NAACP

Naacp
Neighborhood: Central District
Update - 4/8/2012
As a person of color, I offer the following observation*:

It's great to organize marches for "An End to Violence" (Seattle Times, April 8, 2012).

http://seattletimes.nw...

But "how exactly?" is the question that begs asking.

It is easy to blame "society" for violence, but even better in my opinion is to look inside our communities and to see how WE contribute to the problem.

Violence is a problem that engulfs our nation and affects us all. Communities must take active responsibility for the violence that occurs in them.

In my opinion, hateful or violent language, bullying in schools (including name-calling and all forms of intimidation), inappropriate role models, leniency towards delinquency, macho-ism, acceptance of violence as a legitimate way to resolve interpersonal conflicts, blaming ("finger-pointing"), and lack of family planning are as important, if not more, as poverty or racism.

Yelling at, threatening, or pummeling another person makes one less of a man, not more. And a meaner one.

Being bigger and stronger, physically, than another man does not make one more of man, either.

* * * * *

African immigrants and their families, I think, might offer better role models.

Culture, and not skin color, are the major determinants of behavior, although, of course, there is much individual variation within any given group.

I strongly believe that the NACCP, with its prestige and resources, can do extraordinary things to combat violence within the African-American community.

* I have always felt I had the right, and ethical responsibility, to criticize the various demographic (racial/ethnic/gender/sexual orientation political/religious/cultural/geographic/generation al...) groups to which I nominally belong.
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2/15/2010First to Review
As a person of color that the NAACP ostensibly represents, I am very disappointed with the local chapter:

"[Regarding the victim of the Westlake Bus Tunnel attack in January 2010], James Bible, the girl's attorney and head of the local chapter of the NAACP, said during the news conference at Seattle's First AME Church that he expects to file suit in connection with the incident, and is reviewing potential defendants, including King County, Seattle police, King County Metro...

"'If this young lady had blond hair and blue eyes and went to police and said that a group of African Americans are harassing me," he said, "do you think the response would be different?'"

The modus operandi of the NAACP has been for decades primarily to ask itself "How are we a victim in this [situation]?"

http://seattletim...

http://seattletim...

http://seattletim...

http://seattletim...

It might be more productive for the NAACP to see what it can do to reduce violence in the African-American community as well as to see what they can do to have more African-American parents teach their children the difference between right and wrong.

This might also help to address the problem of what African-Americans perceive as racial profiling. Unfortunately, as a result, the overwhelmingly law-abiding African immigrants (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Caribbean, etc.) get mixed in.

* * * * *

Since the NAACP and Urban League insistently point out that African-Americans have lower incomes or education than other groups as de facto evidence of racism in this country, why will they not also acknowledge the vastly disproportionate amount of violent crime committed by African-Americans?

No organization, no hallowed its past history, is above criticism, as no man is above the law.

The local African-American community deserves better leaders (than Mr. Bible, for example).

* * * * *

(I know you ) Ain't misbehavin'...

(But) I'm telling you I'm not going.