Lawyer Thurgood Marshall and civil rights activist Daisy Bates join several members of the "Little Rock Nine," the first students to integrate Central High School in Arkansas, in Washington D.C. (Photo: Bettmann/CORBIS)
NAACP at 100
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People marks a century of battling for equality
On February 12, 2009, America marked the 200th birthday of President Abraham Lincoln. And it also celebrated the 100th anniversary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The NAACP is the oldest and largest civil rights organization in America, and its impact has been felt from the halls of Congress to your classroom.
It currently has half a million members and supporters, according to the NAACP. And over the course of the next year, it will showcase its history and influence with events across the country.
The organization was founded in 1909 by 60 white and black leaders who were angered by the violence and inequality directed at America's black population. The group says its main goal is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of minority group citizens of the United States and eliminate race prejudice."
The NAACP has used many tools in its fight for equality for minority groups. It organizes marches, protests, and boycotts. It publishes the magazine The Crisis, which discusses "critical issues confronting people of color." And it takes action in the courts to challenge unfair and discriminatory policies in our society.
Over the course of its 100-year history, the NAACP has used these tools to end some of the worst discrimination in America.
It helped end segregation in the U.S. military, as well as in the nation's public schools.
It jump-started the civil rights movement after NAACP member Rosa Parks refused in 1955 to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama.
It strongly supported the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity, Civil Rights, and Voting Rights Acts, protecting minorities' equal access to jobs, equality in society, and voting rights.
Today, the NAACP continues the strive to protect minority rights. It brings attention to modern-day flare-ups of segregation and discrimination through marches and protests like the one in Jena, Louisiana, in 2007. It also encourages minorities to vote and be active in the democratic process.
For the NAACP and its members, its centurylong struggle for racial equality contributed mightily to the election of America's first black President. President Barack Obama acknowledges this.
"It's humbling to know that it's only because of the men and the women of the NAACP, only because of those Freedom Riders and civil rights workers, those protesters, preachers, and teachers that I can come before you as President of the United States," Obama said in a video message to the NAACP.
Current NAACP President Benjamin Jealous is 36 years old and the organization's youngest President. He says that Obama's election is a remarkable accomplishment, but that the work of the NAACP is far from complete.
"The movement for civil rights in this country is very much needed, and groups that played critical roles in removing the shackles that bound our forefathers and foremothers still play a role today," Jealous told The Economist magazine.
The NAACP's 100th anniversary celebration will be as much about the work that lies ahead as about its accomplishments.
For a complete list of the events occurring to mark the NAACP's 100th anniversary, visit the NAACP 100 website.
February is Black History Month. Be sure to check out Scholastic News Online's Black History Month Special Report!
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Boycott To refuse to buy, use, or go to, in order to make a protest or try to bring about change Discrimination The act of treating some people unfairly due to prejudice Segregation The practice of keeping people separated based on their being part of a group, especially a racial group |
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