Talk:National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was a good article nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There are suggestions below for improving the article. Once these are addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake. Reviewed version: May 9, 2006

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was the collaboration of the week for the week starting on September 26, 2004. For details on improvements made to the article, see history of past collaborations.

African American portal

Headquarters

Happened on this page; I believe the headquarters are in Baltimore. See http://www.naacp.org/about/contacts/contacts.html kdogg36 03:16, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

NAACP: BLACK POWER! —Preceding unsigned comment added by O.J.Simpsonfan (talk • contribs) 12:53, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

The NAACP no longer refers to itself as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, but simply as the NAACP. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People should redirect to NAACP, not vice-versa, as is now the case.

The NAACP is almost exclusively known only by its acronym and is widely known and used in that form.

This is very formal information that can help young people around the world to know and understand the racist times of the sixties. -- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.194.70.13 (talk • contribs) 23 April 2006.

see Naming_conventions#Prefer_spelled-out_phrases_to_acronyms

Admins move the contents of this article onto the "NAACP" page, and then redirect the page, "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People" to the "NAACP" page.

I have cc'd these remarks (revised for context and formatting) onto the request for Collaboration of the Week.

DV 04:06, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC)

NAACP is now 'empty'. A move can be done now by any registered user. Please go ahead. -- PFHLai 05:11, 2004 Aug 30 (UTC)

Thank you PFHLai. --DV 05:19, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC)

It's my pleasure to help. :-) Please don't forget to fix those double re-directs and make them direct to the new page. Cheers ! -- PFHLai 05:25, 2004 Aug 30 (UTC)

Um, I searched on the term "double-redirect" and came up empty. Could you please explain what that is and how to fix them? Please provide a link or here on my talk page if something is already written up on "double-redirect". Thanks. --DV 05:27, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Please see your talk page. -- PFHLai 05:34, 2004 Aug 30 (UTC)

President Bush declines to address NAACP

"The President had a scheduling conflict with the NAACP convention's July 10-15 meeting dates, according to the White House."

This is does not "put Bush missing into context." This offers a rather flimsy excuse for the President's disrespect to the NAACP. I suggest this be removed from the article. The fact is that he choose not to address the NAACP. We should not present the White House spin as encyclopedic fact.

--LegCircus 18:20, Aug 28, 2004 (UTC)

• I have since learned additional information which I have incorporated into the article. --H2O 19:10, 28 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I think this mitigates my objection some, and makes the section more substantial. In order to make the page less about Bush and thereby more focused on the NAACP, I have removed "Bush had previously spoken to the group while running for President in 2000."

--LegCircus 19:55, Aug 28, 2004 (UTC)

After all the misunderstandings, mistrust, and hard feelings I have witnessed in my lifetime between Jewish and African-American leaders in the United States, I was especially surprised to learn that Jewish Americans were among the founders of this association.

Given the multi-racial makeup of the founders of the NAACP, I hope it's OK for non-African-Americans to help out with this particular article, although I would understand if anyone feels otherwise. My sense is that the state of race relations in America is such that any race-related topic must be approached with great care, so I hope I can do so without giving offense.

I was startled to find that a depressing story about President Bush was the sole highlighted section in this article. This is such a shame because there are so many important accomplishments that the NAACP has made over the years, that would better demonstrate the role that this association has played in shaping American society.

At the time of this writing, on the NAACP's own homepage, there is no mention of President Bush, or even the office of the President, anywhere on their own front page. I find it troubling that the politics of the day makes a controversy concerning the current President of the United States more important than highlighting the association itself and its rich history.

The unfortunate side effect of this article's current focus on the controversy concerning President Bush, is that any attempt to add more important content will now be viewed by partisans as a cynical attempt to bury an unflattering story about President Bush.

On a more positive note, this article inspired me to learn more about the NAACP and Martin Luther King.

After some research, I was able to contribute a small item, but I was careful to add a reference for my change. (I also proofread the article and made some minor corrections for spelling and punctuation.)

Hopefully this article will not jump off the rails given the impending election here in America.

--DV 13:31, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)

The reference to President Bush should not be a part of this article when there are so many more non-partisan things to say about the NAACP. This is a demonstration of clear bias by the authors. TimHar

Like it or now, one thing that put the NAACP into the news in a large way recently was Bush's refusal. See Google or Google News for NAACP, with and without Bush. If you think there are more important things that should be in the article, you're welcome to add them or even just point us in the right direction. Maurreen 11:41, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I think the term 'versus' implies either a legal action or a public political battle of sorts. I would consider revising this term. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 63.172.187.131 (talk • contribs) 14 August 2006.

Point well taken, but any suggestions? - Jmabel | Talk 06:29, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't think the section should even be in there. The page is for the History of the NAACP, not Bush's attitude towards them. (69.143.64.180 18:56, 4 February 2007 (UTC))

I think it's relevant because I remember reading, a long time ago, that Bush was the first president since so-and-so not to meet with the NAACP. This article sets the record straight; he didn't in his first term, and then did in his second term. I think it clears up a percieved animosity on the part of Bush and the NAACP, one that really isn't there. Whatever misgivings they may have about each others' policies, they've met, certainly, in a diplomatic fashion, and I don't think Bush's reason of "scheduling conflict" is White House spin when it's plausible enough when you're as busy as the President.

I'm no fan of Bush, but the relationship between him and the NAACP is important, so I think it should stay. 72.244.206.120 07:47, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Removed reference to Holocaust denial group

Unfortunately, it turns out the external reference to a source for some of the history of the NAACP was actually a link to Institute for Historical Review, a highly controversial organization with a history of Holocaust denial, that has little to do with the NAACP. I am conducting some research to find more objective sources for the early history of the NAACP (in addition to the historical record provided on the NAACP's own web site).

--DV 03:11, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Oh dear god. When I was looking at your changes, I saw the ihr link. Very embarrassing. Thanks very much for excising that. -- orthogonal 10:56, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Good article from the Library of Congress - public domain?

There's a good article "A Century of Racial Segregation, 1849-1950" [1] at the Library of Congress. About half of it involves the NAACP's history. Is stuff at the LOC in the public domain? —Stormie 22:37, Sep 24, 2004 (UTC)

Gun control

The article now says the Supreme Court's position is "that the 2nd amendment is about the right of a State to maintain a militia, not unrestricted individual rights to bear arms."

If that is true, a reference needs to be cited. In the meantime, I'm going to delete the Supreme Court reference. Maurreen 12:24, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Indeed that is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts, and is on its face absurd and untrue. User:Abraxas

Book citation

fuck all blacks says bush behind seens there nothing but niggers The reference section includes:

St. James, Warren D. NAACP: Triumphs of a Pressure Group, Nineteen Hundred and Nine Thru Nineteen Hundred and Eighty. Exposition Press, 1980

It seems like it should be "1900 - 1980." I Googled the author's name and found it both ways. Maurreen 13:14, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

To do

• The following tasks may already have been completed, but are stated because they may be a useful general tasks for the 'to do' lists of future collaborations.

• • Check links in the article and eliminate redirects.
  • Go to 'What links here' and eliminate redirects.
  • Ensure that 'links to non-existent articles' are minimum.
  • Ensure that 'multiple links to the same article' are minimum.
  • Review the general balance of links on the basis of relevancy. The article should connect most to highly relevant articles (increase these) and least to less relevant articles (decrease these).
  • Run the text through a spolling checker.
  • Review article for special characters and things that can be made more generic.

• "The Pink Franklin case in 1910." I deleted this incomplete sentence, but with some information, but maybe it could be put back in. Maurreen 11:58, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

• A couple details in the references look dubious. Maurreen 11:58, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC) Let me know if you disagree with my change above. Maurreen 13:39, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

• New section: "Purpose" or "Platform" with NAACP's current positions on issues such as affirmative action, welfare, racial profiling, etc. and reasoning behind these stances Sayeth 20:46, Sep 27, 2004 (UTC)

• New section: "Organisation" - how are leaders elected, are there local chapters or is it purely national, what other groups are directly supported by the NAACP. Sayeth 20:46, Sep 27, 2004 (UTC)

"As of" redirect

My understanding is that "as of" puts items on a list to be checked and updated in the future. Maurreen 14:02, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Aha. Thanks. Perhaps it should be put back.Bobblewik  (talk) 20:21, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Roots

I have some doubt about the following paragraph:

"Roots in abolitonism and Reconstruction

Many of the leaders and traditions that formed the basis of early NAACP philosophies started with American abolitionism and the Reconstruction after the Civil War."

I had changed "Reformation" to "Reconstruction," because the former refers to a historical religious movement in Europe.

But the I doubt any NAACP leaders were active in abolitonism and the Reconstruction. I have an encyclopedia that says the Reconstruction ended in 1877; the NAACP was founded more than 40 years later. Maurreen 22:12, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

1970s leaders

Do we need this paragraph:

"After Kivie Kaplan died in 1975, Benjamin Hooks (http://www.africanamericans.com/BenjaminHooks.htm), a lawyer and clergyman, was elected the NAACP's executive director in 1977."

Why single out those two?

Maurreen 23:07, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Timeline

Timelines often report each event in the present tense. In NAACP#Timeline, most items are in the past tense but some are present tense; compare 1913 and 1915. Is there any reason not to follow the most common format, which I think would be to put everything in the present tense? JamesMLane 22:37, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)

My initial reaction was that a timeline is somewhat misplaced in a encyclopedia article. Also, it duplicates some information from the rest of the text. I think it would be a huge improvement to simply work the most relevant events of the timeline into the general history text, possibly cutting some of the less relevant in the process. Alarm 23:45, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Recent history: More sources needed

Although the text on the NAACP history has certainly improved during the last few days, it still seems to draw heavily from the organisation's own webpage. The timeline is equal to the one available there. More disturbingly, there was an apparent lack of information on the problems facing the NAACP in the 1990s. Being no expert on the matter, I've nevertheless tried my best to contribute what I could here, my additions based on a web search on the subject. I would appreciate if anyone with more knowledge in the field could have a look at the new paragraph I've added, and possibly further expand the organisation's recent history. Alarm 23:46, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Cleanup needed

The newly added section on the 1990s needs some cleanup. In particular, the following paragraph borders on incomprehensible:

In 1993, Reverend Benjamin Chavis narrowly defeated Reverend Jesse Jackson in the election for the Executive Secretary position. A controversial figure, Chavis was ousted by the board that hired him eighteen months earlier, accused of using NAACP funds for an out of court settlement in a sexual harassment lawsuit.

This says that Chavis was elected but was hired (and fired) by a Board. Does this mean that the election was an election by the Board? If so we should make that clear. Also "was ousted [no date given] by the board that hired him eighteen months earlier" is really confusing. I think it means "was ousted eighteen months later by the same board that hired him" (which fits my memory of what occurred), but I could be misunderstanding. Anyway, will someone please do some cleanup on this section? -- Jmabel 00:54, Oct 4, 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing that out. I've changed the the wording to "was ousted eighteen months later by the same board that hired him", which is indeed what I was trying to say. Regarding his "hiring" I must admit I remain a bit confused about how the NAACP actually handles these matters. It seems to me that the executive secretary, serving as chairman of the board, is in fact chosen by the board. I'm not sure about the appropriate English term here. Should something along the lines of "board vote" be used instead of "election"? If so, please feel free to adjust the wording.

The fact it was the board that ousted Chavis seems to be clear, though. This article in New York Amsterdam News, October 08, 1994, says that the board of directors "voted 53 out of 58 to remove Chavis" on August 20, 1994. Should these facts go into the section, or is that too much detail?

However, if someone wants to help expanding this section, it might be relevant to mention that several other board members was asked to leave the board in 1997 due to improprieties. For mentions of this, see [2] and [3] Alarm 08:43, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll follow up, at least on that paragraph. -- Jmabel 17:26, Oct 4, 2004 (UTC)

I fail to see the relevance of the origins of the founders of the NCAA. Is it relevant to this article whether someones family owned slaves at one point in space and time? Most of the names have a "race" behind them, and Henry has a "religion". Oswald has a birthcountry AND a "race". IMHO this is the moment for an more experienced member to help us out.

If this is about race (as if that is important...) you might wanna replace (white) with (Caucasian). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.223.108.141 (talk) 08:33, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

This is not the Place for Jewish Conspiracy Theories

I have recently removed this bologna about the NAACP being "jewish". I'm sure it was put there to feed the endless Zionist Conspiracy Theories of nutcase far-right extremeists. Put trash like that on Stormfront not on a source of information used by millions of people. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.140.7.213 (talk • contribs)

What the above anon called material "put there to feed the endless Zionist Conspiracy Theories..." was the following:

One often overlooked aspect of the NAACP's history is that the Jewish community contributed hugely to the NAACP's founding and continued financing. The Jewish historian Howard Sachar writes in his book A History of Jews in America of how

In 1914, Professor Emeritus Joel Spingarn of Columbia University be­came chairman of the NAACP and recruited for its board such Jewish leaders as Jacob Schiff, Jacob Billikopf, and Rabbi Stephen Wise. ... And, in the climactic civil rights drives of the 1950s and 1960s, Jewish participation was all but overwhelming. [4]

While I don't like the phrase "often overlooked" (rather POV), I think this should otherwise be restored. It is entirely factual, the citation comes from the eminently phili-Semitic myjewishlearning.com, and it points, accurately, to the historic support of Jewish Americans for the rights of African Americans. As a Jewish American, I for one am proud of that part of my heritage. Let the fascists make of it what they will: if they want to hate us Jews for supporting Blacks (rather than their usual approach of just hating us for being Jews), well, it comes with the territory. I would hate to suppress the existence of links among historically oppressed minorities on the basis that the far right will view the oppressed as mutually "conspiring" to counter their oppression. -- Jmabel | Talk 00:57, Feb 17, 2005 (UTC)

Jews, generally, were extremely supportive of the Civil Rights Movement, and many actively participated in the Freedom Rides, marches, etc. And, yes, in the bad, old days when white boards (or at least nonblack leadership) meant more money coming in and more credibility, and when many whites still doubted blacks' innate ability to spearhead such endeavors, the NAACP -- just as were HBCU's -- was presided over by nonblacks, often Jews. Information about Jewish involvement in and support for the Movement absolutely should be presented -- and in such a context. Lots of white Christians also supported the struggle. IMO, however, the quotation is a rotten one: "... all but overwhelming"? What the hell does that mean? I don't know how such language got past the editors. deeceevoice 07:26, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, I could do without the "all but overwhelming", too. But can we please restore:

One often overlooked aspect of the NAACP's history is that the Jewish community contributed hugely to the NAACP's founding and continued financing. The Jewish historian Howard Sachar writes in his book A History of Jews in America of how "In 1914, Professor Emeritus Joel Spingarn of Columbia University be­came chairman of the NAACP and recruited for its board such Jewish leaders as Jacob Schiff, Jacob Billikopf, and Rabbi Stephen Wise." [5]

Because the "contributor" who initiated this exchange was anonymous, I can't find the edit. If you'll point me to the context in which this quotation appeared, I can aswer your question regarding what I think about retoring the text. I must say, though, that if it is to be restored, I would start the quote at: "...the Jewish community...." deeceevoice 08:33, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

No problem with cutting it as you say, I really wasn't thinking too precisely about it. I didn't write it, I just think something about it should be restored.

This is the edit that removed it. [6] It was at the end of the "history" section; certainly that section is the correct place. -- Jmabel | Talk 19:55, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)

I rewrote one sentence: A year later, two whites, journalist William E. Walling and Mary White Ovington, joined the group, as well as did Jewish social worker Henry Moscowitz. This suggests that Jews are outside the category of whites. Unintentional, no doubt. --Italo Svevo 08:29, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

No real problem with that, although at that time "whites" would not probably have included Jews. Just like "Anglos" now usually does not include English-speaking African Americans (except in New Mexico, where it usually does). "White" is a social construction, and has meant different things at different times. -- Jmabel | Talk 19:13, Mar 11, 2005 (UTC)

Actually, I still don't consider Jews white. I wrote it that way intentionally, but without much thought. I don't have a real problem with those who wish to categorize Jews as "white," but I did tweak the wording a bit. "Three" is hardly "several." deeceevoice 18:44, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I was watching CNN over the weeked. Walter Mosley, who, of course, is of black and Jewish parentage, made it a point to say that he is not "half white"; he is half Jewish, that there's a difference. He said not only does he know that Jews aren't white, his Jewish mother knows Jews aren't white.  :) deeceevoice 11:27, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)

There's got to be a limit to how much space within the NAACP be article can be dedicated to the "heavily Jewish" influence on the NAACP. No one denies that some Jewish people have made significant contributions throughout the NAACP's history. However, I do not beleive that this support merits that amount of attention that some anonymous folks want to give it in this article. LegCircus 18:27, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Seems to me it's basically one paragraph related to the founding. That doesn't seem particularly disproportionate. On the other hand, there should be more of a listing of the Blacks involved in the founding. -- Jmabel | Talk 02:40, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm curious, and I didn't see what you deleted, but saying "There is/was Jewish involvement in the NAACP" is offensive to whom and how? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Absolute Relativity (talk • contribs) 02:00, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

There isn't nearly enough cooperation between the Jewish and Black communities' today, and more discussion about historical cooperation can do nothing but good for both sides. We need more discussion of such cooperation, and I don't think the phrase "often overlooked" is necessarily out of place. It is all to often overlooked.

I'm starting to believe this "Jewish conspiracy against Blacks" crap is actually a KKK conspiracy against both sides.

--Absolute Relativity 02:27, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Contact details

Does anyone strongly object to removing the contact details, wikipedia is after all, not a phonebook--nixie 02:35, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)

History and an update

I rewrote in great part the section dealing with the history of the organization. It simply was not factual. What became the NAACP started out as an all-black organization (see photo of some of the members of the Niagara Movement on the wiki page of the same name; perhaps this photo should appear alongside the "History" section), and became integrated largely as a result of the group wanting to make itself more viable and more effective. They needed money and powerful contacts in order to be effective, and, in the early 1900s, that meant white folks. In fact, the organization did not have its first black president until 1920, when author/statesman James Weldon Johnson took over the reins of leadership. I believe this version of the group's history is more accurate. deeceevoice 14:42, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I read through a couple of sections, and updated the info on the organization's leadership. Mfume announced his resignation late last year, which took effect January 1 (I think). deeceevoice

I updated the update with a reference to the IRS investigation. Also added more on Phillips County and Moore v, Dempsey and on political alliances and rivalries in the 1930s. Also took out the reference to the railroad litigation in the 1940s (which I had added a few months ago); as I understand it that was a freelance project of Houston's, not the organization's. Added some more Supreme Court cases and linked all to the text of the decision. Still haven't found a place to insert DuBois' departure in 1934; for that you have to go to his page. -- Italo Svevo 08:29, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Good additions. I was going to do the IRS investigation when I had time. I'm also thinking of mentioning the controversy/uproar over the 2004 "Image Awards," when R. Kelly (disgusting pervert) was nominated for one. Comments? deeceevoice 08:48, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Timeline Source

Many of the entries in the timeline are copied directly from the official NAACP site. [7]. Is this a copyright violation?-LtNOWIS 00:56, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

• I contacted them at the time I did this. I couldn't get formal approval (they are too much of a bureaucracy) but they said they view it pretty much like a press release, they welcome people re-publishing. We've made a few corrections on some dates they got wrong(!); I've emailed back to them on this, but I don't think they fixed their own site accordingly. -- Jmabel | Talk 06:59, Apr 12, 2005 (UTC)

I'm not in the mood to put this politely...

These two recent edits by User:67.65.155.219 constitute uncited / weasel-cited POV and (in the claim that any taking of race into account is "racism") rampant ignorance. I reverted these once, 67.65.155.219 restored them. I'm not going to fight it out. I'm tired, it's late here, and I'm about to take a five-day break from Wikipedia. Will someone else please look into this? -- Jmabel | Talk 07:13, 24 September 2005 (UTC)

"History" section

I would like to delete portions of the "History" section (specifically, everything written prior to section "Fighting Jim Crow". It doesn't correspond to any research that I've read on the origins of the NAACP. This version of the NAACP history was deleted in March 2005 from the Wikipedia NAACP article:

The NAACP was founded as the National Negro Committee on 12 February 1909, by a multi-racial group of political activists including W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard, and William English Walling. DuBois edited the association's magazine, The Crisis, which reached more than 30,000 people.

It comes closer to the truth. However, I'm currently writing an article on the National Negro Committee and once completd, I will add portions of it to this article.

--This section has been cut and pasted from the NAACP website (http://www.naacp.org/programs/field/naacp_origins/) without any citation at all. Please change this; otherwise, this would be considered plagarism.

The following sources were used to make this decision:

NAACP: in the beginning. (excerpts from 'Highlights of NAACP History')(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)." The Crisis 101.n1 (Jan 1994): 28(4). InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale.

Mary White Ovington, How the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Began. 8 Crisis 184 (1914) -- Mitchumch 11:38, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

If there are things you think are wrong, please do remove them; I suggest strongly that, because this is bound to be controversial, that you move the cut material to the talk page and indicate explicitly what you believe is wrong with it. -- Jmabel | Talk 06:22, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Bias

Why does the "Criticism" segment fail to mention the part about the NAACP being racist? Not only does the article fail at that point, but it fails by introducing a cliche segment bashing Bush. I can't blame someone for not wanting to speak at an obviously racist venue. Haizum 6 Feb 2006

Racist? And precisely who is oppressed by the NAACP?

In the unlikely event that you have something citable on this, provide citation. -- Jmabel | Talk 17:40, 11 February 2006 (UTC)== History ==

White males.65.5.165.19 (talk) 15:49, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

"and through its protests and the support of the Supreme Court, it prevented President Ronald Reagan from giving a tax break to the racially segregated Bob Jones University."

Removed -- this was pure fluff. The issue at hand was whether BJU's tax-exempt status was to be continued, and the organization's position had nothing to do with the Supreme Court's decision.

"1989: the NAACP held a silent march of more than 100,000 people to protest U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have reversed many of the gains made against discrimination."

What decisions, and what gains?

"2000: January 17, in Columbia, South Carolina, more than 50,000 people attended a march to protest the flying of the Confederate battle flag. It was the largest civil rights demonstration ever held in the South to date."

How is the protestation of the flying of a flag a "Civil rights demonstration"?

Spock 23:43, 2006 Mar 26 (UTC)

The NAACP was not started by a multiracial group. It was started by Mary White Ovington and the other White persons mentioned, in response to the antisemitic wave going through the south. The Niagra Movement of W.E.B. DUBOIS was invited to join at the first convention the following year. The organization was initially a Jewish organized organization. They wanted to prevent the lynching of Jews by organizing to have laws passed against Black lynching etc, which the Jewish community could also benefit from. It remained a white controlled organization until the 1970's when the first Black Board Chairman was elected.

GA Failing

Please source all your statements with references. For further information, please see WP:CITE. Cheeers, Highway ^{Rainbow Sneakers} 15:24, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

criticism

Why was the criticism section removed? There is no way this article is NPOV the way it stands.

I did not remove it but I agree that it was original research (not allowed). Wiki can however summarize official NAACP statements, if a source is given. Rjensen 05:28, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

ACT-SO

Why isn't there anything on the NAACP's anual youth scholorship contest, ACT-SO (i.e. The Academic Cultural Technological and Scientific Olympics)? CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO --71.118.168.253 01:02, 31 July 2006 (UTC) Image:Actso.jpg

Arrest of a person thats not guilty

On July the Los Angeles Sheriff dept. rammed through my fornt door looking for someone by the name of Kennth Bell, I told them I didn't know this person. He then asked me who all was int he house, I called all the children by name and also the adults. After about an hour of sitting on the curve of the streets with my children at 4;3o am, with my niece with only a shirt and a bath towel, the detective later came to me and stated that he was going to take my son in for questioning on a homicide. Not really knowing what that meant I said that was fine. Dectective Ramirez returned too my home to continue his search, after about another hour he later came too me and asked me did my son named Billie attend school? I stated to him not now, he's on summer vacation, she said what about in May, I said yes he was. Mr. Ramirez then said, what school does he attend, I answered him Hillcrest High School.He said oh he might be exzonirated if he was at school. Later the detective came back too me and said I may as well tell you the truth, I have a arrest warrant for your son for murder. I said if so may I see it,he stated yes it's in my car and I give you a copy after the search is complete.Later Mr. Ramirez stated that he thought the warrant was in his car, but it wasn't, so he'll bring it back to me later on.(of course I haven't seen it yet).So after the police exited the house I calmed the kids down and proceeded to get dressed to go to work,but before heading too work I decided to drop by the school just to be sure of the statement I made about my son being in school.This murder happened on May 19, 2006 @12;00 or 12:00pm,(that's what I was told)and my son was in all of his classes on that day.It just doesn't add up to me why this information was not included in the investigation. So I don't have much money and can't afford his bail or an attorney,so my son has too sit in jail until this is cleared.Why? Why? Can anyone help me with this answer? Can you help me try and help my son please.

  - Why are you asking for help on wikipedia. If you can prove very simply that your son was in class that day then it should be that easy. Otherwise, you need to keep better tabs on your son's social life.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.236.51.191 (talk) 21:28, 7 October 2007 (UTC) 

Bush

Two things:

1. We should probably mention Bruce S. Gordon's new role as NAACP president as part of why Bush spoke to them (but we need a citation).
2. We say that in 2004 Bush became the first president since Hoover not to address the NAACP, but shouldn't be in 2001, his first year as president?

Jmabel | Talk 06:26, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Although I think this entire article needs to be completely reworked, I took the first step and edited the section on Bush and the NAACP to make more sense and clean up a few errors. Previously, the section referred to the Bush as "United States of America President George W. Bush" even though the first clause of the sentence states that the ad took place during the presidential election. Therefore, I changed his position to match the time. Also, there was a stray sentence that said that Bush met with NAACP leaders in 2005 about various issues. Without a further explanation or update, this sentence appears unnecessary and out of place. Plus, the fact that he went to speek in 2006 implies that relations had improved. Also, some of the things that were linked in the section were inconsistent and did not contribute to understanding the topic so I removed them. Hecman111 17:10, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

2002, NCAA, NASCAR

Much material has been added about the South Carolina sports boycott. It needs citation, in general.

Beyond the general need for citation:

• What, if anything, did the NAACP have to do with the Ferko lawsuit? Nothing in our article on the suit mentions the NAACP or anything racial?
• Who is "The Cochran firm"? Again, unmentioned in Ferko lawsuit.

- Jmabel | Talk 22:16, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Executive Director / President

I made corrections because there seems to have been a confusion between the titles executive director and president of the NAACP.

The Presidents of the NAACP were: Moorfield Story (1910-1915) Joel Springarn (1915-1940) Arthur Springarn (1940-1966) Kivie Kaplan (1966-1975) W. Montague Cobb (1976-1982) Enolia McMillan (1984-1990)

"The Leader" of the NAACP was first called 'Executive Secretary', then the title was changed to 'Executive Director' in 1964. Then it was changed to 'president' when Kwesi Mfume was elected. They included: James Weldon Johnson (Executive Sectretary) 1920-1930, Walter White(Executive Secretary) 1931-1955, Roy Wilkins (Executive Secretary/Director) 1955-1977, Benjamin Hooks (Executive Director) 1977-1993, Benjamin Chavis (Muhammad)(Executive Director) 1993-1994, Kwesi Mfume (President), Bruce Gordon (President).

Semi-protected

I have semi-protected this article again anon editing. Sick to death of the history being entirely composed of racist vandalism and reversions of racist vandalism. --Stormie 00:57, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

copyvio

from official site[8].--Sig0 18:23, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Please see #Timeline Source. Not a copyvio, although our standards for permission have gotten so high that it may violate our own rules.- Jmabel | Talk 01:03, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

I support restoring the page contents as they were, it doesn't seem to be a copyvio. --70.51.230.6 21:00, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

I have removed the timeline. Many sentences were reworded compared to the source, but it was still a copyright violation. Please rewrite it from scratch (if the timeline is necessary at all). Conscious 12:19, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Again, it is possible that this violates Wikipedia's relatively new, very narrow rules on using copyrighted materials (that we only use material that others may freely copy from us, and that permissions must be broad enough to allow this), but it is not a copyright violation. It would only be a copyright violation if the copyright holder had not given us permission to use it. - Jmabel | Talk 02:37, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

NAACP finances

Please include information about the source of NAACP funds, such as private donations, government grants, etc. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.247.193.158 (talk • contribs) 27 December 2006.

NAACP's finances have been something of a mess. This might not be an easy topic to research. Still, as a 501(c)(3), I'm pretty sure that there has to be some sort of publicly available annual filing. Does someone know more about this? - Jmabel | Talk 22:47, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

NAACP and Tax Evasion

The header in the article in incorrect. The NAACP was never accussed of tax evasion. Instead, the IRS was determining if the organization should lose its tax exempt status based on comments about the president. (Non-profts have to be non-partisan.) Could someone with edit capability please correct the header. Thank you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Haroldkerr (talk • contribs) 18:27, 24 January 2007 (UTC).

The article is incomplete and expresses a POV in favor of the NAACP. If the President of the NAACP is going to take a public position on the qualifications of a politician, then the IRS is entitled to investigate, and has a duty to do so, to make sure that the law is being administered fairly. This is not "harrassment," and the only way that it could be, is if the NAACP thinks it is above the law that is applicable to the rest of us. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.13.1.111 (talk) 17:12, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

The Section About Bush

I think it should be taken out. It doesn't provide much about the NAACP, just about how Bush treated them. Also the section seems to have a little bit of a biased spin on it.

(69.143.64.180 18:59, 4 February 2007 (UTC))

Bruce Gordon

He is no longer the president of the NAACP. He resigned March 4.

Working with Jews and Asians

I disagree with this line "to work on behalf of the rights of minorities including Native Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, as well as Jews." The NAACP does not assist Native American, Asians, and Jews; they only assist African Americans. In fact, many prominent members of the NAACP have been very vocal (and quite racist) against Asian and Jews in Black neighborhoods. Some of the remarks made by these NAACP leaders borderline (if not actually) on inciting violence against these two minority groups.

Do you have any evidence to support this accusation? Or are you pulling this out of your a**?

I take such an accusation very seriously if it can be backed up, however saying something like this baselessly can only make the situation worse.

--Absolute Relativity 02:38, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Racism

There was some talk about whether or not this is a racist group. Well I ask you if it were National Association for the Advancement of White People or Italian or Irish would it not fall under the White supremacy blanket. So as this site needs to refrain from bias shouldn't the fact that this organizations purpose is to advance Colored people and no one else. Meaning they feel superior. What does everyone else think? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Murph422 (talk • contribs) 16:51, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

To support your claim, see National Association for the Advancement of White People. Notice the what kind of group it is listed as at the bottom of the article Falcanary 20:44, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

I agree on the point that the NAACP's goal is to advance the goals of Black people and no one else, no Hispanics, Jews, or Asians. Their goals seem to fall into advancing Blacks at the expense of other minority groups. Googleplex1001 (talk • contribs) 19:12, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

To call the NAACP racist is to trivialize racism. (If this were true anthropoligists and sociologists would be racist in the same way as the KKK or the Nazis). To say that the NAACP intentionally expends non-African minorities and their advancement is to misunderstand advocacy and is an invalid form of reasoning called by logicians the Fallacy of Affirming the consequent, which can be stated - If A then B; B; therefore A.

(A) The NAACP expends the goals of other minorities if (B) they support the advancement of colored people.

(B) NAACP supports the advancement of colored people;

therefore (A) they expend with the goals of minorities.

--Teetotaler

The NAACP was made back when black people were still fighting for their civil rights.Look at the name.Black people arent even called colored people anymore.This was made back when black people couldnt even drink out the same water fountain.

Advocating something does not amount to hindering something. For example, someone that wants the US to end the war with Iraq isn't against supporting US troops. Teetotaler

Water cooler picture?

I fail to see how the picture with the man drinking from the water cooler contributes to this article. It would be appropriate in an article detailing racial segregation, but it does not directly relate to the NAACP. 72.241.20.239 03:07, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

The section of the article which that picture illustrates is entitled "Fighting Jim Crow", and discusses the NAACP's efforts against Jim Crow laws. That article mentions "(requiring) black and white people to use separate water fountains" as an example of such a law. Seems a pretty clear illustration to me - why do you think it's appropriate in an article detailing racial segregation, but not in a section of an article detailing opposition to racial segregation? --Stormie 03:43, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Consistency in Introduction

For the purpose of being consistent in the level of political correctness (it's not very PC to be inconsistenly PC) in the introduction, I propose to change part of the introduction to either of the following.

(...) a diverse group composed of W.E.B. Du Bois (Black), Ida Wells-Barnett (Black), Henry Moskowitz (White), Mary White Ovington (White), Oswald Garrison Villard (White), and William White Walling (White), to work on behalf of the rights of Blacks. Its name, (...)

I understand that some parts of the former might be considered offensive, so, trying to avoid that, I propose as an alternative:

(...) a diverse group composed of W.E.B. Du Bois (African American), Ida Wells-Barnett (African American), Henry Moskowitz (Asian [assuming Israel as the location of Jewish roots] American), Mary Caucasian Ovington (European American), Oswald Garrison Villard (European American), and William English Walling (European American), to work on behalf of the rights of African Americans. Its name, (...)

I am sure someone with the proper editing rights can quickly repair these inconsistencies.

Please add this infobox

{{editprotected}} Please add the infobox at right to the article. Thanks. 66.167.253.71 (talk) 22:17, 17 May 2008 (UTC).

I added it. In the future, it will be easier if you simply register a username, as this page is only semiprotected. — Carl (CBM · talk) 17:43, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

cites don't agree

Cites 14 and 15 don't agree on who the last president to not speak to the naacp. Since they can't both be right one is wrong and there fore unreliable and should be removed. I feel that the Washington Post would be more reliable but i wanted to see if anyone disagreed or could find a reliable third party source to cast the deciding vote. Washington post says it was Harding and gazette says Hoover. Sean0987 (talk) 05:52, 31 May 2008 (UTC)Sean0987