The National Association for the Advancement of Colored people (NAACP) is the oldest civil rights organization in America. It served as the most important organization and was very unique in many ways. The founders of the NAACP are a biracial group which include W. E. B DuBois, Mary White Ovington, William English Walling, Oswald Garrison Villard, Dr. Henry Moskowitz and Ida B. Wells. They started in 1909 with the motives to protect African Americans from lynching and other violent and unequal acts committed by white people.
The NAACP started with a few hundred members and less than a ozen local units. They would go on to become one of the most respected civil rights organization. The NAACP used the legal system as a weapon and were persistent in their attack to overturn the unjust system that was demonizing African Americans. They were able to gather large crowds while they lobbied Congress and the White House for significant changes. It is very important for every American to understand what the NAACP was standing up to.
They stood up to a system that was very powerful and with their effort, commitment, courage, and intellect, they stood up to Jim Crow and the Justice system. Participants were largely black, but there were brave white people mainly progressives and reformers who aided African Americans in their struggle for human rights. This was a collective effort that comprised of ordinary people who were teachers, postal workers, farmers, mechanics, doctors, lawyers, etc. The beginning of the NAACP came right after a violent mob attacked the black residents of Springfield, Illinois in 1908.
In his book Freedom’s Sword: The NAACP and the Struggle Against Racism in America, 1909-1969 author Gilbert Jonas said, “Springfield had been devastated by racial riots during which wo Negroes had been lynched, six killed, more than fifty inured, and several thousand forced to flee the city, as a militia of 4,200 struggled to control the chaos. ” The growing violence alarmed many African Americans. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was growing in the Midwest, South, and creating areas of influence in other regions like the North and West.
This led a handful of progressive white social activists to start talking with African American leaders about change. Prior to the Springfield riots, there were attempts to protect and advance African Americans. The Niagara Movement was started four years before the NAACP by about thirty African American professionals most notably, Dr. W. E. B DuBois. Their objective was set by DuBois stating, “We shall not be satisfied with less than full manhood rights.
We claim for ourselves every right that belongs to a free-born American -political, civil and social- and until we get these rights, we shall never cease to protest and assail the ears of Americana with the story of its shameful deeds toward us. ” Their efforts died out in a hurry as they struggled to attract a crowd or money. Fortunately for DuBoise, he would get a second chance with the NAACP as the Niagara movement members met with white progressives. They started to raise awareness to educate people.
Oswald Garrison spread the reemergence of the “The Call” to protest the rise of racial violence and injustice that has been occurring in America. They highlighted segregation, oppression, deprivation and lynching to which African Americans were subjected to many years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The NAACP would go on to focus on many element in which African Americans were being mistreated. Elements such as voting rights, employment opportunities, equality, segregation, and lynching. They gained public attention and invited people to hear more about their motives in order to gain sponsors and funds.
In a conference in 1910, roles were established for the 100 member committee. The Executive committee was responsible for the organizations policies and decision makings. The president was Morefiled Storey, Chairman William E. Walling, Treasurer John Milholland and Oswald G. Villard was the disbursing treasurer. Dubois was the director of publicity and research while Frances Blascoer, a hite women would serve as secretary. There were some critics of this organization and believed that white people should not serve.
DuBois differed and argued that membership should be open to whites. They bring public relations and fund-raising to the table. Meanwhile, DuBois also launched The Crisis which wrote everything the NAACP stood for and fought against. This publication gained an audience fast as it educated Americans, blacks and whites of the oppression and struggles African Americans faced. This was a big weapon as it gave African Americans a sense of fight and pride in who they are and otivation to fight for their rights. The executive committee was the focal point of the group.
To ensure that their movement spread quickly they organized meetings through America and set branches in cities like Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Boston, Baltimore, Indianapolis, St. Louis and more. These local branches were largely staffed by African Americans, but the national NAACP was led by whites in the beginning stages. The Whites had financial resources, education, administrative experience, and put in a lot of time. Many would argue that African Americans should have led a movement dedicated to hem, but at a time where African Americans were targets having white people support their cause was a big weapon.
African Americans also learned and gained experience working with the whites and as we know would later on go to represent themselves and be their own voice, but that would not have been possible without the white progressive leaders who dedicated their time and money to help the African Americans face racism. Nevertheless, the white domination of top-level positions did lead to controversies. The legal work of the NAACP started in 1910 where Courts became the primary target of the NAACP. There were very few lawyers at the time, but the involvement of white reformers was very helpful.
Pink Franklin was sentenced to death for killing an officer who opened fire on him first for violating the terms of his labor contract. The NAACP came to his aid and his death sentence was removed, but he was sentenced to life in prison. This was not the result they wanted, but it was an encouraging sign. In 1915, they won their first victory when the U. S Supreme court ruled that the grandfather clause of Oklahoma violated the Fifteenth Amendment. The Grandfather clause came after he civil war where Southern states imposed poll taxes, literacy and property tests in order to eliminate African Americans from voting.
The NAACP stayed busy in 1915 with the release of the film, The Birth of a Nation. The NAACP said, “The film assassinated the character of black Americans and undermined the very basis of the struggle for racial equality. ” The NAACP protested movie theaters and lobbied local governments to ban this film. The movie did continue to play, but their ten year struggle proved that African Americans were willing to stand up and fight to oppose racist actions. As they continued to gain momentum they started to demand more.
The NAACP demanded full equality and political power. In 1917 they won a battle that enabled African Americans to be commissioned as officers in World War I. In addition, they succeeded in their battle against residential segregation in 1917. The Supreme Court ruled that restrictive zoning ordinances are unconstitutional in Buchanan v. Warley. A primary focus of the NAACP was to end lynching. They educated people by pamphlets, and other educational activities hoping to end the crime. In 1917 the NAACP lead a