THE ISSUE: Following last month's Moral March demonstration in Raleigh, the North Carolina NAACP and Forward Together Moral Movement released a list of six key demands to federal lawmakers. These viewpoints examine how effective the demands would be in making a societal difference. You can read the other side here.
It will always puzzle me how surprised people are when an organization or group of people takes a political stance. If we are to believe democracy is the best form of governance, we have to buy that any action involving civic engagement is a net good — even if you disagree with what is said, be happy that people are free to say it. After all, power derives from the people.
The North Carolina NAACP is a wonderful organization, one with a proud history and a modern agenda. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that they released a list of demands well within the institutional opinions the organization holds.
Sure, we can question how useful a list of demands is given the current political climate, which is hostile to many of the fundamental ideals this country held for most of its history. But the NAACP might be the organization most equipped to advocate for ideas that are currently unpopular among our leaders.
Since 1909, the national NAACP fought for civil rights, even though they knew Jim Crow laws would never allow them a large enough constituency to win their rights through elections. They acted, they got in the way, they boycotted. When the legislative process proves to be inadequate, it is on us to demand our rights and political preferences. A loss in an election is not an excuse to give up.
After all, demands are nothing without action, and the NAACP has proven itself an organization willing to see its causes through to the end. We can already see that some Republicans and Democrats are afraid of political action through their constant outcries against legitimate forms of protests and through attempts to pass laws banning “economic terrorism” — some of the same forms of advocacy that the NAACP used in the 1960s. Clearly, some of our leaders don’t want the people becoming active and prioritizing basic rights over the economy.
These demands are a form of resistance. The NAACP has been fighting for human rights longer than most of us have been alive, in times just as divided as today. Let’s join in their fight and make these demands a reality.
