By request
After I ragged on the NAACP while praising the Legal Defense and Education Fund the other day, Ruthie asked what was up with the division of the two organizations.
There's but so much I can tell you. The NAACP started out as something of a cheerleading organization. The intent was to influence public opinion, make people think well enough of negroes to support their admission into society as full members. That was one of the things DuBois tasked the "Talented Tenth" with, the motivation behind the Harlem Renaissance, it was even behind Booker T. Washington's approach. At the time Black Americans…and there was dispute about this, no question, but overall we felt all we need do is show we were their peers.
And that almost because a whole 'nother essay.
Anyway, around 1935 the NAACP felt they needed to get some legal expertise going on, open up another front in the battle. They opened a legal department that spun off into the Legal Defense Fund in 1957. The NAACP continued working on a social and political level while the LDF took charge of the legal challenges. Both organizations did excellent work for a long time.
But the LDF still has focus. I'm not thrilled they view integration as the goal rather than a tactic but were I in their position I might not admit I view integration as I do. Integration remains a necessary tactic and must remain an option for those who choose it.But to see it as the method by which Black folks can heal and be whole leaves too much in the hands of others…some of whom obviously mean us no good.
The NAACP, it seems, lost its focus. Or maybe, having different initial focuses required different structures and it's possible they just have different natural life spans. The people it helped are no longer in the places it operates and too many of the people who need it have lost faith by now. The negro is no longer in vogue and the NAACP has some hard choices ahead of it.
