After almost 100 years in existence, the NAACP is still dedicated to its original cause - ending racial discrimination in the U.S. and promoting social justice.
The group's fight continues because the problems still haven't been solved, Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced Sunday night at the first mass meeting of the group's 98th national convention, held in Detroit. He said the recent Supreme Court decision blocking some racial integration measures in U.S. schools represented one battle the group will need to readdress.
The NAACP is right - while racial issues have certainly alleviated since the group's creation, they are by no means solved. In 2006, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative banned the use of racial preferences in school admissions and government hiring, but until racial and gender discrimination ends in the hearts and minds of every American citizen, the problem will perpetuate.
It's often easy to forget about imbedded racial issues in a diverse college setting like East Lansing. MSU and other large colleges and universities serve as bubbles of diversity within a still-segregated nation, places where it's easy to forget inequality still exists in abundance around the country.
Whether any form of affirmative action exists, minorities still struggle for equality and tension still exists between races.
Black workers still earn less than white workers. In 2000, both Hispanic and black workers, men and women, only earned about 80 percent of the wages white workers did, according to a report by the Public Policy Institute of California. This wage disparity is living evidence that 40 years after the country's civil rights movement, people are still viewed and judged by the color of their skin.
In a purely symbolic ceremony Monday, led by younger group members, the NAACP performed a burial of the N-word. Use of the word is wrong from a person of any race, and it only helped to denigrate blacks more, Bond said.
The ceremony was a good idea if it actually makes a difference in people's vocabularies, but it's unlikely people who commonly use the word will stop. However, the NAACP addressed the use of the word in a positive way. Drawing attention to its destructive use is necessary.
The only difference between racism 40 years ago and racism today is it has diversified since the 1960s. Americans don't hear as much about discrimination against black people because discrimination against people of Latin American and Middle Eastern decent is so prominent.
Racism and discrimination against anyone for any reason only stifles social progress and common understanding.
The problem is not fixed in America, and the NAACP is correct in recognizing that. The need for social improvement will never diminish, and a move toward complete social equality for everyone needs to happen on both a national level and in the minds of every American.
