Eugene Robinson: The NAACP’s Relevance Step

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_naacps_relevance_step_20120522/

The NAACP’s Relevance Step

Posted on May 21, 2012

By Eugene Robinson


With its support for gay marriage, the NAACP has done more than strike a blow for fairness and equality. The nation’s most venerable civil rights organization has made itself relevant again.

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Those tempted to see the NAACP’s stance as purely symbolic haven’t read the fine print. The resolution approved Saturday commits the organization to “oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the constitutional rights of LGBT {lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender} citizens.”

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The biggest immediate impact of the NAACP’s move is to return a once-indispensable organization to center stage. The NAACP was the flagship of the civil rights movement, but in recent years—recent decades, to be honest—it seemed to lose its way. The group continued to do good work, but to the extent that it sought to identify some sort of umbrella “black agenda,” it failed as black America became increasingly diverse.

Now, under Jealous, the NAACP has waded into the civil rights battle of today—and, in the process, reclaimed some of the organization’s old prominence. I can’t remember the last time an NAACP resolution garnered so much attention around the nation and the world. I can’t wait for the next one.