The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has been a part of my life and my families’ for as long as I can remember. This civil rights organization has done so many things to bring justice and equality for Americans of every color. It is ironic that many feel that the NAACP is only for the benefit of African Americans/’Colored People’. It was started for that purpose because of the lynching of African American men in the early 1900s. However, in its over 100 years of existence, the NAACP has accomplished much more than that.
Many of whom I have talked with feel that the NAACP is ‘dead’ and is no longer a viable organization – no longer necessary. If those people would enlighten themselves by going to the website of the NAACP, www.naacp.org, they would find that NAACP is very much alive and continues to be needed in our world. Many of you know the role that the NAACP played in the release of the Scott Sisters from prison by Governor Haley Barbour. You may read the Winston County Journal dated January 5, 2011 which tells about our local president, Charles Hampton’s role. How about the role the NAACP is playing in investigating cases such as the one in Greenwood, MS in which a 26 year old African American man was found hung in a tree recently – as in the early 1900s? And many more.
After renewing my membership for this year, I received a letter which stated that there is a call via the NAACP for our education system from pre-kindergarten right through college to be REFORMED. The letter also stated that our membership “helps to close the gaps in the staggering statistics that so blatantly attest to the racial disparities in our country:
- Majority minority public school districts receive nearly $1,000 LESS per pupil
- 78 percent of teachers in majority minority public school districts do NOT teach in their accredited subject area
- More than 52 percent of minorities have NO health insurance
- More than 25 percent of African Americans live BELOW the poverty level
- Black women make up 69 percent and Blacks as a whole 50 percent of new HIV/ AIDS cases
- Median net worth: Whites – $81,700, Blacks – $10,000, Hispanics – $3,000
- Once arrested, minorities are THREE times as likely to be incarcerated as Whites.”
The letter also, stated, “Until every person in our country – Black and White, young and old, the powerful and the marginalized – is guaranteed their inalienable rights, the NAACP must remain a powerful force for justice and Liberty.”
Just sharing this letter to inform anyone out there that you are invited to become a member of the NAACP, no matter your race, creed or religion. It is not an organization for African Americans only. It is an organization for anyone who is interested in justice and equality for all.
For more information contact www.naacp.org or (866) 63-NAACP
Elmetra Patterson
