At 100 Years Old, NAACP Debates Its Current Role

In the beginning, the purpose of America's oldest civil rights organization was well defined: to achieve equal justice under the law for black Americans. One hundred years later, as 5,000 members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People gather to set an agenda, little is so clear-cut. Has the election of the first black president marked the end of the civil rights agenda? Must an organization traditionally focused on black Americans expand its mission? What should a black civil rights organization do in 2009?

The NAACP has long been a prism through which to view the puzzle of race in America, and the current uncertainty promises to be a presence at its week-long centennial convention, which will include addresses from President Obama and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. The association's president, Benjamin Todd Jealous -- who at 36 is the youngest person to ever lead the NAACP -- acknowledges the pride his membership takes in hosting the first black president and attorney general but argues that their ascension does not negate the need for the NAACP. The convention this week sets out to prove that point.

Mr. Jealous began the year by laying out his vision for an organization focused not solely on old civil rights battles, but on human rights as well. He envisions an NAACP primarily serving a black constituency but with a broader outlook. "We are a very black organization, but we are not a black organization. There is a difference. It's the difference between being able to play the black position on the field and being able to play any position," Mr. Jealous said. "We are from our origin a multiracial, multiethnic human rights organization."

In his approach is a subtle nod to the need to respond to modern times by recalibrating the NAACP's approach to issues of race. The association, which claims more than half a million members, will host conversations how racial disparities in the criminal justice system impact black and Latino communities and recent Supreme Court decisions as they relate to affirmative action. It will also host a diverse panel of youth activists who are working with people of various races, ethnicities and backgrounds to deal with national and global human rights issues.

Booker Rising response: The NAACP ain't a black organization? WTH?! Other groups are fighting for their interests, and aren't broadening their mission to fight for black interests. The NAACP is spreading itself way too thin here. The NAACP's job should be to fight for black people's interests. Granted, what constitutes our "interests" is diversifying because of the diversification of Black America. While we should remain vigilant to ensure that our rights aren't being violated (e.g., the NAACP should be all over that Philly pool incident), racism is still not the primary barrier facing black folks nowadays. This article shows no move on the NAACP's part to focus more on the internal issues holding Black America back from further advancement.