The issue and problem of race have plagued the United States. 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. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford, concluded, "the word 'citizen' does not embrace one of the negro race." "The rights and privileges conferred by the Constitution upon citizens do not apply to the negro race."​​

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In 1896, the court made racial segregation or second-class status the law of the land in the Plessy v. Ferguson pronouncement. This ruling not only adversely impacted the culture of America, but it also created a class of "superior" and "inferior" people based on race. In 1905, an articulate group of radicals came together and founded the Niagara Movement. They disagreed with Booker T. Washington's accommodation policies as set forth in what was called the 1895 "Atlanta Compromise" speech and his ideology concerning the issue of race. Their manifesto clearly outlined their stated position and views concerning suffrage. civil liberty, economic opportunities, education, courts, health, church, and other areas. Because of the ideological bickering, undue influence, and undermining of Washington, the group was unable to attract broad support. It was after the 1908 Springfield (IL) Race Riots that white liberals joined with the "militant" Niagara Movement nucleus to form the NAACP.

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Moorfield Storey was a lawyer and author who was born in Massachusetts in 1845. He was a reformer and a strong supporter of civil rights. He was among the 60 prominent Americans who responded to the call of Mary White Ovington to meet in February 1909. It was on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, to protest the many decades of oppressive acts of terror as burnings and lynchings, that were taking place. He became the first national president of the NAACP. Mary White Ovington, a reformer and the spirit behind that meeting, was born in Brooklyn in 1865. She grew up in an atmosphere of abolitionism and women's rights. In 1911, she published her 1904 study Half a Man: The Status of the Negro. By that time, she had seen her 1909 meeting evolve into the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. For more than 40 years, she served as a board member, executive secretary, and chairman, and served as a conciliator among the various factions that threatened to destroy the movement.

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William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born in western Massachusetts in 1868. He attended local schools where he was usually the only black student. He went off to Fisk University, where he graduated and then enrolled at Harvard College as a junior. He was the ideological rival to Booker T. Washington. He was the first NAACP director of research and publications. He founded the official publication of the NAACP, known as the Crisis. Today, it would be nice to say that we have achieved a race-neutral society, but regrettably, the news reports and other data we see nationally, statewide, and locally expose and confirm that the problem of racism still exists. The focus of the NAACP is not limited to just employment, housing, or public accommodation discrimination. It includes criminal justice, economic development, educational excellence, health, and voter empowerment.

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This struggle for making the promises of America real is something we have seen will not come about in 'time.' The realization or acceptance of the premise that "all men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights by their creator" continues to elude far too many Americans.

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The NAACP continues to fight to fulfill its vision for "a society in which all individuals have equal rights and there is no racial hatred or racial discrimination." Including but not limited to, bias-based policing, racial profiling, disparate charging decisions or sentencing in the courts, or if it is closing the learning achievement gaps, inequitable classrooms, or lack of access to post-secondary institutions. It could also be the over 44 million Americans who no longer have health care coverage or access to preventative treatment. It can be as simple as making sure every vote is counted.

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Although there are those who 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.