The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

The interview in of itself is just your typical “where where you born?”, “what made you decide to make this move?” kinda interview; however, there are some things that stuck out to me that I will share with you briefly. In the meantime, you can read the interview yourself.

“Gordon told USA TODAY he wants to advance both civil rights and economic opportunities for blacks through “traditional, old fashioned” protest methods and “21st-century” techniques such as negotiation and persuasion.”

Sorry Gordon, but the “No Roger, No Rerun, No Rent” type protest (for those that remember that What’s Happening episode) or the “Hell no, we won’t go!” type simply will not work. Two cases in point: The ongoing “protest” the NAACP has against the state of South Carolina regarding the confederate flag–has not worked. The state of South Carolina recently mentioned that they noticed little to almost no change in tourism or business revenue. In fact many blacks still continue to do business in that state including the annual black bike fest week in Myrtle Beach (article–may need to register). Second case: The boycott against the city of New Orleans for allegedly discriminating against blacks in 4 bars by charging them extra for drinks. Well apparently this was enough to get local ministers (hey, why should they care unless….) and activists steamed up to call for a boycott of the entire French Quarter district. Not too long after this declaration, Essence had its annual festival in the city—blacks still shopped in that district and reportedly had a wonderful time as business owners did not feel any significant effects of a so-called “black-out”. Gordon may have the expertise to deal with people on the corporate level, but then again so does Jesse Jackson. They both use the same bargaining chip–black folks.

Major challenges are to achieve financial stability and to expand membership, particularly among people younger than 35, Gordon said. The NAACP, he said, should give young people input into decisions and focus on their priorities. He said those include career advancement and business ownership, as opposed to traditional civil rights issues.

This is going to be a tough one–convincing black folks under the age of 35 why should they pay monthly or annual dues PERIOD. Once you get over that hurdle, the next thing that must be done is to convince that same demographic that there is significant work that is being done IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITY by the NAACP. As more and more black families move into a middle class status, it is going to be pretty hard to convince them that the NAACP (an organization that has built itself on the power of protests and boycotts) is truly working on their behalf. The needs of the black community have changed with the times. The focus now should be on business ownership (as he mentions) and stewardship.

He also said he’d get corporations to invest their pension funds in more black-owned businesses.

Encouraging companies to consider black-owned businesses in their pension funds is one thing. Including black-owned businesses that are successful is something completely different. A good portfolio manger is going to look for those companies that are beating the market regardless of the race of the CEO. A portfolio manager is shows no bias to one color only—green. That is what he/she is paid to do. I think many people (blacks included) would be pissed off to find out they could have made and extra 50k on their pension but because of diversity initiatives, the manager had to include a minority-owned company that did not perform as well as the other companies included in the portfolio. Bad move.

The incoming president rejected a suggestion by Ron Walters, director of the African-American Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland, that Gordon would handle internal business while Bond became the public face of the NAACP.

“Not a chance,” Gordon said. “The NAACP is not hiring an office manager.”

They just did.

Julian Bond did some great things for the civil rights movement and he should be commended for them; however, I think that the organization is too afraid to face reality–it is time for him to go. As long as Bond continues to be the mouthpiece of the Democratic party-only, continue to associate the past struggles of black Americans to that of homosexuals, workers unions, etc. and not black folks, he is only making Gordon’s job that much harder.

The legacy of the NAACP was primarily built on one thing–loyalty from the black community. Without the loyalty of Great-Grandmas, Great-Granddads, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, etc., the NAACP would not have endured through the civil rights era. It was many of our family members (both individually and through local churches) that provided the much needed funding for this organization. Today we see a much different story.

The organization faces problems ranging from stagnant membership (at about a half-million for the past decade) and budget troubles (a $4.7 million shortfall last year)…

Not to mention the fact that the black family was a lot stronger in those days and had to depend on fellow blacks for survival.

This main ingredient–loyalty, loyalty to race (especially on a national level like days long ago) has been dwindling for years in our community. It is a rare thing these days to see black folks huddling together in their homes, at the water cooler, in the lunchroom, at the bus station, etc. under the umbrella of the NAACP secretly planning how to best implement the next boycott or better yet, how to throw their support behind black police chiefs (a position that would not have been held by black folks back in the day), local school teachers, sanitation workers, etc. . Sadly, these are becoming images from our past but still the NAACP still operates in that perceived reality. It is because of this, our young people just see the NAACP as an old organization ran by old people. The NAACP does not need “traditional, old fashioned protest methods” , but something even greater in order to survive as an organization–old-fashioned loyalty from the black community. Today, the need for this in our community goes far beyond the political borders that the NAACP has drawn for itself.