THE BALLOT: DEMOCRACY’S WEAPON
The vote is a most precious right and a crucial tool for insuring meaningful involvement in the nation’s political processes. Many civil right workers died in the struggle to remove barriers between Blacks and the ballot box. The NAACP’s continuing struggle to enfranchise Black Americans is as old as the Association itself. A concerted drive was begun in 1956; with a goal to register 3,000,000 voters throughout the South in time for the national elections. The NAACP was a key force in the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The NAACP conducts voter education programs which include all areas where minorities represent a significant political force and it assist hundreds of thousands of people to register.
CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS
The NAACP played a vital role in the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, 1965, and 1968, which were created to provide equality for ALL citizens, regardless of race or color. These laws forbid racial discrimination in public accommodations, voter registration, employment, housing and in any federally-assisted programs. Securing full enforcement of these laws is another major NAACP goal.
OPEN HOUSING
A major NAACP goal is opening the suburbs to low and moderate income residents, especially minorities. The Association was a vital force in the passage of the 1968 Open Housing Act, which made it illegal to refuse to rent or sell property on racial grounds. Earlier NAACP victories date back to 1917, when the Supreme Court banned statutory residential segregation and to 1948, when the Court invalidated judicial enforcement of racially restrictive housing covenants. The NAACP trains local branches in housing programs: how to sponsor and fund housing developments, how to monitor government and private activities for their impact on the Black community and how to attack restrictive zoning ordinances.
PRISON REFORM
The Attica riots provided a sobering reminder that “correctional institutions” do not cure criminals, but only emitter and destroy the people they are meant to help. American prisons are perhaps the major breeders of crime; two-thirds of those committed return. Another sad fact is Black prison populations are considerable larger than in the general population. The NAACP has launched a program to provide assistance to inmates and ex-inmates. Prison branches have been established to give hope and to encourage inmates to participate in the educational and training programs provided. The Mid-Manhattan, New York Branch, the Flint, Michigan Branch, and the Cleveland, Ohio Branch, operate “project-rebound’ programs which assist newly-released prisoners in adjusting to society.
LYNCHING-NEW STYLE
The police murder of a ten-year-old in New York City ranked with the Black Panther raid and slayings in Chicago. Police rampages through other northern cities demonstrate that Black citizens are confronted with another menace to their civil rights. Such occurrences are grim reminders that the civil rights struggle has not yet ended. The NAACP worked to obliterate the lynch mob; it now works to erase its modern-day counterpart.
SCHOOL DESEGREGATION
While civil rights activists battled to destroy legalized or de jure segregation in public schools throughout the South, the North practiced an equally sinister form of de facto or residential segregation. The Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown, and 1969 Charlotte-Mecklenberg decisions curtailed segregation, Southern-style. The NAACP has directed metropolitan-wide desegregation plans that cross city and county lines.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Without decent jobs, Blacks must continue to live in the poorest neighborhoods and send their children to the worst schools. The NAACP has waged a relentless fight to end job discrimination by employers and labor unions. A powerful weapon in its arsenal is Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, under which judicial rulings banning racist employment practices are sought. The NAACP has attacked seniority and promotional practices affecting large numbers of Black workers at large corporations and has won unprecedented back-pay awards.
MILITARY JUSTICE
The NAACP has consistently led the fight to protect the rights of Black servicemen, end segregation and secure equal administration of justice. The NAACP-funded study, Search for Military Justice, which Executive Director Roy Wilkins submitted to the Department of Defense, impelled former Defense Secretary, Melvin Laird to take immediate action on several recommendations. NAACP General Counsel Nathaniel R. Jones, co-directed a broader DOD survey, The Task Force on the Administration of Military Justice in the Armed Forces, which became the basis for further improvements. Embattled Black service personnel, stationed in such diverse places as Goose Bay, Labrador; West Germany, New York’s Governor’s Island and on the super-carrier, Kitty Hawk, were all defended by the NAACP when faced with racially-motivated charges.