Buy now I’m sure you’ve heard about the NAACP calling the Tea Party out on the carpet for their refusal to recognize and then distance themselves from, what the NAACP considers to be racist elements in their midst. Ben Jealous, current head of the NAACP, has been on something of a media blitz over the past week or so, in an effort to gin up support for their resolution which basically calls the Tea Party racists.

But this time, the NAACP bit off just a weebit more than they could chew.

For one thing, Sarah Palin was quick to fire back, saying that if anyone was pandering to racial allegiances and the like, it was the NAACP, not the Tea Party. Before the end of the week, the whole of the Tea Party movement-which included several Black members-was “on message” carrying the same mantra Mama Grizzly Palin put into motion-they were successfully able to use a brilliant display of rhetorical Jiu-Jitsu and put the onus right back on the NAACP themselves, with their charges that the organization was little more than a race hustling shakedown operation-and worse, that they had ceased actually being relevant a very long time ago. To add insult to injury, even fellow travelers of the NAACP, like MSNBC, has asked aloud:

Given all the many problems the African American community has to deal with, is this effort by the NAACP something they should engage in? Shouldn’t other issues, like say, the overwhelming unemployment rates for Black Men, take center stage on the NAACP’s agenda?

In other words, what has the NAACP done lately?

It was painful to watch Mr. Jealous’ grimacing as such questions were put to him.

But of course, the talking heads on one of cable tv’s most Liberal stations, had a point.

Actually, three or four.

The Tea Party ain’t responsible for Chicago’s horrendous homicide rate

The Tea Party didn’t force Black kids to dropout of highschool at rates exceeding 50% in many Black urban areas

Mark Williams could write a thousand “satirical letters” and it would have NOTHING to do with the skyhigh incaceration rate, or infant mortality rate, or out of wedlock birthrate, in the Black community.

So, if all this is the case – and it IS – why do outfits like the NAACP, focus on stuff that has at best, symbolic import?

Regular readers of my humble missives know well my view of folk like the NAACP and their pet causes; not only do they make themselves look like utter fools when they do ridiculous stuff like this, but they also belie their own lofty, noble goals by revealing their deepseated class bias and disdain of those not born of the right Brown Paper Bag hues.
If anyone disputes what I say here, all you need do is take a look at the founding of the NAACP itself-yes, the founder(s) of today’s Tea Party may have racial motivations, but they are by no means alone. WEB DuBois is considered the “grand daddy” of the country’s oldest civil rights organization, and his view as to how things ought to be done wrt Black America is well known and documented. He had no use whatsoever for the likes of Booker T. Washington or Marcus Garvey, and he even snubbed imminent scholar John Hope Franklin, possibly because the latter was too dark for DuBois’ blood.

It is not a stretch to say who and what the NAACP was aimed at and was out to do. It by now, should be quite obvious. That isn’t to say that it did nothing good in its more than a century of existence-its famed Legal Defense Fund played a strong role in ending Jim Crow, which proved to be on balance, a net positive for all African Americans. But we wouldn’t be honest if we didn’t say, that the NAACP never did have as part of its mission, dealing with the gut level, on the ground, day to day concerns of Pookie and Ray-Ray. Their focus was more on people who resembled, more or less, DuBois himself.

And in our time now, racist views/condoning aside, can anyone honestly say there is a comparison to be made between the NAACP and the Tea Party? The former is basically one big quasi-corporate/non-profit operation; the latter, a true grassroots effort. And, note the support the latter has gotten online, in the wake of this dustup the NAACP has started-it’s quite substantial. Now compare it to the support the NAACP has gotten.

*crickets chirping*

I know there are those out there who will take umbrage with what I’m saying here, and for what it’s worth, I feel your pain. But the facts-and I really hate to confuse you all with any of those-are simply that the NAACP hasn’t been relevant in the lives of Black folk since the 60s. Just ask yourself this little question if you doubt me:

Do you honestly think that the now Ben Jealous led NAACP could call on one million or more African Americans to assemble in a public show of force, against the racism of the Tea Party?

If you’re wondering, yes, I am making a clear comparison to the Nation of Islam’s call for one million Black Men to mass on the Mall in Washington DC, 15 years ago. If you will kindly recall, among the (Black) detractors, were voices in the NAACP.

This event proved something-the long history of the NOI’s engagement with the kinds of Black folks the NAACP doesn’t even talk about, let alone actually deals with, on the ground and where the action is – heck, even Bill Cosby said as much, back during his famed (or infamous, depending on your POV) “Poundcake Speech“. Black Men from all walks of life responded to Min. Louis Farrakhan’s call, much to the chargin of the more hidebound Civil Righters-like voices in the NAACP.

And while said voices was busy quibbling about the financial speck in the Minster’s eye, they were ignoring the 2X4 in their own-the NAACP has a history of financial mismanagement and malfeasance almost as long as its actual civil rights history itself. And on top of that, the NAACP has a history petty infighting, too-which included Jealous’ highly contentious election.

So, on balance, is the Tea Party racist, or at the very least, seems to attract racists and condones them in their midst? If Mark Williams is any indication, among a great many other things, I would say, YES.

But for real, it ain’t that big a deal for the vast majority of Black folk, y’all. We got much, much bigger fish to fry.

If the NAACP can’t be down with helping to fry said fish, they could at the least refrain from wanting to pick over the bones.

I’m just sayin.

Commnt & reply, holla.

The Obsidian