Has the NAACP's Time Passed?

President Bush caused a stir recently when he chose to reject an NAACP invitation to speak at their annual convention. Many questioned Bush over the matter, and implied that the Bush snub was a sign that he is not eager to win the black vote. Given the fact that roughly 90% of black voters cast their ballots for Gore in the 2000 election, it wouldn't be too surprising to see Bush using campaign resources on more fertile ground.

However, Bush's decision to refuse the NAACP invitation has nothing to do with his poll numbers in the African American community, and everything to do with the incompetent NAACP leadership. Witness the latest quote from NAACP President, Kweisi Mfume. Mr. Mfume labeled Bush's black supporters as "ventriloquist dummies".

At the 2001 NAACP Convention, after Bush appointed the first black National Security Advisor (Condaleeza Rice) and the first black Secretary of State (Colin Powerll), NAACP Chairman Julian Bond stated that Bush's cabinet appointments were recruited from the "Taliban wing of American politics". These two morons were at the helm of the NAACP when two great achievements for the African American community took place, and they responded to the Bush appointments with hate rhetoric. These two simpletons witness the fruits of 95 years of NAACP work in the name of obtaining African American representation in the highest levels of government, and they don't acknowledge the victory because Rice and Powell are Republicans. Under these two race-baiting political hacks, the NAACP touted the 2001 Cincinnati riots as a "courageous achievement".

The behavior of Bond and Mfume leads us to one of three possible conclusions:

• The NAACP suffers from incompetent leadership, who fail in their efforts to represent the beliefs of NAACP members.
  
• NAACP constituents are fully in line with the politics espoused by Bond and Mfume.
  
• NAACP constituents are not truly engaged in the political process, and simply rely on leaders to fight for their needs with little regard for the competence and behavior of those leaders.
  

Given the tenor of Bond, who has served as NAACP Chairman since 1998, it's safe to assume that the truth lies somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd scenarios.

Do divisive politics belong in an organization purported to be a bipartisan "National Association"? Does labeling 10% of African Americans as "vetriloquist dummies" really promote the "Advancement" of the black community? Clearly the NAACP is myopic in their liberal stance on American politics. Clearly the NAACP is itself an organization that not only divides this nation along black vs. white lines, it also divides its own constituents along Democrat vs. Republican lines.

Let's hope that NAACP members wake up to the fact that their leaders are taking them down a path that is morally and socially inconsistent with values upon which the organization was founded.