The Meaning of Civil Rights: A Few Questions for Leaders

July 28, 2011

Have Black Leaders Lost Sight of Original Goals?

Raynard Jackson

As the two supposed premier civil rights groups gathered in July for their national conventions — the NAACP and the National Urban League — I want to challenge their agendas and then pose a few questions for them to answer.

Definitions, please

When civil rights are discussed in the media, rarely do the reporters or hosts define what civil rights are. When you see Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton described as civil rights leaders, what does that really mean? Who made them leaders and what is their leadership based on?

How did civil rights come to mean protections and rights based on sexual preference, gender identity, and illegal status in a country?
If civil rights theory is based on the protection of the individual and his rights, how do you then explain the constant demand for inclusion in the definition of civil rights by all kinds based on group identity?

Extraneous Issues

So, now you have groups like the NAACP and the National Urban League expending precious political capital on extraneous issues like: equal rights for illegal immigrants.

What sense does it make to give benefits to members of a certain group (American citizens) and then to allow someone who is not a member to get the same benefit? That’s insane!

Are civil rights universal and who defines what those rights are? There are a lot of Muslims who don’t want women to be able to dress in “Western” attire or have the right to vote, even drive a car.

While the Black unemployment rate continues to climb above 16 percent, these groups are fighting to legalize 7 million undocumented workers who are going to compete for low-skilled jobs with the very people they claim to represent.

While the Black family is disintegrating right before our eyes, these groups are focusing on gay rights, though many in the Black community do not support this.

The first Black president has totally ignored his own community as the leaders of Black civil rights groups remain silent. They seem more concerned with White House invitations and photo-ops, not a substantive agenda.

Missed Connections

The NAACP and the National Urban League have both lost their way. They have strayed way off course from their original visions. The National Urban League is “dedicated to economic empowerment.”
The NAACP describes its mission as removing “all barriers of racial discrimination through the democratic processes.”

Could this be, unlike the days of old, why so many high profile professional athletes have no relationship with these groups? Could this be why people like me will never join these groups? They are both arms of the Democratic National Committee (though they both claim to be non partisan).

If you go to both of their websites and look at who is paying for their conventions (NAACP and National Urban League.) they are the who’s who of white corporate America.

But, why is there no financial support from any of the most successful Black businessmen in this country? People like Earl Graves (publisher of Black Enterprise), Dave Stewart, CEO of World Wide Technology, or Earvin “Magic” Johnson, former N.B.A. great, to name but a few potential backers?

If you can’t get support from the power structure within your own community, how then can you make the case for someone else to support you?  In other words, do you have “skin” in the game?

Maybe there is a reason for this lack of support.  Maybe these groups are not saying or doing anything that is relevant to these individuals or companies.

Political or financial capital tends to go where there is a need and where there is some hope of a return on investment.  What do these corporations get in return, other than “race” insurance?

Mission Creep

If NAACP and the National Urban League disappeared tomorrow, would our community be any worse off? Maybe at the margins, but not in reality.

So, while these groups are spending millions of dollars for their conventions, what is their relevance to our community if their missions continuously move further their core purposes?

In the military, this is called “mission creep.” I fully believe organizations must evolve to remain relevant, but leaders and members can’t allow the organization to morph into something that is not part of the core mission.

Are they about civil rights or about pursuing a liberal agenda?

I will get a lot of heat for posing these questions, but I hope we can be civil, right?

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm.  He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (www.excellstyle.com) & USAfrica Magazine (www.USAfricaonline.com).

More coverage of the NAACP and National Urban League conferences:
•    Urban League Conference Goal: Closing the Economic Gap, NECN.com
•    Harvard Prof Discusses Education, Gene Testing with Bill Gates, BostonHerald.com
•    NAACP Urges Minorities to get to the Polls in 2012, USA Today
•    4 Questions with Maxine Waters at the NAACP Convention, The Root.com