Prometheus 6

Rethinking the NAACP
By Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007; A15

The resignation of Bruce S. Gordon as president and chief executive of the NAACP this month portends an important and long overdue shift in black America's struggle for racial justice.

Gordon resigned after only 19 months because he disagreed with the NAACP's board on the best focus for the historic civil rights group. Gordon wanted to direct more resources toward social service programs such as wealth-building, tutoring and pregnancy counseling. The board wanted to maintain its traditional emphasis on fighting racial discrimination and advocating for social justice.

That's close enough to fair and accurate to leave alone.

This isn't.

Gordon sought to extend the reach of the NAACP to include another form of African American dissent: the politics of self-empowerment.

That's not dissent.

You may feel that's the next big move, but finding a way to insert yourself into America and tap its wealth building mechanisms validates the system you're trying to join. It's anything but dissent. The best term I've heard to describe it is militant assimilationism. And it leads to sad statements like this one.

"Our whole goal is how do we get these kids to not look at all of the bad things that could happen to them and instead focus on the process of how do we become the next surgeon or the next politician," said Celerity co-founder and Executive Director Vielka McFarlane. "We don't want to focus on how the history of the country has been checkered but on how do we dress for success, walk proud and celebrate all the accomplishments we've made."

If I hadn't read that LA Times article, I might not be bitching here. But it really looks like teaching ignorance is a major part of our racial reconciliation efforts lately.