Raynard Jackson: The N.A.A.C.P. Has Racism Down To A Tea (Party)
By HHR | July 15th, 2010 | Category: Featured, Opinion/Reviews | 4 comments
By Raynard Jackson
Every time the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) raises its head, somehow they seem to find a new way of embarrassing themselves (and the Black community).
They are currently having their national conference in Kansas City, MO. And they have made a media splash this year; but for all the wrong reasons. The NAACP is has been dubbed by the media as the nation’s premier civil rights organization. For once, I wish someone would define “civil rights,” but that’s another column.
In recent years, the NAACP has lost its relevance, especially in regards to the younger generation like mine. Very few of my friends are members of the NAACP and most have never even considered joining.
There is no question that the NAACP has a storied past and they should be recognized for such. My readers know I have been very critical of the NAACP over the years. I would love to be able to write a glowing column about them, but dammit, they have to give me something to work with. Unfortunately, they have not given me anything to work with for today’s column.
During the planning phase of putting together a national convention, the leadership of the organization must always ask, “What is the sound bite they want the media to focus on?” Based on the media coverage from the NAACP’s convention, it is quite obvious that they never asked this question during their planning phase.
Of all the issues and problems facing the Black community, how can they waste time passing a resolution labeling the Tea Party movement as racist? And the NAACP wonders why they are considered irrelevant? In the immortal words of football great, Chad Johnson (Cincinnati Bengals), “CHILD, PLEASE!”
According to the NAACP’s website: “Today (Tuesday), NAACP delegates passed a resolution to condemn extremist elements within the Tea Party, calling on Tea Party leaders to repudiate those in their ranks who use racist language in their signs and speeches.”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? They actually wasted hours and hours on this type of foolishness. I have an idea, let’s also get them to pass a resolution stating that “Hitler didn’t like Jews, Tiger Woods does not date Black Women, the sun rises in the east & sets in the west, LeBron James now plays for the Miami Heat, and HBO is spelled HBO.”
Continuing quoting from their website, “the resolution will not become official NAACP policy until approved by National Board of Directors in October.” I am not kidding you; this is actually on their website! So, how will they “implement” this policy? Will they require all employees to swear under oath that they recognize the Tea Party as racist?
Juxtapose this with what’s going on in Memphis, Tennessee. Congressman Steve Cohen is a two term member of the House running for reelection in November. Cohen is the only white person in Congress who represents a majority Black district. He is being challenged by former 18 year mayor, Willie Herenton (who is Black).
Herenton has made race the central theme of his campaign and has been using incendiary language, cloaked with a lot of code words. His campaign slogan is “Just One.” This is in reference to the fact that Tennessee has no Blacks in its Congressional delegation.
According to a report by the Associated Press (AP) last month, Herenton held up a picture and said, “This picture is totally unacceptable.” He was holding up a photo of the state’s two U.S. senators and nine representatives. He continued, “I’m truly urban. This is an urban district. It has some critical urban needs that you have to feel, feel within your belly.”
The AP article continues, on one occasion, Herenton drew a line when comparing blacks and whites, saying the facts show whites have had better opportunities to succeed than blacks. So, more diversity is needed in Congress to level the playing field, Herenton said. If a white candidate had made similar statements, he would have been forced to end his campaign (and rightfully so). So, if the NAACP is so concerned about racist elements within an organization, then they should also pass a resolution condemning Herenton.
The NAACP has made no public denunciation of Herenton and his racist statements in his congressional race. But, yet they want Republicans and Tea Party members to denounce one of their own; even though they are not willing to live by the same moral standard.
Weak organizations take strong positions on weak issues. This is the reason no one takes the NAACP seriously anymore.
The theme for this year’s convention is: “One Nation, One Dream.” If we are to achieve this goal, then groups like the NAACP must speak out against racism whenever and wherever it happens to rear its ugly head—even if it emanates from one of our own.
The NAACP’s silence on Willie Herenton has me teed off!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm. He is a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (www.excellstyle.com). For those who use skype (www.skype.com), please add him. The name there is: raynard jackson
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Raynard Jackson: The N.A.A.C.P. Has Racism Down To A Tea (Party ……
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog
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[...] credibility these days, even within the black community. As Raynard Jackson of Hip Hop Republicans wrote: Weak organizations take strong positions on weak issues. This is the reason no one takes the [...]
I would have been inclined to go along with you Mr. Jackson about the NAACP resolution on the Tea Party movement being a waste of time until I saw on a evening news program the billboard that the North Iowa Tea Party put up with photos of Adolf Hitler, President Obama and Vladimir Lenin. I saw on blackamericaweb.com a closeup of that billboard with the caption “radical leaders prey on the fearful & naive”. President Obama’s photo is sandwiched between Hitler and Lenin. Above them are for Hitler: National Socialism, Obama: Democratic Socialism and Lenin: Marxist Socialism. The common denominator under all three photos was the word “change.”
Today on blackamericaweb.com, Mark Williams, leader of the Tea Party Express wrote a mock letter to Abraham Lincoln on his blog supposedly from NAACP CEO, Benjamin Jealous. That action to me, Mr. Jackson resembled the blackface that singer Al Jolson would use in his act. Only Mark Williams ain’t acting. If you were to see the photo which went along with the article, the pose favors that of the late George Lincoln Rockwell, who headed the American Nazi Party in the 1960′s until one of his own followers shot him down at a laundry mat in 1967. The NAACP’s website was really enlightning to me today. I saw photos of various Tea Party rallies. Many of them left an impression, particularly the one depicting a young white boy with his sign “Obamanomics, Monkey see, Monkey spend. Other photos had grown up white men. One had a sign which said “The long legged Mack Daddy”. Another sign said, Obama, what you talkin’ about Willis! Spend my money.” Then there was the sign which said ” Obama’s plan: White Slavery. The jewel in the crown was the poster which has President Obama’s head (he has a mustache like Adolf Hitler ) on top of a body wearing a Nazi uniform. Above his head are the words”Barack Hussein Obama” beneath the photo is captioned with “the new face of Hitler”. As I read the threads on the NAACP’s website, some the posters attempted to say all what I have alluded to here was satirical. I don’t find a damn thing satirical about this Tea Party movement. The proponents say that the Tea Party has both black and white followers. The photos with the remarks and images of President Obama at the rallies were predominately white. Unless the black followers took a lunch break, it is a stretch for the Tea Party to claim they welcome everybody, their actions say the opposite. While I don’t reside in Memphis, I can understand Mr. Herenton’s statement, having grown up in an era when all the faces in government be it local, state or federal were white. Black folks had a challenge getting to the ballot and white candidates did not campaign in black communities because they had enough support in white areas to get them elected. I will say this, Mr. Jackson the election season is going to be knock down, drag out.
Many of these things you mention are very offensive but not racism, many of these things you mention were said about George W Bush, Very offense but never ever said to be racist.
Again I will repeat VERY OFFENSIVE but how is the Bill Board Racist? And if you condemn a comparison of Obama to Hitler then show me when you did the same when it was done to GWB (this I direct at the hypocrites at the NAACP, AL SHARPTON and THE NBPP)
There is a standing $100,000.00 bounty that has yet to be collected for tape with “ni**er” being said to the congressman during the health care debates that has yet to be claimed. I mention this because tape clearly shows them walking unobstructed with hundreds of recoding devices surrounding them and not one sound bite.
“Tuesday, Jealous denounced some Tea Party groups actions, pointing to incidents involving verbal racial attacks and threats toward President Barack Obama and Reps. Emanuel Cleaver and John Lewis, the two who were reportedly spat upon and called the N-word amid Tea Party protesters during the passage of the president’s health care reform bill”
at the end of the day this is the kind of stuff Black and latinos have to put up with when we disagree with there agenda
The Tea Party – Those Blacks who suddenly feel so inclined to join forces against our President need to recognize they will use your BLACK face for image purposes, and in the end tell you, You didn’t join the TEA PARTY you joined the “MO-TEA-SIR Party…You will just remain the modern day slave, don’t be used
Oh and what about the AR15 MSNBC showed at a tea party rally also saying it was racist, a gun being carried to “Kill” the president, but they conveniently cut out the BLACK man carrying the GUN.