Page A5
February 18, 2009
B lack H istory M onth
NAACP Fights to Keep Struggle Alive
Civil rights
group marks
100 years
w as fo u n d ed on an id ea o r a
prem ise ... the notion o f equal
citizenship," says Taylor Branch,
the Pulitzer Prize-w inning histo­
rian o f the civil rights m ovem ent.
"Pretty m uch all o f o u r history
has tested w hat that m eant. M ost
o ften the g reatest crise s hav e
been around race."
T he N A A C P fram ed its argu­
m en ts as "civil rig h ts d o e sn 't
m ean black rights, it m eans rights
p e r ta in in g to c itiz e n s h ip ,"
B ranch says.
T h is stance p ro v id e d h uge
(A P ) -- T he bookends o f the
N A A C P s century testify to the
change it has w rought.
In 1908, a race riot in Spring-
field, 111., left at least seven people
dead and led to the birth o f the
N a tio n a l A s s o c ia tio n fo r th e
A d v a n c e m e n t o f C o lo r e d
People. In 2008, B arack O bam a,
w ho had launched his cam paign
j u s t b lo c k s fr o m
w h e re
Springfield's blood once spilled,
becam e the first A frican -A m eri­
can president.
In betw een, w ielding legal ar­
g um ents and m oral suasion in
equal m easure, the N A A C P d e ­
m anded that A m erica provide lib­
e rty an d ju s tic e n o t o n ly fo r
blacks, but for all. N ow , its very
a c h ie v e m e n ts h av e c re a te d a
dau n tin g m o d em ch allen g e as
the N A A C P turns 100 on T h u rs­
day: convincing people that the
struggle continues.
"W h en 1 w as in c o lle g e , 1
could see signs that said 'white'
and 'colored' w hen I w ent to the
m ovie theater. T hat w as an easy
targ et fo r m e to aim at," says
Ju lian B ond, ch a irm a n o f the
N A A C P board. "Today, I don't
see those signs, but 1 know that
these divisions still e x i s t ... and
it's m ore d ifficu lt to co n v in ce
people that there's a problem ."
B enjam in T odd Jealous, the
new president and C E O o f the
N A A CP, says h is g reatest o b ­
stacle is "the lack o f o u trag e
a b o u t th e w a y s th a t y o u n g
people and w orking people are
T h u rg o o d M a rsh a ll, th e n c h i e f le g a l c o u n s e l o f th e NAACP, is s u r r o u n d e d b y s t u d e n t s a n d
th e ir e s c o r t fr o m L ittle R o c k , A rk., o n A u g . 2 2 , 1 9 5 8 . T h e g r o u p is o n th e s t e p s o f th e
S u p r e m e C o u rt B u ild in g in W a s h in g to n , D .C ., rig h t a fte r M a r sh a ll file d a n a p p e a l in th e
in te g r a tio n c a s e o f L ittle R o c k 's C e n tra l H igh S c h o o l.
W .E .B . D u B o is , e d u c a to r , w riter a n d c o -c h a irm a n o f th e
U .S . d e le g a tio n , a d d r e s s e s th e W orld C o n g r e s s o f P arti­
s a n s o f P e a c e in P a ris, F ra n ce, o n A pril 2 2 , 1 9 4 9 .
m oral leverage. "T h eir p o w er
cam e from know ing they w ere
right," B ond says.
P ow er also cam e from thou­
sands o f average citizens w ho
risked retaliation to ch allen g e
unjust laws.
"T h u rg o o d M arsh all's b ril­
liance w as the instrum ent o f vic­
tory, but that brilliance w as es­
sentially rooted in the courage
o f ordinary farm ers and w ork­
ers," says W illiam Chafe, a D uke
routinely m istreated."
H e cites figures such as a 70
percent unsolved m u rd er rate in
som e black com m unities, blacks
graduating from high school at a
far low er rate than w hites, and
studies show ing that w hites with
M e d g a r E v e rs, 3 7 , M i s s i s ­
s ip p i fie ld s e c r e ta r y fo r th e
N AA C P w a s s h o t a n d k ille d
in J a c k s o n , M is s . O n J u n e
1 2 , 1 9 6 3 , w h ile r e tu rn in g
h o m e fro m a n in te g ra tio n
rally.
crim inal records get jo b s easier
than blacks w ith clean histories.
"There are issues o f basic fair­
ness, o b stacles to opportunity,
th at still e x ist," Je a lo u s says.
"The N A A C P is needed now as
urgently as it has ever been."
N o o n e g ro u p did m o re to
pave the w ay for O bam a's ascen­
sion than the N A A CP, histo ri­
ans say, pointing to its prim ary
role in three tow ering civil rights
victories — the Suprem e C ourt's
1954 Brow n vs. B oard o f E duca­
tion school desegregation ruling,
the 1964 C ivil Rights A ct and the
1965 Voting R ights Act.
B ut now that the black son o f
a poor single m other has m oved
into the W hite H ouse, a new era
has clearly begun.
"W e've got to rise to the o c ­
c a s io n to d a y ," s a y s f o r m e r
N A A C P board chairm an M yrlie
Evers-Williams, w ho w as married
to th e sla in c iv il rig h ts ico n
M edgar Evers.
"We cannot continue to sing
W e Shall O vercom e,'" she says.
"It's a dear, valued, valuable song
that expresses a tim e that should
live w ith us. But I w ant a new
song."
T he first incarnation o f the
N A A C P w as the N iagara M o v e­
m e n t, a 1905 c o n fe r e n c e o f
p ro m in e n t b la c k s led b y th e
TafaTimñto Sfaa/te,
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groups to dem and equal protec­
tion under the law.
" It spread to w om en, disabled
g ro u p s , th e e ld e rly ," B ra n c h
says. "M ost A m ericans are un­
a w a r e o f th e th i n g s th a t it
s p a r k e d , n o t j u s t b y o th e r
groups, but in areas o th er than
school desegregation o r race re­
lations."
T h e g re a t triu m p h s o f th e
C iv il a n d V oting R ig h ts A cts
B e n ja m in J e a lo u s is
th e c u r r e n t p r e s id e n t
o f th e N AAC P a n d th e
y o u n g e s t le a d e r to
g u id e th e Civil R ig h ts
o rg a n iza tio n .
s c h o la r a n d a c tiv is t W .E .B .
D uB ois. A fter the Springfield ri­
ots, N iagara m em bers jo in e d a
group o f m ostly w hite N orthern­
ers to form the N A A C P on Feb.
12, 1909 — the centennial o f
A braham L incoln's birth.
A n early focus o f the group
w as the hundreds o f lynchings
taking place each year. In 1917,
the N A A C P w on its first S u ­
prem e C o u rt case, a unanim ous
ruling that states could not seg­
regate people into residential dis­
tricts based on race.
T his w as an early exam ple o f
perhaps the N A A C P s m ost pow ­
erful argum ent: Equal rights are
a fundam entally A m erican value.
"We are the only country that
U niversity history professor.
T h o se legal v ictories laid a
m arked the end o f an era. A fter
the 1960s, som e o f the N A A C P s
m o s t s i g n if i c a n t p o s t - '6 0 s
a c h ie v e m e n ts, a c c o rd in g to a
timeline on the N A A C P W eb site,
include helping keep conserva­
tive Robert Bork o ff the Suprem e
C ourt and ex-K lansm an D avid
D uke out o f the U.S. Senate; reg­
istering hundreds o f thousands
o f voters; leading m arches; and
pushing the issue o f diversity in
corporations and on television.