In the essay "How NAACP Began" by Mary White Ovington, what did you learn about the formation of the NAACP that impressed or even surprised you? And how does Du Bois, in the excerpt we read from
The Souls of Black Folk, echo the spirit and mission of the NAACP?
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The NAACP began with three people seeking to revive the abolitionist spirit; and by the second meeting fifty-three dedicated, inteligent persons from various locations of the Midwest and East Coast signed the call to renew the struggle for social, civil and political equality. I didn't know the NAACP accepted members of all races, if they were earnest in working for complete justice for the Negro, from the beginning. I was also unaware that despite what the acroynm stands for the NAACP was seeking to establish the equality of rights for all persons of the U.S., including women. Speaking of women, I was completely unaware that a woman, with the help of many others, basically started the NAACP. Du Bois echoed the objectives of the NAACP by pointing out the fact that Negro public schools in Georgia received one dollar for every four dollars white schools received in funds. To ensure educational equality he introduced the option of employing the national government to help bring about the educational reform needed. Du Bois also expressed his belief in the sentiment "silence under these conditions means tacit approval" by stating that there must be a conspiracy of silence accompanying the inequality pervading American society at that time. (Presently also for that matter) To eliminate racial prejudice, Du Bois called not only for sympathy and cooperation between the races but for the races to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea, a cigar, a sermon, or a play together. Du Bois stated that the future of the South depended on the representatives of the black race realizing the need for the upliftment of all their people and the representatives of the white race realizing the largely overlooked effects of color prejudice; and both calls for action parallel the NAACP's objective of eliminating racial prejudice among the citizens of the United States. I am suprised that a little over one year from the 100 year anniversary of the NAACP's creation its goal has not been reached. It makes me ask: does America still need the NAACP? should the mission statement be modified to be a more realistic statement? will the mission of the NAACP ever be accomplished? should the NAACP be ended and absorbed into a "new large and powerful body of citizens" like the Niagara Movement?
I don't think DuBois echoed what Ovington said in that essay at all. The principles behind the making of the NAACP are the same but the reasons which either believes really freed the slaves are different. And this portion of history is vital to the understanding and workings behind the creation of the NAACP.
Ovington elaborates on the birthday of Lincoln and how it is not just a celebration for his “greatness” but the celebration of “the great Emancipator labored to assure freedom.” This immediately implies that Negro freedom is all thanks to Lincoln’s piece of paper which had no force behind it. I am very sure Ovington was aware of this (within her writing and rewriting of this letter) and she is aware of it when she brings up a list of rhetorical questions: “How far has it lived up to the obligations imposed upon it by the Emancipation Proclamation?” And we all know that such document went no where.
But what she has failed to mention and what DuBois says plenty of is that neither Emancipation nor the right to suffrage freed Blacks. “It was the ideal of ‘book-learning’” which did it. “Here at last seemed to have been discovered the mountain path to Canaan; longer than the highway of Emancipation and law, steep and rugged, but straight, leading to heights high enough to overlook life” (696).
Though Ovington wants many to remember the Declaration of Independence and, regardless of whether it was effective, the Emancipation Proclamation, DuBois says that it was education which freed the Negro man.
DuBois says, “The ideal of human brotherhood, gained through the unifying of the Negro, not in opposition to or contempt for other races, but rather in large conformity to the greater ideals of the American Republic, in order that some day on American soil two world-races may give each to each those characteristics both so sadly lack”.
This statement is the reason that people like Mary White Ovington and Moorfield Storey gathered together in unison to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. They truly believed that their efforts would secure a place for the Black man (it seems to me) in America to strive towards becoming a first class citizen instead of the animal society had caste him to be. It does not surprise me, however, that there were no positions for women in the newly formed N.A.A.C.P. although there were women involved in its initial formation. I suppose that these powerful men were more enthralled with the idea of de-effeminizing Black men, as they had been in their involvement with white America. As the statement in 1905 declares, “The recognition of the principle of human brotherhood as a practical present creed,” it would be practical to have powerful men lead the revolution towards brotherhood. I suppose that it was a woman’s place to revel in the position of Secretary?
In speaking with President Bill Madison, current President of the Columbus N.A.A.C.P., we discover bits of new information on this organization that I was unaware of. Mr. Madison, who is so knowledgeable on the subject of this illustrious organization, mentions that the first officers and members of the N.A.A.C.P. were prohibited from keeping records for fear of their safety. Therefore, it was almost five years later that they were safe to even write documents about the N.A.A.C.P. In saying this, although the essay mentions the organization came into existence in 1910, essay wasn't written until 1914. These men and women feared their lives to become part of this organization that has made such a huge impact on America.
What did I learn about the formation of the NAACP that impressed or surprised me? EVERYTHING. This article is the first time I have read anything on the creation and mission statement of the association. My knowledge goes so far as to what I have read by members (who write) or people who promote the NAACP. I guess in my own naive way the group's name The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People did exactly what it was named for. And while it does stand to serve as a catalyst for African American's and their advancement in all aspects of life, it also stands for the equality of all human beings. I was surprised to see that the original mission statement included wanting “to achieve equality of rights and eliminate race prejudice among the citizens of the United States.” The way the original members envisioned the group to stand for is different from what is usually portrayed in the media today. The idea of ‘equality for all’ gets mixed into the message and we view the group as being one that allows membership for only African Americans. But like most groups that develop out of the want for equality in an unjust society, they include in their doctrines the desire to achieve fairness for all groups (the feminist movement uses this tactic). And just like what the other members of the class have said before, the association’s goal to eliminate prejudice has to come through the interaction of all races- not just white and black- to help alleviate the crime against human rights.
The group also endorses the idea of advancing the education and educational systems of all people thereby echoing DuBois and his fight for educational advancement of African Americans. The fact that the group not only endorses DuBois’ stance on the educational needs of discriminated individuals, yet seems to include Washington’s vision of involving “white people” in working together to create a better humanity makes me question whether DuBois found any merit in the idea that Washington espoused? Surely if one is to be part of an organization then, they should support the ideas that they represent.
I once believed that the NAACP was solely for African-Americans, but after speaking to a local member and considering the title, anyone of any race can participate in the advancement of a particular group of people. I was very surprised to discover that a woman played such a crucial role in the group's formation, and I'm further impressed by her investigation of the situation concerning blacks. In the questions she later asks, it makes you wonder about the state of the government, not only then, but now as well.
I must agree with Cassandra. I believe that the group was seeking to put power into a piece of paper that had little, if any - to make it stand for something. I think one of the strongest lines in Dubois's work is "He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American" (695). While I do believe that education is crucial, other factors play in as well (see p. 698). I like the idea that suggests that we each have something to add to society, and instead of focusing on differences, we should appreciate what each culture offers and be looking to ways that can make life better for us all. There is no harm in learing from each other if we are acknowledging one another.
Just a quick question: How do you think the Russian Revolution changed Dubois and his view of America and the NAACP? "Russia was trying to put into the hands of those people who do the world's work the power to guide and rule the state for the best welfare of the masses." He became untrusting and wanted to do away with The Crisis. Was this the best move? What would people interpret from his reaction?
There were several things that impressed rather than surprised me during my reading of “How NAACP Began.” To begin with I was impressed with the statement “Mr. Walling had spent some years in Russia where his wife, working in the cause of the revolutionists, had suffered imprisonment, and he expressed his belief that the Negro was treated with greater inhumanity in the United States than the Jew was treated in Russia” the insight the speaker had was what impressed me the most. His ability to take note of his surroundings not just locally but globally and apply it the situation at hand is something that not all individuals are able to do. I also thought it was great idea to open the campaign on Lincoln’s birthday, February 12. Timing is so important in almost any situation and placing the opening of the campaign on the same day as Lincoln’s birthday was a great way to gain attention and draw a link that most everyone of that time would understand. The NAACP understood what was needed in order to make their organization legitimate. The members went to great lengths to make sure the nation understood that they were there to work and make changes. By creating formal positions and opening membership up to all people they formalized their organization and also strengthened it. Dubois must have realized the benefits of joining forces with the NAACP when he was already associated with The Niagara Movement, he saw where he could help the most and he acted. In Dubois work “The Souls of Black Folk” there are several moments when readers can see ties between the goals and beliefs of the NAACP and his own. He states “I have sought here to sketch, in vague, uncertain outline, the spiritual world in which ten thousand Americans live and strive” in this statement he includes all men not just those who have been ravaged by slavery. He also states
“Freedom, too the long-sought, we will seek, the freedom of life and limb, the freedom to work and think, the freedom to love and aspire. Work, culture, liberty, all these we need, not singly but together, not successively but together, each growing and aiding each, and all striving toward that vaster ideal that swims before the Negro people, the ideal of human brotherhood, gained through the unifying ideal of Race; the ideal of fostering and developing the traits and talents of the Negro, not in opposition to or contempt for other races, but rather in large conformity to the greater ideals of the American Republic, in order that some day on American soil world-races may give each to each those characteristics both so sadly lack.”
Dubois recognizes the destruction that slavery has had on his people and the effects it has had therefore strives to overcome it but he also relates this struggle to all people. The NAACP includes all people and fights for all these things, the two go hand in hand.
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