Nice Sentiment, Take It Further,....

NAACP needs to reset sights on education

Anthony Williams is a Democratic state senator from Philadelphia who ran for governor this year on a platform that included universal school choice

I was raised to revere the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As a child, I learned of its legendary achievements in fighting against the oppression of the human spirit and removing the barriers of segregation and racial discrimination. The organization's recent involvement in controversies surrounding Shirley Sherrod and the tea party, however, indicates a shift away from its core values. Today, the long-revered civil rights group seems more concerned about public relations, political positioning, and currying interest-group favor than providing a voice to the voiceless. Nowhere is this transformation more evident, or troubling, than in the area of education.

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As a Pennsylvania state senator representing a district with failing schools, I have seen thousands of children deprived of a quality education. Only 10 percent of the children who enter Philadelphia's ninth grade go on to graduate college. In this country an African American male who drops out of high school is more likely than not to serve time in prison.

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The NAACP's mission, as stated in its constitution, is to ensure the political, educational, and socioeconomic equity rights of all people. So its abandonment of children creates a paralyzing moment full of confusion and betrayal.

State Senator Williams makes some salient arguments regarding the NAACP and education, but it rings hollow with me and will continue to ring hollow until the NAACP acknowledges that it DOESN'T treat all equally.

If the NAACP wants to be involved in education, start by eliminating the true origins of many of America's racial problems: the perpetual, NAACP-approved idea that Republicans = evil, rich whites who hate blacks while Democrats = saintly, progressive whites out to help blacks!

Every year, for the 28 days of February, people like George Wallace, Ross Barnett and Orval Faubus are vilified for their actions in the fight for civil rights, but perpetually silent is the one common thread they have with the NAACP of the 21st Century - they are all members and supporters of the Democratic Party!! Yes, it wasn't Southern Republicans siccing dogs on black school students, mobilizing the National Guard and looking the other way as hooded Klansmen
enforced "southern justice" on blacks throughout the South.

So, NAACP, if you want to be involved in education, let's start with the reeducation of the NAACP!