A Deal For The NAACP

There he goes again. For the second time, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond blasts Republicans as terrorists. (Thanks to Stuart Buck)

“Their idea of equal rights is the American flag and the Confederate swastika flying side by side,” Bond told a cheering audience. “They’ve written a new constitution for Iraq and ignore the Constitution here at home. They draw their most rabid supporters from the Taliban wing of American politics. Now they want to write bigotry back into the Constitution.”

The good news here is that Bond obviously thinks the terrorists are REALLY, REALLY evil if he equates Republicans with them. Maybe he can be enlisted to support the war after all.

There was one other hopeful item in his speech, hopeful in the sense that, if he means what he said, there may be some basis for peaceful existence between blacks and Republicans. I refer to the following comment:

Bond called the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 two of America’s greatest achievement[s].

I think Bond is absolutely right. If he means what he said, there is a strong foundation of common ground here. Following are a few (but only a few) of the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and here’s my deal: I will personally deliver Republican support for measures to enforce these provisions if Bond will pledge the NAACP’s support as well (Emphasis added):

SEC. 201. (a) All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.

SEC. 202. All persons shall be entitled to be free, at any establishment or place, from discrimination or segregation of any kind on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin, if such discrimination or segregation is or purports to be required by any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, rule, or order of a State or any agency or political subdivision thereof.

SEC. 401.(b) “Desegregation” means the assignment of students to public schools and within such schools without regard to their race, color, religion, or national origin, but “desegregation” shall not mean the assignment of students to public schools in order to overcome racial imbalance.

SEC. 601. No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

SEC. 703. (a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer–

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

I’m glad to hear that the NAACP still regards these provisions as a “great achievement,” and thus look forward to its opposition to all programs and policies that that treat individuals differently because of their race.