NAACP In Final Talks For Move To District

After two decades in Baltimore, Maryland, the NAACP is set to relocate to the America's capital (hat tip: BlackElectorate.com). Bruce S. Gordon, president and chief executive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said last night that the organization is in final negotiations with Washington officials and a developer to move its headquarters from Northwest Baltimore to an office and retail site under construction in the historic Anacostia district in southeastern D.C. "Washington is where we do our work," Mr. Gordon said in an interview. "We want to be the most effective organization we can be. We need to be more productive in what we do, and we need to interface with the people who will help us focus on national and local policy. This is the nation's capital."

Washington, D.C. officials have offered $3.5 million in grants to the NAACP to move to the complex, located in an economically depressed area that has been the target of recent city redevelopment efforts. The project would need final approval from the NAACP's 64-member national board, which is expected to vote at its annual meeting in New York in February. Washington, D.C. officials expressed excitement and optimism over the deal, saying the NAACP's move would benefit the civil rights group and be a boon to a neighborhood hoping to capitalize on its rich black history.

In 1986, the NAACP moved to Baltimore, Maryland from New York City, New York after receiving more than $1.1 million in state and federal grants.

My response: the key issues facing black folks are not centered in Washington, D.C., but in black communities and black households throughout the country. Big government will not solve the overwhelming majority of issues facing today's black folks and black communities.