addressed the new law proposal that would require an official photo identification in order to vote. He argued that such a requirement would prevent seniors and young voters, who do not have driver’s licenses, from voting.

“If you don’t have a car, why do you need identification?” Rangel queried.

Rangel encouraged young voters to get involved in the political process. “You’re not too young to take part,” he said.

According to a report recently released by the Brennan Center for Justice, at least 38 states are considering or have considered voter identification or proof of citizenship laws including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware. The battleground states, Ohio and Pennsylvania were among those actively moving forward on voter identification legislation.

While voters in some states can request free photo identifications from state motor vehicles departments, they must still pay to obtain documents, such as birth certificates, necessary to get identification. The Stand For Freedom coalition said such measures could discourage citizens from voting at an alarming number.

Tuesday’s conference served as a precursor for the coalition’s national day of protest, United Nations Human Rights Day, to take place on Dec. 10 outside the Koch Brothers offices, where supporters will rally to stop new voter and registration laws from being passed.

Benjamin Todd Jealous appeared on the steps of New York City Hall with the Rev. Al Sharpton, U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel and community and labor leaders to announce plans for nationwide protests on Dec. 10 and across the South in the following weeks, decrying what they described as a nationwide voter suppression effort.

See also: Herman Cain Lawyer Lin Wood: New Accusers Should ‘Think Twice’

See also: Weekend Getaway Guide: Washington, D.C.

The rallies are “intended to get this conversation out of the thought leader class and down to the street corners, so folks understand that their rights are being attacked,” Jealous said, adding that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had already raised millions of dollars to support its campaign.

He said his group has been urging the Department of Justice, which is considering the legality of proposed policies in Texas and South Carolina, to block the laws.

“This is the greatest assault on voting rights, happening right now, that we have seen …,” he said.

Kansas, Tennessee and Wisconsin are among the states that passed voter identification measures this year. Civil-rights advocates have argued the laws target low-income and minority voters by requiring specific types of photo ID to cast ballots, by reducing the number of early voting days and by instituting tougher laws on collecting registrations.

They say that blacks, Hispanics, senior citizens, people with disabilities and the poor are less likely to have the required photo IDs. And they argue others could be disenfranchised, such as voters who don’t carry ID with them, students whose school IDs are deemed unacceptable and women whose drivers’ licenses do not reflect their married names or new addresses.

Supporters of the laws say that they are necessary to eliminate voter fraud, no matter how rare it is. And some argue that without ID checks at the polls, there’s no way to track how many people may be casting illegal votes.

“I’m not sure how much fraud they think is acceptable,” said Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank. “The U.S. has a long history of voter fraud, and it could make the difference in a close election.”

The NAACP announcement came on a day that voters in Mississippi approved a proposed constitutional amendment to require that voters present government-issued identification at the polls. Voters in Maine repealed a law requiring them to enroll at least two days before an election, restoring a four-decade policy of allowing registrations as late as Election Day.

Last week, Democrats in the U.S. House asked secretaries of state in all 50 states to oppose voter identification laws.

The United Federation of Teachers, the health care workers’ union 1199SEIU, National Council of La Raza and the Asian-American Legal Defense Fund were among the groups represented at Tuesday’s news conference. George Gresham, the president of 1199SEIU, said that his organization would bus 10,000 of its members from around the state and the mid-Atlantic region to participate in the Dec. 10 protests.

Jealous is in support of a city council bill that would raise the minimum wage in New York to $10 an hour.

Yes! NAACP Passes Resolution, Calls For End To War On Drugs

NAACP: The United States Values Prisons More Than Schools

The New York Daily News reports:

“New York City is the nation’s greatest city and also has the greatest level of income inequality,” Jealous told the Daily News Monday. If we re going to turn things around in this nation . . . and get to a place where a rising tide lifts all boats, then we ve got to stop New Yorkers from drowning and try to get more New Yorkers heads above water.

Jealous plans to headline a Nov. 21 rally to support a City Council bill that would require companies that get city subsidies to pay their workers at least $10 an hour plus benefits better pay than the state s minimum wage.

Read More At The New York Daily News

Civil Rights activist and former NAACP chairman Julian Bond, CNN anchor Don Lemon, and comedienne Wanda Sykes were three of the panelists who spoke before members.

In the town hall styled forum, Bond said that gay rights are civil rights, and that “sexual disposition parallels race.”

“We know sexual orientation is not a choice. We know homosexuality is not a mental illness. We know you can’t pray the gay away,” he said.

Lemon and Sykes, who are both openly gay and lesbian, spoke about the difficulty in embracing their sexuality in face of societal opposition.

“You just suppress everything and become this other person,” Sykes said. “You start living that life that you think that you’re supposed to do.”

Lemon, who divulged his sexuality after the release of his autobiographical book Transparent, said that there is much work to be done in the Black community.

The forum is one of many tactics the NAACP has executed to diversify its political and social agenda. On the heels of criticisms that the organization has lost its luster over the years, it has made conscious efforts to include agendas beyond race issues, incorporating the agendas of all minority groups —something some feel is more representative of the NAACP first convened in 1909.

SOURCE

RELATED:

NAACP Blasts CNN: No African-American Anchors In Primetime

To do it, the group is going to reach out to black churches, fraternities and sororities as well as use sophisticated databases, social media and boost training of volunteers to include things like getting a contact for each voter they register.

“The days of the 45-minute workshop are over,” said Roger Vann, chief operating officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at the group’s annual convention on Wednesday.

Preserving voting rights is a key theme at the convention, which is being held in downtown Los Angeles through Thursday.

“We must fight against any attempt to segregate, isolate and steal the black vote,” said the Rev. William Barber, president of the NAACP’s North Carolina conference.

Barber noted that after a record 92 percent black turnout in the 2008 presidential election, in 2010 15 million blacks did not vote, including 3 million who were registered.

Panelists at a session on building black political power painted a grim picture of how low income minority voters are being disenfranchised by new laws in many states.

Such laws require a state-issued photo ID in order to vote, a current address on IDs, restrictions on restoring voter rights to ex-felons and prohibiting early and Sunday voting.

“These laws were all passed with the intent of reducing the minority vote,” said David Bositis, senior research associate of the Joint Center of Political and Economic Studies in Washington D.C.

A voter ID law in Wisconsin will disenfranchise 71 percent of African-American men in Milwaukee, Barber noted.

Judith A. Browne-Dianis, of the Advancement Project in Washington D.C., said part of any voter drive must include getting people proper identification.

“We got to education our people how to get these IDs,” she said.

Browne-Dianis noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has already upheld the constitutionality of one of these ID laws, but other challenges on different legal grounds are being mounted.

RELATED:

NAACP Head Calls Charter School Parent “Tool Of Slave Masters

NAACP Head Compares Voter ID Laws To Jim Crow

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The NAACP’s president is urging South Carolina’s Gov. Nikki Haley to remove the Confederate flag that flies near her Statehouse office.

NAACP protests led in 2000 to the flag being moved from atop the Statehouse dome and from House and Senate chambers to a monument outside the Statehouse.

But NAACP head Benjamin Jealous said at the group’s annual convention in Los Angeles on Monday that “one of the most perplexing examples of the contradictions of this moment in history is that Nikki Haley, South Carolina’s first governor of color, continues to fly the Confederate Flag in front of her state’s capitol.”

Haley is the first South Carolina governor whose parents immigrated from India. Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey said Tuesday the governor has no plans to revisit an issue resolved long ago.

RELATED:

Radio station demands South Carolina flag removed

The resolution outlines key details of the war on drugs, which the organization notes are crucial failings; the U.S. spends $40 billion annually on the war, and low-level drug offenders — mostly of color — are often locked up.

“These flawed drug policies that have been mostly enforced in African-American communities must be stopped and replaced with evidenced-based practices that address the root causes of drug use and abuse in America,” said NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous.

Instead of sending offenders to prison, the resolution calls for the creation and expansion of rehabilitation and treatment programs, methadone clinics, and other treatment protocols that have been found effective.

Once the resolution is ratified by the board of directors in October, it will encourage more than 1200 active NAACP chapters to organize campaigns to advocate for the end to the war on drugs.

RELATED:

NAACP Head Compares Voter ID Laws To Jim Crow

Reuters reports:

NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said a wave of newly enacted photo-ID requirements stemmed from what he saw as “the worst and most racist elements” in conservative Tea Party groups that have immersed themselves in state politics since the 2010 elections.

He compared photo ID laws to poll taxes and other past restrictions — since struck down by the courts — designed to keep blacks from voting in the segregated Deep South. And he said the latest measures were part of a racial backlash against the 2008 election of President Barack Obama.

Read The Whole Story

RELATED STORIES

What To Make Of The NAACP, Urban League, Obama Meeting?

NAACP: The United States Values Prisons More Than Schools

The White House didn’t state the purpose of the meeting, but I’ll make a point to reach out to Ben and Marc to see if they have anything to say.  Without knowing the purpose of the conversation, one might be able to guess which issue will be on the table first.

Black unemployment in America is at approximately the same level it was for all Americans toward the end of the Great Depression.  At that time, when one out of every six Americans was out of work, the government felt a sense of urgency and public pressure to do something to help alleviate the suffering.  In contrast, the current federal government has not (to my knowledge) mentioned any plan to engage in targeted policy to manage vast racial inequality that continues to plague our society.  If we’d had the same level of inactivity on racial inequality in the past, slavery never would have come to an end.

This lack of action has both a cause and a consequence.  One cause of the complacency is that the Obama Administration seems to believe that it has nothing to prove to African Americans.  Unlike Bill Clinton, a man who had to continuously reiterate his loyalty to African Americans via progressive action, President Obama wears his “Black Loyalty Card” on his skin.  I am not sure if any other president in recent history could get away with saying that he would not address racial inequality and instead expect that a “rising tide will lift all boats.”  In other words, the Obama Administration has been allowed to use a racialized version of trickle down economics, presuming that helping the entire economy would somehow help black people too.

The consequence of economic negligence of the black community has been staggering.  Black wealth at the start of the recession was a measly 1/10 that of white Americans.  Since that time, it has dropped to a shocking 1/50th, implying that nearly everything that black people have worked for over the last 30 years has disappeared into the wind.  Secondly, white unemployment has dropped during the recession (9.4% to 9.1%), while black unemployment has climbed dramatically (14.7% to 16.2%).  No matter what one thinks about Congress, The Obama Administration or anyone else, you can’t possibly argue that black people are better off now than they were three years ago – one must sadly say that a Republican president would have a tough time creating a worse economic situation.

President Obama can’t be blamed entirely for the political storm around him.  He must, however, be held accountable for how his administration has responded to the storm, for one must be careful about giving in to ignorance.  Fighting racial inequality requires courage and self-sacrifice, two attributes that are rarely present in the psyches of successful politicians.   At this point,  the black folks most likely to overlook the inactivity of the Obama Administration are likely the people who still have their jobs.   Of the remainder, there are those who’ve lost hope in the political process and have no interest in turning to the Republican party.  So, any resentment toward the Obama Administration is primarily a reflection of frustration with our broken political system itself – both lovers and haters of Obama are unified in their disappointment with the grim reality of elitist American politics.

I respect both Ben Jealous and Marc Morial immensely.  I sat on panels with them at the last two “Measuring the Movement” forums, hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton.  While Ben and I have bumped heads over the NAACP’s decision to take money from accused predatory lender Wells Fargo, I strongly suspect that his heart is in the right place.  Morial, being a seasoned political figure, has done a wonderful job of making calculated and intelligent decisions as he learns what it means for our nation to have its first black president.  Rather than positioning himself as an unconditional Obama cheerleader (or relentless critic), he has focused his energy on courageous advocacy for working class Americans.  Rev. Jesse Jackson has also done a good job of keeping a level head (although some still criticize him for the Fox News mixup back in 2008) – personally, I believe Rev. Jackson should be invited to the White House as well, along with Al Sharpton – no one should be frozen out or tempted to jockey for power; this divide-and-conquer tactic used by Washington politicians comes at a huge price for the African American community.

As Jealous and Morial stand with another black man in the nation’s most powerful office, I fully expect that all three of these men understand the gravity of the task which lies before them.  While President Obama’s astute political gamesmanship against reckless, myopic Republicans is certainly admirable, African Americans are still waiting for his administration to help them understand why he gave them a reason to show up to the polls in 2008.  He made extraordinary promises, so he received extraordinary support.   It’s nonsense to think that we have no right to ask for his time.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition.  To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

BOND Action is a non-profit organization focused on community-based activism.

“Their a political pawn of the liberal-elite, white, racist Democratic Party and not really for the people,” Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder of BOND Action told TheGrio.

He hopes black Americans (he views the term “African-American” as a “dumb” title and unpatriotic) stop supporting the NAACP financially and with their manpower.

Read more at TheGrio.com

RELATED:

House Passes Tea Party-Backed Debt Plan

Tea Party’s Herman Cain Announcing Presidential Campaign

The 5 Types Of Tea Party Racists [OPINION]

“As CNN announced their new schedule, a glaring omission was present — no African Americans were hosts or anchors in their prime time lineup,” he said.

“The NAACP is deeply concerned with the lack of African-American journalists in prime time, both on cable and national network news shows.”

Jealous added, “We have come to expect this from the likes of Fox News, but not other networks.”

The LA Times Reports:

Shifts in CNN’s schedule included adding CNBC personality Erin Burnett. The network has declined comment on the NAACP criticism. Exclusion of African Americans is significant, Jealous said, because the prime-time slots are the most influential in daily news. Although CNN, Bloomberg News, CNBC, Fox News and MSNBC have shows scheduled every hour to discuss financial and world news, and occassionally have black commentators, not one show is headlined or anchored by an African American.

Read More AT LATimes.com

RELATED:

NAACP Calls For More Blacks On TV

Boykin-Town’s husband, Darryl Towns, is the state housing commissioner and former Brooklyn state assemblyman who voted to increase the cap on charter schools last year. The NAACP, where Boykin-Towns sits on the national board, recently filed a lawsuit that decreed city charter schools.

The Towns’ enrollment of their daughter at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, poses as a revealing dissembling.

Boykin-Towns, however, defended their condemning decision stating, “I’d simply say that as a parent, the most important job you have is to provide the best opportunities possible for your children’s education and success,” Boykin-Towns said in an e-mail response.

The NY Post Reports:

“It’s beyond hypocritical; it’s crazy,” said Kathleen Kernizan, whose daughter is scheduled to attend Leadership Prep charter school in the Ocean Hill section of Brooklyn — whose proposed co-location in a building with a public school is being challenged by the NAACP.

“The NAACP is stopping my right to exercise my choice of what’s best for my daughter, and they’re fleeing the public-school system.”

Read More At NYPost.com

RELATED:

NAACP Head Calls Charter School Parent “Tool Of Slave Masters”

At this year’s NAACP Leadership 500 Summit, young professionals from across the nation convened in Hollywood, FL to discuss the next steps in empowering a new frontline of civil rights and social justice advocates.

On Friday, the business session of our Summit began with a workshop on Digital Vision Boards led by Lindsey C. Holmes and Nicholas I. Wiggins, who trained participants on using 21^st century technology to assist with crafting personal and professional goals. Participants then entered into a lively discussion on social networking – its advantages and challenges- and ultimately how we, as young professionals can use social media to advance individual and collective agendas. In both sessions, the message was clear: Technology is important to movements, whether they are personal, professional, or collective, and we must equip ourselves with the tools to take full advantage of it.

Our conversation then moved to health with Donna Richardson who engaged participants in activities that reminded us of the necessity of being physically health conscious. Terrie Williams enhanced the conversation through a discussion of mental health and its importance.

In our afternoon roundtable discussions, participants learned, reflected and discussed issues of health, education, financial literacy, leadership, energy justice, and economic empowerment. The sessions were not simply standard workshops but truly lively discussions that asked participants to identify what the key issues are for our generation and how we begin to strategically address them.

There is a saying that, “History teaches everything including the future.” On Saturday, participants ate breakfast with Dr. Isabel Wilkerson – Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns- and were able to reflect on our history and the journey of our families. We concluded our business session on Saturday with a town hall meeting where panelists – including Charles Ellison, Rev. Leah Daughtry, Lorraine Miller, and Hilary Shelton- discussed the next steps for young professionals politically as we approach the 2012 presidential elections.

Leadership 500 is unique because it brings together a young, diverse group of people, engages them in leadership development, and reminds us all of a commitment we must have to affirm America’s promise for all citizens.

The future is calling, and with your help, the NAACP will answer.

RELATED:

NAACP Head Calls Charter School Parent “Tool Of Slave Masters”

“You are not a member of the NAACP and don’t understand that you are doing the business of slave masters,” Dukes explained to Ramos in an email sent June 1st. Ramos, whose daughter attends the Bronx Success Academy charter school, is now demanding for Dukes resignation. We called Dukes at her office to seek comment, and her assistant told us that she is out of the office today, adding, “There’s an article every day about something or other, and she’s not going to comment on every one of them.” But this article, with its loaded rhetoric, is special! Given Dukes’s prominent position in the organization, you’d think she’d at least tone it down a notch—”slave master” is not the preferred nomenclature; “Unpaid Labor Supervisor,” please.

Read The Whole Story

RELATED STORIES

NAACP: The United States Values Prisons More Than Schools

NAACP Asks For Federal Review Of Texas “Miseducation” Of Minority Students

The first of a series of blogs from NAACP Chairwoman, Roslyn Brock…

For the past year, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to carry the banner of the NAACP across this nation as an exemplar of the next generation of necessary leaders. This weekend, we gathered in Hollywood, FL for the 7^th Annual NAACP Leadership Summit. As civic, community and business representatives, we were there to evaluate and have critical discourse about our continuing role in the pursuit of civil rights and social justice. This vital group of individuals between 30 -50 years of age that assembled, were those who are positioned to  provide leadership, for such organizations as the NAACP, their places of employment, their community,  and indeed the nation.

At this year’s summit, we sought to engage in conversations that will address such issues as access to adequate healthcare, employment, education, economic development and political empowerment. At the same time, opportunities were provided for participants to interact and continue to strengthen their networks and leadership skills, as we share in the common goals of achieving equity and justice for all citizens. It is our hope that our participants depart this Leadership 500 Summit, enlightened and inspired to join the NAACP in our journey to affirm America’s promise and ultimately, assume a position of leadership.

Please visit www.L500.org to watch our streamed general sessions, panel discussions, and roundtable discussions and visit www.thebrockreport.org to find some blog pieces written by many of the people who attended our summit this weekend.

.

The future is calling and with your help, the NAACP will answer!

Roslyn M. Brock

Chairman

NAACP National Board of Directors

RELATED: Miami Cops Kill Man After Memorial Day Car Chase

Hotels, motels and restaurants in the Myrtle Beach area have discriminated against African-Americans for years by refusing to open during Black Bike Week, the NAACP charges in a pair of federal lawsuits.

The civil rights group contrasts the behavior of defendants Molly Darcy’s on the Beach, a restaurant and bar, and the American Pancake and Omelet House, with their business practices during the annual Harley Davidson Spring Bike Rally, which is attended almost exclusively by white bikers.

Black Bike Week is the only time of year when most of the tourists visiting the popular beachfront destination are nonwhite, according to the NAACP.

“For the past few years, Molly Darcy’s on the Beach has refused to serve visitors of Black Bike Week by closing during its otherwise customary business hours,” the complaint states. The same is allegedly true of the American Pancake and Omelet House. [...]

Compounding the organization’s anger is that fights and skirmishes – including an armed confrontation between Myrtle Beach police and white biker gangs – have occurred during the Harley Week event, but not during Black Bike Week, yet businesses continue to cater to white bikers and refuse to serve black ones.

Read more at Courthouse News

RELATED: Commisioner Calls For Curfew After “Hip Hop” Holiday Violence

Start Gallery

Thursday the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced year seven of Operation Bike Week Justice in Myrtle Beach. The organization will be monitoring during the weekend of Atlantic Beach Bike Bikefest to see if black bikers are treated the same as white bikers who were just in the Grand Strand for the Harley Davidson Bike Rally.

Operation Bike Week Justice began in 2005, two years after the organization sued the city for using a different traffic pattern on Ocean Boulevard during Black Bike Week, and for allegedly policing more harshly. The lawsuit also made discrimination claims against several businesses, which allegedly closed or changed hours to avoid the black bikers.

Read The Whole Story

RELATED STORIES

NAACP Will Monitor Black Biker Week For Discrimination

Black Bikers 50% More Likely To Die In Accident

But a majority of the NAACP members at the May 10 meeting disagreed. Reasons varied among the members. Several said they couldn’t get past perceptions that some tea partiers are racists.

RELATED STORIES

Maine Gov. Tells NAACP To “Kiss My Butt” Over MLK Celebration

Tea Party Leader Calls NAACP “A Liberal Hate Group”

RELATED: Dr. Boyce: NAACP Should Not Honor Confederate Flag Waving Kid Rock

Groups organized to maintain memories of the Confederacy without the stain of human bondage have been pushing to have their traditions integrated into the mainstream. Of particular note are the activities of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), which lobbies extensively to protect the rights of drivers to display Confederate flags on license plates (that they sell for a profit). According to USA Today, nine states allow drivers to display the rebel flag, with SCV being largely behind this accomplishment. The organization is now seeking similar protection in Florida, Kentucky and Texas, furthering its cause. Talk about special rights.

Now SCV is one step closer to reaching its Florida goal. On March 30, in response to a law suit filed by the loyal southern sons, a Florida court ruled that the state cannot control what residents display on vanity plates. This paves the way for SCV to promote their bill for specifically ensuring protection for the contentious flag on cars.

Is this madness – or American fairness at its finest? Of course the NAACP has spoken out against these trends. But groups like SCV argue that times have changed along with the emotions behind this symbol. American cultural historian Tim Stanley makes an interesting argument on their behalf:

The debate has become tragically bound up with questions of race. Opponents of the displaying of the Stars and Bars on government property say that it symbolizes racial discrimination. The SCV reasonably counters that the meaning of symbols can change over time. In the mid 19th century, most Protestant Americans would have shuddered at the sight of the Irish harp. It represented the mass immigration of hordes of Catholics, which prudish WASPs associated with drunkenness, idleness, gambling and prostitution. Nowadays, the harp means Guinness, and it is hoisted joyously on St Patrick’s Day – a day on which all Americans discover some hidden Irish heritage, hit the pubs and drink as if they don’t want to live.

Likewise, the Stars and Bars now represents something much more than racial hierarchy. To most people who hoist it in their front yards, it stands for honor and tradition and the Old World chivalry of Gone With the Wind. They revel in its outrageous defense of vanishing values, its uncompromising statement against the decadence of modern life and the voluminous size of federal government. The Civil War is as potent to many white Southerners as the Blitz is to a Brit. Regardless of the historical reality, it is their finest hour. To take that away from them seems rather cruel.

Of course, there is an ugly side to Confederate heritage. The refusal to forget has become obstinacy in some quarters. In others it is a socially acceptable way to express “white pride”, that strange belief that there’s something exceptional about our pinky-grey race of pot-bellied Europeans.

Stanley, writing as a British “pinky-grey pot-bellied European,” cannot understand the pain with which the Confederate flag pierces our souls. From our perspective, that flag is the continuous thread that unites the period of the Civil War to modern expressions of race hate such as the Klan. Our very recent ancestors were routinely terrorized by neighbors under that banner while struggling under the hypocritical “freedom” of Jim Crow law served from the back doors and segregated water fountains of southern communities. The Stars and Bars emboldened the perpetrators of beatings and lynchings with vicious pride. This emblem is a potent sign in the south of today that if you are black, you are not welcome where it is flown.

So, the answer is no. No group has the right to re-paint American history in layers of fantasy that only serve to bolster a backwards-looking community’s fragile relationship with a complicated past. If people want to claim “free speech” in order to willfully white-wash a period of institutionalized rape, murder, slavery, psychological oppression, economic destruction (and more!) right up until the 1960s – they DO NOT have the right to use government-issued license plates as the canvas for this bizarre re-imagining. The history SCV wants to diminish are the deepest wounds rendered as eternal evidence of man’s inhumanity to man. And they want us to just forget it?

It’s highly alarming that so many Americans are electing mass denial as the means of coping with social difficulties of complex origins. In case people haven’t noticed, we seem to have a problem dealing with something called REALITY in this country when race and politics mix. This new movement is a rebirth of the birthers pain, the outcries of a disturbed citizenry wanting to remain infantile when it comes to letting go of dim recollections of an all-powerful past. The Sons of Confederate Veterans and groups like them are using any means necessary to avoid burning racial memories, while denying the conflicts they continue to spawn.

SCV needs to keep their fantasy role-playing at home, where they can engage in all the denial they want (and perhaps a little BDSM, slavery-inspired whipping), and out of the public sphere. This means keeping the confederate flag off license plates. It is a shame that this is already a protected “right” in nine states. I avoid the south for reasons just like this.

RELATED: Mom Who Integrated School Returns 55 Years Later For Degree

Start Gallery