By James Katz

Who are they?  Sectional public pressure group  Oldest and largest pressure group  Began in 1909 in response to the racist movement in Springfield, Illinois  A group of people who were outraged about violence against blacks began a group to protect them  Originally designed to protect 13 th, 14 th and 15 th amendment – all designed to allow coloured people into the democratic process

What do they do?  Vision Statement The vision of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race.  Objectives The following statement of objectives is found on the first page of the NAACP Constitution - the principal objectives of the Association shall be:  To ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all citizens  To achieve equality of rights and eliminate race prejudice among the citizens of the United States  To remove all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes  To seek enactment and enforcement of federal, state, and local laws securing civil rights  To inform the public of the adverse effects of racial discrimination and to seek its elimination  To educate persons as to their constitutional rights and to take all lawful action to secure the exercise thereof, and to take any other lawful action in furtherance of these objectives, consistent with the NAACP's Articles of Incorporation and this Constitution.

Methods and campaigns  Originally used the courts to protect their members  Used court cases to attack the Jim Crow laws  Recently used pressure to get favourable elective results  Backed Al Gore (failure?)  Pressure on policy-makers  Health reforms (2010)

Failures  Went close to bankruptcy in 1990’s  Chose the wrong man to lead the group in 1993, when Reverend Jesse Jackson was not selected, but Reverend Benjamin Charvis was – he resigned 18 months later  Controversial comments about Al Gore’s choice of V.P. by President of the Dallas section of NAACP when he said choosing a Jew was a wrong decision

Successes  Although they have had positive effect in the civil rights movement of the 50’s and 60’s, the increased equality in America has seen their role become less important  Brown vs Board of Education was its most famous and important victory  Now seek to ensure more general equalities i.e. Health reform, or Obamacare, has been the #1 issue for the last 2 years  The instillation of the first coloured President may have seen them fulfil their missions statement