Surely, dear reader, you are old enough to know that you never want should eat at a place with Mother in the name. But when you want people to like you, or at least support you, Mama is the ticket.
Marriage and the N A A C P
As we said last time, Dr. Washington was at the Fox Hills Mall last week to take a bow for the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People for partnering with several other groups in a new jobs-enablement program.
A native of Little Rock, she moved to Los Angeles thirty-five years ago when she got married, and she has been a member of the NAACP almost that long.
You should know that Dr. Washington is a lady who values precision. When I mentioned “N double-A C P” in verifying her title, she promptly corrected me. “It is N A A C P,” she said, saying the two a’s separately.
In these days when I can’t belong to your organization but you can join mine because the Supreme Court or the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals says so, Dr. Washington is refreshing in her vigor.
“I belong to the N A A C P,” she said, “because I believe in what they do, and because there still is racial discrimination.
“We need to continue to support it, even after all of these years, because we have not yet accomplished the kind of society that the N A A C P wants. There still is bigotry. There still is discrimination, and all of these problems that the N A A C P was organized for (in 1909).”
The President’s Belief System
Dr. Washington, to repeat, is a relief to those of us who don’t think belief is a curse word.
Many contemporary persons join clubs not out of conviction — heaven forbid a belief should be openly expressed — but because it feels good.
Forty years after the civil rights movement attained its apotheosis, Dr. Washington says the N A A C P’s mission for the new century is “to improve the quality of life.
“This means that people should have the right to vote, and that there should be no discrimination in education”
In sprawling Los Angeles, there is an overwhelming list of problems, and therefore an overwhelming need for the kind of watchdog service the N A A C P provides, Dr. Washington said. No scholarly social research was necessary for her to verify that the leading problems for adults are housing, homelessness and unemployment.
“If you read the newspaper,” she said, “you know that education is just in a mess.”
Dr. Washington explains that the ninety-seven-year-old N A A C P in Los Angeles, which has a small office staff, serves as a conduit for those who bring complaints to the civil rights organization.
She also knows something about sound bites.
“We are good at agitating,” she said, “as we advocate.”
Nodding in the direction of the recent mainly Latino protest rallies on behalf of illegal immigration, she said the black presence may not have been prominent but the N A A C P was there in spirit.
“We believe people have a right to protest,” Dr. Washington said.
Arguably, the N A A C P’s profile in Los Angeles is not high.
Nevertheless, Dr. Washington said the organization keeps busy fielding and responding to complaints of discrimination, especially in housing and the workplace.
She said her chapter is “very active” and tries to be public rather than moving behind the scenes.
In perhaps a telling acknowledgement, Dr. Washington said that “the trouble is, in Los Angeles we are a one-employee organization.
“We don’t have an effective communication system where we can let people know what is going on.”
Periodically, those of us who are not black need to be reminded how different and difficult daily life can be for persons of all other races.
Dr. Washington said there is a looming distinction for black Americans today as contrasted with the early 1970s when she joined up.
“Thirty years ago, people knew when they were being discriminated against,” she said. “But some laws have changed. There is not as much overt discrimination as there used to be. Because the bigotry is more subtle, some people do not understand that they still need the N A A C P.”
Postscript
Dr. Washington said readers of thefrontpageonline.com who believe they have a discrimination complaint should call the N A A C P office at 323.296.2630.