Wednesday 15 January 2014

NAACP and American Identity

The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) is an organisation that represents all coloured people in America. The race riot in Springfield, Illinois in 1908 was the catalyst that led to the NAACP being founded in 1909 by a multi racial group of men and women, to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights and to eliminate race based discrimination. They have their own NAACP Constitution which states their main objectives and how the organisation is set up and run. It has over 150,000 members ranging from youth members to retirees. The website features articles on its history and the legal milestones it has achieved, also its mission statement and current issues it is involved in such as climate justice.

I think this is an interesting choice because its name has no mention of American in it, the organisation and its members use racial signifiers to identify with rather than nationality. It is a strong advocate for Affirmative Action and believes that coloured people need to be promoted in order to be equal citizens within American society.

http://www.naacp.org/

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