Another Indication that the Black Leadership is In A Crisis:Current NAACP C.E.O. and President Bruce Gordon Quits

It’s only been 19 months, and already NAACP President Bruce Gordon has called it quits.

In an Associated Press article, on Sunday, Gordon said that due to strains with board members over the group’s management style and future operations, he was quitting.

“I believe that any organization that’s going to be effective will only be effective if the board and the CEO are aligned and I don’t think we are aligned,” Gordon said. “This compromises the ability of the board to be as effective as it can be.”

Dennis C. Hayes, general counsel of the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is expected to serve as interim president.

For the record, this is not a good thing.  The NAACP, for better or worse, is the only organization that is recognized around the world for advocating on behalf of Blacks.

In the past several years the NAACP has increasingly frustrated me for several reasons. The first being its constant failure to address the rampant and at times deadly homophobia in our communities, most recently, their deafening silence on NBA player Tim Hardaway’s comments.  Add to that, their failure in addressing the ever growing chorus of Black pastors using their pulpit to preach bedroom politics while at the same time campaigning for a President in 2004 that could care less about Black people

I also get extremely frustrated when the NAACP can ignore issues like homophobia and then take the easy road and condemn people like Kenneth Eng (Why I Hate Blacks), who at the end of the day, has less of an impact on Black people than the mega church pastors preaching hate on Sundays.

It’s clear to me, that this is a case of the old guard not wanting to take a back seat and let a younger more in touch generation assume a role of leadership in the Black community, which quit frankly is an issue in politics as well.

The NAACP is 98 years old and at times, I feel like it’s being run by 98 year olds.  Which is in no way to slight my elders, but to say that at some point we have to make real room for new and younger leaders to take the helm of our organizations and causes or they are going to die with you.

When Tim Hardaway made his awful comments, the next day I called the NAACP acting communications director to see what the NAACP’s reply was going to be.  I didn’t call to see if they were going to respond, because I assumed this would be an obvious situation for them to chime in on.  But I was wrong.  The acting communications director told me that they get called to respond to a lot of issues and that ultimately it’s up to Mr. Gordon to make the final call.

But according to Mr. Gordon the board is running things and not him.  So maybe he wanted to say something, but the board didn’t.  Either way, it did Black people a disservice to have the NAACP say nothing about Hardaway’s hateful rhetoric.

It’s already been made clear that the NAACP’s membership numbers have drastically reduced over the past decade and they have made a point to focus on younger people, for membership only, not for leadership positions.  So then why not address issues that are relevant to the younger generations?

Besides homophobia, there’s the constant issue of the misogyny in today’s hip-hop lyrics that quit frankly really needs to be addressed. Then there’s that little issue of our young women and men and gangs.  Gangs continue to plague Black communities across America with no real solution in site.  Gangs affect the number of Blacks going into colleges, buying homes, getting jobs, etc.  You’d think that would be an area that we would want to focus on.

Still and yet, the NAACP is the organization that is flocked to when something bad is said or done to Blacks.  It’s the organization that corporation’s fall all over each to sponsor.  It’s the organization that is know around the world for defending Blacks, and it is in a state of crisis, to say the least.

I am in no ways happy to see President Gordon go.  A President leaving after a year and a half on the job is not a good sign no matter how you look at it.

I thank him for his time and duty because being the President of the NAACP is not an easy job and he did rise to the occasion to attempt to take on those responsibilities.

The future of the NAACP is now in the hands of the organization’s Board Chairman Julian Bond and its 64-member board of directors.

All I can hope is that the board sees this as a major issue and re-examines the way that they are currently doing business.  I am of the belief that the NAACP is needed but we need to bring the organization into the 21st century, literally.

POLL UPDATE: On my recent poll question of whether or not the NAACP should have condemned Tim Hardaway's comments, out of 195 votes, 70.8% percent of you agreed that the NAACP should have addressed Hardaway's comments, while 29.2% of you didn't.

Comments

[teka]

"there are so many pressing issues they could start sounding off on (if the goal was truly to bring about REAL changes within the community) : Homophobia, sexism, the abysmal quality of black television" by da

that made me laugh, but yes and things...black television needs to be burned and buried. At least with rap music, I sometimes see the art of it, I mean even with NWA I do find my self sometimes humming "fuck the police," because yeah seriously fuck them....lol...

you know what's weird, the only political music in the 90s was rap music. alternative was very much like, "i wear black, i am sad, i will kill myself now..." and rock was like, "she's my cherry pie..." but if listen to rap, even negative rap from the 1980s and 1990s it is shockingly political.

Maybe said in a way that isn't the nicest, but lots of gagsta rap seriously had a pulse on some very unpleasant things that were unfortunately actually going on.

In LA in the late 80s and 90s people were getting shot and everything was very crappy, sort of like how everything is very crappy now, but not so much the shooting. I'm sure the crappy economy will bring about many deaths and drive-bys soon...though maybe more so in the Valley.

Who would have though 20 years agos that there would be drive bys in the valley, oh man...

Teka

The NAACP is a Black Conservative Organization it always has been.Many of there members are ole school traditionalist. I love them anyway,I which Mr.Gordon would reconsider and stir the NAACP to the middle and to a more progressive agenda. By that same token I'd like to see Mr.Alexander of NBJC on T.V. delivering our message and challenging gay people with their prejudices,He might start with gay T.V. first.

[Teka]

Maybe it's time for the NBJC to step out with their own image awards? That would be awesome. by DA

YES, YES, YES....

[Da]

Maybe it's time for the NBJC to step out with their own image awards? That would be awesome.

[Teka]

The NAACP Image awards is a joke. I think one thing that would help, seriously help is to elimate mainsteam entertainment period. Anything that is art related that is corporate or commercial should be eliminated and that right there would get rid of half of the things I find just pointless in regards to the Image Awards. I'm still confused at the R Kelly thing. He was on video taking a p*** on an underage girl, how is that ok...

I hate the Oscars too, the whole entertainment industry. See this is why I can't get work, I talk too much crap about Hollywood, its like talking about the car industry and living in Detroit in the 1950s...

____________________
An alternative for the NAACP, if you guys are in L.A. and you want to meet up, I'd be pretty down for that.

editor@brickbatrevue.com

Teka

I'm disheartened by the NAACP Image awards. An Image Award for Isaiah Washington?? What about John Amaechi, Sheryl Swoops, and Noah's Arc? - All of which have been much more positive for the image of Black Americans. They may as well have given Tim Hardaway an Image Award, too!

Jasmyne, I know you opposed the racist attacks on Washington, but where is your outrage in his receiving an Image award?

[Da]

(cont..)

I don't know much about the org to question their other work beyond that, but the only times I've ever heard about the NAACP is either:

1) when a policeman brutally arrests a black man at some place.
2)or when CNN holds a town meeting on race relations and needs the token black leader to come and bark revelations on how racism is very much alive in the US.

If that is really the definition of "power" & political influence for the black leadership I have to question their low expectations - cause this kind of role is laughable at best..I suspect many are laughing at them :/

As Jasmyne pointed, there are so many pressing issues they could start sounding off on (if the goal was truly to bring about REAL changes within the community) : Homophobia, sexism, the abysmal quality of black television etc etc.. All those reasons why people keep saying the black community needs to be changed from the inside-out, as opposed to focusing solely on what the white media has to say, still where's the action?

ie: the famous black rappers who write homophobic and sexist lyrics for a profit are not kids, yet they're continually "babied" by our leaders who are making excuses for them on all the shows - Those are the kind of things that hurt black youth the most imo : the fact they are communicated by their leaders that no matter what a black person's choices are, they are never responsible for those choices, because "it's the way we are" and "the white man holds the power".

That is abuse to our youth, no less. I sincerely believe that...not that the rappers or BET chose to dilute the discourse (which is their right), but that the leadership endorses and rewards it.

But ultimately, this kind of irresponsible politics is what will contribute to make the NAACP look more and more irrelevant as days go by..

Ain't it beautiful how nature works??

[Da]

I hate to say this but the NAACP maybe has run its course, maybe someone need to come up with an alternative.
Posted by: Teka |

That could be a possibility that has to be looked at.

And to be honest when watching the Awards the other day, for the first time it occured to me that it might be racist. Yes, racist. Not that blacks have equal representation in the media just yet, but it is not handing trophees to elite, rich, established and mainstream black celebs that advances or empowers the community. Check out that list, and tell me the difference with the Emmys..

http://naacp.org/events/image/ia_winners/

If the NAACP was there to congratulate shows like "Noah's Arc" and more off beat initiatives in the black community, then my opinion might be different...But really, with them congratulating the crop of Hollywood and the music industry, there is absolutely no reason why the Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Patrick Dempsey, TR Knight of this world should be shut out cause they either make 'black music' (sometimes more inspirational for African-American kids than their black counterparts) or star in shows that highlight minorities..so holding their race against them has no justification whatesover in this case.

That to me is an example suggesting the NAACP might have become complacent and rest on its laurels..going through the motions, unquestionned. And that's not good.

[Teka]

"It’s clear to me, that this is a case of the old guard not wanting to take a back seat and let a younger more in touch generation assume a role of leadership in the Black community, which quit frankly is an issue in politics as well." j.c.

Yes. I truly think there need to be new blood, I'm not saying we should kill the old people to take over, not unless we've tried everything else :)

There truly needs to be some new fresh blood. I personally think all the crap talked about in regards to Obama by the "old" black guard is in part due to jealously and he not being part of the "old boys" network, the black one, not the white guy one.

I went to the National Center of Democracy www.ncdemocracy.org meeting during their discussion a week or so ago on race. It was aired on KPFK and do you know Joe R Hicks said for no reason in regards to Obama, "I'm not voting for that boy."

To me there seems to be some real issues in regards to some people not letting go and other people being way to comfortable in the roles of race, gender, class, sexual orientation etc...

I'd hate to have to make a new organization, but that seems what is needed. I hate to say this but the NAACP maybe has run its course, maybe someone need to come up with an alternative. The African American community can have more than one organization in regards to the interest of people of African descent.

I wanted to start something, but my boyfried said people who try to make a difference get killed or end up living on skidrow, but maybe I won't listen to him.

Teka