As World War II came to an end, the work of the NAACP was only beginning to gain ground. A nucleus of strong leadership composed of Walter White, Thurgood Marshall, Ella Baker, Roy Wilkins, and W.E.B. Du Bois had emerged to move forward the NAACP’s overarching goal: “to end racial discrimination and secure full citizenship for black Americans” (Sullivan 293). Du Bois, despite a few years absence, was asked by White to represent the black voice in anticolonial movements, and he agreed (292).
Together, Marshall and Baker emerged as the frontrunners of the field campaign. “Both shared an understanding that, as Marshall bluntly put it, ‘the NAACP can move no faster than the individuals who have been discriminated against’” (Sullivan 295). The two uplifted communities by nurturing local leaders—Marshall through local lawyers and Baker through community members at large (295) Throughout this period, the NAACP played a central role in garnering the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice and began to see rewards from their efforts.
Fast forward to today. As the murder of Trayvon Martin continues to garner media attention, a quick Google search of “Trayvon Martin + NAACP” offers 823 results. Just like in the days of Marshall and Baker, members of the NAACP have traveled to Florida to hear the personal accounts of community members. Within one article titled, “Community speaks out against Sanford officials following death of Trayvon Martin,” from ABC Action News, one of the attendees shares the following statement: “The Justice Department needs to come and clean all of Sanford up. They need to take all the judges and most of them need to go.”
It is disheartening to know that a half-century since the prime NAACP organizing of Baker and Marshall, there are still communities struggling to overcome institutionalized injustice. While it is somewhat comforting to know that the NAACP continues to respond to cases of injustice, an inkling of optimism—or naivety—continues to hope there would be no need for the NAACP to respond to any issues dealing with the justice system (because there wouldn’t be any), and that ferries and ponies and princesses could again populate the world. As social media outlets, friends, and classmates continue to discuss the case, the thought of the individual’s role—and more importantly MY role—within the protest consistently emerges.
WWED? (What would Ella [Baker] do?) If this case were being read in a textbook instead of in the news, what would the desired response of young Americans be? It is doubtful that it would be limited to casual conversations over coffee and scrolling through timelines and feeds.
Read the full article here: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/community-speaks-out-against-sanford-officials-following-death-of-trayvon-martin
There are a couple of things I’d like to talk about from your post, so I’ll try to keep this short and to the point.
First, you use the quote “the NAACP can move no faster than the individuals who have been discriminated against.” Which I find interesting, because I also look at that from another angle; would you also say that the NAACP is moving as fast as the discrimination cases are coming up? It seems to me that the NAACP had more than enough discrimination cases than they need, in fact, based on all of Chapter 7 in Sullivan, it almost seems like the NAACP can’t keep up with some of the cases, as evidenced by the fact that they drop the case on page 253.
Second, I like how you mentioned institutionalized injustice, far too often I think we view things as singular cases when some injustice happens in some sort of official system. I think that it’s important to note how these injustices are not unique cases, but really more of the norm, especially for this time in the Civil Rights Movement.
Third, I think Ella Baker would be outraged by the Trayvon Martin shooting, and she would probably move to Florida temporarily to comfort the family and aid in the protesting down there. She’d probably also wear a hoodie.
Interesting point, Josiah! I interpreted the quote to mean the NAACP can move only as fast as its members, who are the very same people being discriminated against. Although the NAACP did have members from other races, the largest portion was African-American. This quote–initially to me– presents the unique struggle of the NAACP: navigating a system as a person systematically discriminated against.
However, on a closer inspection, the quote seems to offer a variety of meanings. “The NAACP can move no faster than the individuals who have been discriminated against…” because of the justice system? because of disenfranchisement? because of current enforcement of laws? It seems there are a variety of interpretations.
And Ella Baker would definitely be wearing a hoodie.
To continute some discussion about that quote (“The NAACP can move no faster than the individuals who have been discriminated against…”, I look at the quote from yet another angle. The way I interpreted the quote was a comment on the national office’s leadership in relation to its branches. The organization as a whole on the national level could only really move as fast as they give some form of power, or maybe recognition, to the members throughout the nation. It relates back to our discussion in class about the interdependent relationship between top-down and bottom-up leadership.
I remember this quote sticking out to me in teh reading more than any other quote so I’m glad we have a forum here to discuss it. I think my interpretation of it is a combination of all of yours combined. I agree with Brittany that the quote has something to do with the relationship between the national offices and its branches. Yes, the national office would only be as strong as its local branches, but I think the message goes a little deeper than that. I believe the message is saying that the NAACP will only be powerful as the individuals who comprise the entire organization. In order for the NAACP to be successful in accomplishing its goals the individuals who comprised its membership had to be just as vigilant in fighting for their rights as the NAACp was. In other words, the NAACP will only be as loud as the individuals who have been discriminated against, and thus those individuals must “lift every voice”.
This quote also really intrigued me and I am going to agree most with Ethan. I think that the notion that “The NAACP can move no faster than the individuals who have been discriminated against…” reflects a very Ella Baker philosophy of social movements. To me, this quote means that although the NAACP can do a lot to mobilize and come to the aid of those being discriminated against, it takes grassroots organization of marginalized/voiceless blacks to promote lasting change.
I would have to agree with Josiah when it comes to the quote on the NAACP. While I was reading, I was getting frustrated with the fact that there were so many caes that went undecided at the end of chapter 7. The NAACP seemed to have more than enough cases to work on, but still many African Americans were being wrongfully accused and the NAACP was unable to have an impact.
Another topic that I wanted to discuss from this blog was the relationship between Walter White and W.E.B Du Bois. Joe Harris and I brought it up at the end of our class discussion on Friday, but the class ran out of time. The two had a falling out earlier in the book because W.E.B Du Bois was trying to take the NAACP in a different direction, so he was dismissed from the organization. However, Walter White decides to bring him back to work with the anticolonial movement in chapter eight. Is Walter White no longer threatened by W.E.B Du Bois? Or is W.E.B Du Bois truly needed in the NAACP to keep the African American civil rights movement going strong?