The new Uncle Toms

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has "sold out" black America to the Democratic Party.\nThe Internal Revenue Service has begun an investigation into possible partisan bias on behalf of the NAACP, a non-profit organization which, by law, must remain neutral in partisan political matters. According to the Nov. 8 edition of Time magazine, the investigation was initiated in response to an anti-Bush speech made by Julian Bond, the NAACP's chairman.\nWhile Mr. Bond should have the right to criticize anyone he pleases, the assertions he and the NAACP have made show they are, at the very least, out of touch with the black community and more concerned with their standing with the DNC.\nCertainly a mere coincidence, the current president and CEO of the NAACP is Kweisi Mfume, a former U.S. Congressman and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus -- an organization within the Congress with a historically exclusive membership of Democrats, in spite of the (albeit rare) presence of black Republicans in Congress. \nAlso just coincidence, I am sure, the Ohio State Conference of the NAACP chose to "invite and then dis-invite" National Education Secretary Rod Paige, a black Republican with two post-grad degrees from IU, to one of its functions. Mr. Mfume denied any directive to do so was given by his office and promptly apologized. \nOops.\nBeing somewhat partial to Democrats is understandable, given that most registered black voters are Democrats. However, when the views of the NAACP are held by the greater Democratic Party but not the black membership thereof, the partisan bias becomes an issue of great concern.\nIn January, chairman Bond represented the NAACP at a NARAL Pro-Choice America celebration of the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court Decision legalizing abortion. He said, "One of the most important protections is guaranteeing the right to reproductive freedom and choice." Bond added, "The right to reproductive freedom is as basic as the right to eat at a lunch counter or to cast a vote -- or the right of two humans to marry."\nSay what?\nAccording to "The American Religious Landscape and Political Attitudes: A Baseline for 2004," a study by Professor John C. Green at the University of Akron, only 32 percent of black Protestants -- the religion which represents the vast majority of the black community -- say abortion should be legal and up to the woman to decide when to have one, while 54 percent oppose abortion under all or most circumstances. \nFurthermore, the same study found that only 18 percent of black Protestants are supportive of same-sex marriage. \nIt would seem that "out of touch" is a dramatic understatement.\nMr. Bond and his cronies at the NAACP apparently find that ingratiating themselves to predominantly white Democratic supporters is more important than representing the black people they claim to stand for. \nMeanwhile, the would-be patron saint of alleged "Uncle Toms," Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, fights for black equality on the highest court in the land. In his opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger, the Affirmative Action case concerning the University of Michigan Law School, he argued against the discrimination which provides for higher black enrollment.\nSeparate standards, to paraphrase the decision in the seminal desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education, are "inherently unequal." Justice Thomas understands that as long as we rely on such measures to achieve our ends, we will be viewed as not quite equal by white America.\nYet in spite of the NAACP's pandering to liberal whites, Thomas remains the poster boy for Uncle Tom-ism. \nIrony is hereby redefined.\nEither the NAACP must separate itself from the black community or we must divest ourselves from it. It is no longer what it once was -- a leading organization that kept our interests in mind. Instead, it is a tool of a political machine that ingratiates itself to whites for political gain. \nIt seems the Democrats have their "Toms" too.