The Story of the NAACP: A Journey Toward Equality
The story of race in America is woven into the very fabric of the nation's founding documents. Article 1, section 2, clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution excluded Indians and noted the value of African Americans as three-fifths of a person. Decades later, in 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered another devastating blow in Dred Scott v. Sanford, declaring that "the word 'citizen' does not embrace one of the negro race" and that "the rights and privileges conferred by the Constitution upon citizens do not apply to the negro race."
The situation only worsened in 1896 when the court enshrined racial segregation into law through Plessy v. Ferguson. This ruling didn't merely impact policy—it transformed American culture, creating an official hierarchy that designated some people as "superior" and others as "inferior" based solely on the color of their skin.
The Seeds of Change
By 1905, a group of articulate radicals had had enough. They came together to form the Niagara Movement, openly challenging Booker T. Washington's accommodationist approach outlined in his 1895 "Atlanta Compromise" speech. Their manifesto boldly addressed suffrage, civil liberty, economic opportunities, education, courts, health, the church, and other critical issues. Yet despite their passion and clarity of vision, ideological disputes and Washington's undermining influence prevented the movement from gaining the broad support it needed.
Everything changed after the 1908 Springfield, Illinois race riots. The violence finally galvanized white liberals to join forces with the "militant" nucleus of the Niagara Movement. Together, they would create something more powerful and enduring: the NAACP.
The Founders
In February 1909, sixty prominent Americans gathered in response to a call from Mary White Ovington. The timing was deliberate—the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth—and the purpose was urgent: to protest the decades of terror, burnings, and lynchings that had plagued Black Americans. Among those who answered the call was Moorfield Storey, a Massachusetts-born lawyer, author, and reformer who had dedicated his life to civil rights. He would become the first national president of the NAACP.
Mary White Ovington herself was a force of nature. Born in Brooklyn in 1865, she had grown up breathing the air of abolitionism and women's rights activism. By 1911, she had published her 1904 study, Half a Man: The Status of the Negro. More importantly, she had seen her 1909 gathering evolve into the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. For more than forty years, she would serve the organization as board member, executive secretary, and chairman, often acting as peacemaker among the various factions that threatened to tear the movement apart.
Then there was William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, born in western Massachusetts in 1868. As a young student in local schools, he was usually the only Black face in the classroom. He went on to graduate from Fisk University before enrolling at Harvard College as a junior. As the ideological rival to Booker T. Washington, Du Bois would become the first NAACP director of research and publications. His most lasting contribution was founding the organization's official publication, The Crisis, which gave voice to the movement's vision and struggles.
The Ongoing Struggle
Today, it would be comforting to declare that America has achieved a race-neutral society. Regrettably, news reports and data from national, state, and local sources tell a different story. Racism persists, and the NAACP's work remains as vital as ever. The organization's focus extends far beyond employment, housing, or public accommodation discrimination—it encompasses criminal justice reform, economic development, educational excellence, health equity, and voter empowerment.
The journey toward making America's promises real has taught us one hard lesson: equality will not arrive simply with the passage of time. The premise that "all men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights by their creator" continues to elude far too many Americans.
The NAACP fights on, working toward its vision of "a society in which all individuals have equal rights, and there is no racial hatred or racial discrimination." This means confronting bias-based policing, racial profiling, disparate charging decisions and sentencing in the courts. It means closing learning achievement gaps, addressing inequitable classrooms, and ensuring access to post-secondary institutions. It means standing up for the over 44 million Americans without health care coverage or access to preventative treatment. Sometimes, it's as fundamental as making sure every vote is counted.
Although some dismiss the need for the NAACP, sadly, they also fail to offer any real solutions to the long-standing problems of racism and discrimination in America. The story of the NAACP is far from finished—it continues to unfold with each generation that takes up the cause of justice and equality.
