So Much Progress and Yet So Far to Go

On February 12, 2009, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) marked its 100th anniversary. The NAACP is America’s oldest,
largest and most widely recognized grassroots–based civil rights organization.

The NAACP is an organization with a unique vision and mission. As stated on their website, its vision is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights and there is no racial hatred or racial discrimination. Its mission is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.

With the election of an African American President there are those who are asking if the NAACP is still relevant. In a “New America” a so-called “post racial” America, is the NAACP still needed? Since the founding of the NAACP on February 12, 1909, so much progress has been made and yet, there is so far to go.

Their literature states that in 1905, the NAACP's stated goal was to secure for all people the rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution, which promised an end to slavery, the equal protection of the law, and universal adult male suffrage, respectively.

Yes, slavery has ended in America, people of color can secure equal protection of the law, and vote, but there are miles to go before we sleep. The main barrier for African Americans politically and otherwise has always been and continues to be race and the manner in which race is used to define and diffuse issues. Yes, class is a factor as well but race is still the dominant variable in the equation.

The most recent evidence of this played itself out on June 29, at The Valley Swim Club, a private swim club in Huntington Valley, PA. Creative Steps Day Camp, a Northeast Philadelphia children’s day camp that services primarily the African American and Latino communities signed a contract with and paid The Valley Swim Club more than $1900 for one day of swimming a week for the summer session.

When the children arrived for their first day of swimming they were not well received. According to news reports, camper Dymire Baylor stated, "I heard one lady saying 'Why's there so many black kids here' cause she said she was afraid that we might do something to her child." NBC Philadelphia.com reported, "When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool," Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. "The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately."

Another camper, Jabriel Brown said the he felt the tension all afternoon. He began to feel better when he recognized a familiar face – a teacher from his middle school. His sense of security was quickly dashed when he tried to say hello and the teacher just ignored him. Brown said, “It made me feel bad…she used to be my math teacher.”

After the first day, Creative Steps money was quickly refunded and the campers were told not to return. Several campers said they heard pool members making racial remarks during their time inside the club.

In response to these events Club president John Duesler told a Philadelphia television station that several club members complained because the children fundamentally changed the “complexion” and “atmosphere" at the pool but that the complaints didn't involve race. If not race than what? Duesler later claimed that the campers were removed for safety reasons. It is also important to note that the representatives of the swim club have not disputed the facts as stated, merely the reasons for the actions.

The NAACP has requested the Human Relations Commission to investigate. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission will immediately open an investigation into the actions of The Valley Swim Club, chairman Stephen A. Glassman has said, "The rule of law in Pennsylvania is equal opportunity for all, regardless of race."

W.E.B. DuBois, founder and general secretary of the Niagara movement and was among the founders of the NAACP wrote in 1952, "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line." He was right then and is correct today. Who would have thought that in 2009, a swim club in the City of Brotherly Love would revert to the Jim Crow practices of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s simply because some White parents are misguided and afraid of what some Black and Latino swimmers might do to their children?

Do we need the NAACP? Is the NAACP still relevant?

As long as African American men are incarcerated at a rate of more than six times the rate of White men and the incarceration of Black women continues to grow at record numbers the answer is yes! As long as unemployment among African American’s is more than twice the rate of White Americans (four times in NY) and as long as studies show that a Black family's income is a little more than half that of a similar White family's income, the answer is yes! As long as African Americans continue to deal with Driving While Black, excessive high school dropout rates, and imbalances in health care, the answer is yes!

Have we made racial progress in America? Yes, we have; but even with so much progress we have yet so far to go. We still have miles to go before we sleep. Dr. Dubois, the problem of the twenty-first century is the problem of the color line.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program “On With Leon” and a Teaching Associate in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email: wjl3us@yahoo.com.

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