PrintMarch 1, 2010
NAACP Image Award Reaches New Low
I was there in Washington, D.C. with my dad when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. I was a little boy. Highlights I remember are yellow school buses parked as far as I could see, MLK's speech, and black actress Lena Horne's electrifying one-word speech. Horn approached the podium and simply screamed the word "FREEDOM!" holding it for a long time. The crowd of 250,000 plus went wild with laughter and applause. 
I also remember how certain ideas in MLK's speech struck powerful chords in my young heart and mind. "People should be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin ... little black boys and girls and little white boys and girls holding hands in brotherhood."
I also remember how certain ideas in MLK's speech struck powerful chords in my young heart and mind. "People should be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin ... little black boys and girls and little white boys and girls holding hands in brotherhood."
Recently, my dad, now 80, reminded me of something I said that day which touched him. Dad said that I asked him why we were there. He responded, "To get our freedom." He purchased a "Freedom" button for me. I said, "Dad, I'm not gonna take this button off until we get our freedom."
I do not remember that day at the 1963 March on Washington feeling in any way hatred for whites or America. How did MLK's Civil Rights Movement and the NAACP take such a drastic turn in the wrong direction?
As a black conservative, I am often called a traitor to my race. I submit that the true traitors are the race profiteers: liberals and socialists who have hijacked Dr. King's movement, shattered his dream, and betrayed his legacy.
Quite frankly, the NAACP is a disgrace. When President Obama spoke at an NAACP event, the audience erupted in wild applause when Obama said that blacks are still suffering from racism in America. Thank you, Mr. Great Unifier. Why was the NAACP audience so excited about maintaining victim status? Why did they want to believe the lie that race-relations in America have not changed much since the 1950s?
Yes, as long as there are humans, there will be some prejudice and discrimination. But racism is not a problem for blacks in America today. America is the greatest land of opportunity on the planet for all who choose to go for it. Why are so many people willing to risk everything to get to our shores, attempting the journey on cardboard rafts held together with crazy glue and duct tape?
Dr. King's once-great NAACP has become a negative, shameful tool of the left: overseers committed to keeping their fellow blacks dependent and subservient to the Democrat party.
Including once-self-proclaimed Communist Van Jones among the honorees at this year's NAACP Image Award show last night epitomizes the organization's descent into liberal Hades. Jones was forced to resign as the Obama administration's green czar due to his radical, far-left ideas, which include believing the Bush administration blew up the towers on 9/11. Jones has spouted extremely vicious and vulgar comments about political opponents. NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous called Jones "an American treasure." Is Jones the "image" that the NAACP wishes to present to young black America while treating black U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and black former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice like dirt? Utterly outrageous and shameful.
Remember this classic commercial? As a car drives down the highway, trash is thrown from the window, littering the landscape. The camera cuts to the face of an American Indian. A tear rolls down his cheek. Imagine the face being that of MLK. A tear rolls down his cheek upon seeing what has happened to his inspired movement and his dream of brotherhood.
As for Dr. King's dream of a day when people would be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, the NAACP functions in quite the opposite way. The organization views everything from a racial prospective, and race trumps everything except conservatism. A black choosing to embrace conservatism is the only sin the NAACP considers unforgivable. Thus, their disdain for self-reliant, independent-minded, patriotic blacks.
If the NAACP deems Van Jones worthy of their Image Award this year, then surely the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, famous for his "God d--- America" comment, is a strong candidate for the prestigious award next year.
Selecting Van Jones to receive their award was truly a new low for the NAACP. To quote Rush Limbaugh, the organization should be titled the NAALCP, National Association for the Advancement of Liberal Colored People.
I am president of a new organization: the NAACPC, the National Association for the Advancement of Conservative People of all Colors. If he were alive today, the man I remember as being bigger than life, whose words touched and inspired me as a child at the 1963 March on Washington, would surely become a proud member. With a smile of brotherhood and open arms, I cordially invite all of you to join our cause. NAACPC.com.
As my patriot brother Lee Greenwood so eloquently proclaimed in his classic song, "I am proud [and extremely grateful] to be an American!"
-Lloyd Marcus, (black) Unhyphenated American, singer/songwriter, entertainer, author, artist, and Tea Party patriot
