NAACP President Quits, Cites Conflicts - Washington Post
Bruce Gordon, head of the NAACP, has thrown in the towel on running the organization, citing disagreements with the board over their management style and future operations. This resignation does not bode well for an association in search of relevance to Blacks and the group’s entrenched underclass plight.
So what went wrong? For starters, the idea of 64 board members is impossible – who could work effectively under 64 bosses? No organization, public or private, can be expected to tackle the challenges of 40 million Blacks in this configuration. Political chaos and directional confusion are maximized with this many people guiding a leader.
Having a chief with Gordon’s abilities, more firmly in the present and forward-looking, pitted against a board steadfastly rooted in a past of moral and legal strategies is a recipe for an early exit. The NAACP is most visible and aggressive when it applies guilt-producing advantage on a situation, however toothless. To his frustration, this is not how Mr. Gordon built and ran his successful business for technology giant Verizon.
I suspect that his attempts to shift the critical focus onto what Blacks should be doing for themselves, rather than demanding more of Whites, ruffled more than a few ‘feathers’ of the old guard. With a 40 year-old mantra of ‘we shall overcome’ in the backdrop, careful should walk the man or woman who plots a shift in course.
James C. Collier
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Technorati Tags: NAACP President Quits, Cites Conflicts, Racism, Bruce Gordon, Julian Bond, Civil Rights, Acting White
3 comments:
I could not agree with you more. A 64 member board of directors is crazy. Boards are so supposed to appoint leaders and administrators who are leaders; people who are capable of carrying out the mission of the organization. Obviously they saw something in him, but some of are still stuck in the past. We don;'t embrace new ideas when it comes to how to help our people.
The NAACP has failed to progress in developing a vision for the 21st century. Henceforth, they have become irrelevant.
Asa
We just had some intense election activity for the president of the NAACP branch here in Cincinnati. There is hope that new leadership will allow this branch to become more relevant for the Black community.
It appears that the national organization (64 board members) simply weren't ready to make the changes necessary to be effective in the 21st century.
Anyhow, stay strong in your blog commentary. I have made you one of my Tech-faves.
peace,
Villager
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