The NAACP was born 100 years ago to promote equal justice under law. For its first 60 or 70 years, during which it saw its greatest triumphs, that meant fighting not only segregation but all discrimination based on race. That goal was abandoned when it turned, like most liberal organizations, from opposing preferential treatment of whites to supporting preferential treatment of blacks, a policy that has so far failed to attract a satisfactory justifying theory or principle. And now, with a black president and black attorney general, even the policy itself is increasingly being called into question.
That confusion is apparent in New York, where 5,000 members are now gathered in convention to debate the organization’s agenda.
The association’s president, Benjamin Todd Jealous — who at 36 is the youngest person to ever lead the organization — acknowledges the pride his membership takes in hosting the first black president and attorney general but argues that their ascension does not negate the need for the NAACP. In many ways, the convention this week sets out to prove that point.
Jealous began the year by laying out his vision for an organization focused not solely on old civil rights battles, but on human rights as well. He envisions an NAACP primarily serving a black constituency but with a broader outlook.
“We are a very black organization, but we are not a black organization. There is a difference. It’s the difference between being able to play the black position on the field and being able to play any position,” Jealous said. “We are from our origin a multiracial, multiethnic human rights organization.”
Well, I’m glad we got that cleared up, except that I’m still unsure of the difference between “the black position” on human rights and “any position” on human rights.
