Post by pelicanguy on Jan 31, 2007 10:32:43 GMT -5
I have always said the NAACP is a joke today. This story seems to support my view.
4 WWL New Orleans
NAACP members question leadership
10:18 PM CST on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Ben Lemoine / Eyewitness News Reporter
It was hailed as a historic coalition with one goal: stopping murders in the New Orleans area, but now a group that brought law enforcement, clergy and the NAACP together said the NAACP has its priorities in the wrong place and has snubbed their plan to curb crime and build better communities.
Last October when Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee floated the idea of stopping black people in white neighborhoods to stop a skyrocketing murder rate, NAACP President Danatus King called it racial profiling and the idea was shelved.
But the disagreement led to a discussion which eventually led to a plan.
The NAACP Stop the Violence Committee met every week for months, and even traveled to New York and Boston to pick the police brains of successful departments.
Since then, they developed an 11 point crime fighting strategy that included police, churches and crosses cultural lines.
But committee members said for months, their plan sat stagnant on the desks of what they referred to as the NAACP hierarchy, and was never approved as the killing continued. Currently, the Stop the Violence Committee is no longer part of the NAACP.
“You had every major organization that has any credibility in this community behind what we were trying to do. (And why did you have to break off from the NAACP?) They fired us all!” said criminologist Dr. Peter Scharf.
Some committee members said they found the NAACP's inaction peculiar, especially since President Danatus King called for a federal investigation into the police department's handling of the Danziger Bridge shooting.
Although two people were allegedly killed by police officers in that shooting, there have been 16 murders this month alone in New Orleans.
And some NAACP members have questioned the organization’s motives.
“Their priorities are in the wrong place! So egos, agendas, whatever you want to call it. I think there's nothing more precious than life,” said Reverend Al Mims, Stop the Violence Committee member.
For now, the group said they would push forward with their priority: putting an end to all violence.
“Right now, these young black men that are dying in the streets are kids that are dying, that's priority right now in this city. And so that's where we have to put our focus,” said committee member Brandon Boutin. “And if they want to go to the Danziger 7, I'm not going to knock you for that, that's where your focus is. That's fine. But right now, that's why we had to break away, because our focus is on the murders in this city.”
NAACP President Danatus King had no comment on the statements the committee members said to Eyewitness News. He said they would have to be addressed within the organization.
www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl013007jbnaacp.36c60a31.html
4 WWL New Orleans
NAACP members question leadership
10:18 PM CST on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Ben Lemoine / Eyewitness News Reporter
It was hailed as a historic coalition with one goal: stopping murders in the New Orleans area, but now a group that brought law enforcement, clergy and the NAACP together said the NAACP has its priorities in the wrong place and has snubbed their plan to curb crime and build better communities.
Last October when Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee floated the idea of stopping black people in white neighborhoods to stop a skyrocketing murder rate, NAACP President Danatus King called it racial profiling and the idea was shelved.
But the disagreement led to a discussion which eventually led to a plan.
The NAACP Stop the Violence Committee met every week for months, and even traveled to New York and Boston to pick the police brains of successful departments.
Since then, they developed an 11 point crime fighting strategy that included police, churches and crosses cultural lines.
But committee members said for months, their plan sat stagnant on the desks of what they referred to as the NAACP hierarchy, and was never approved as the killing continued. Currently, the Stop the Violence Committee is no longer part of the NAACP.
“You had every major organization that has any credibility in this community behind what we were trying to do. (And why did you have to break off from the NAACP?) They fired us all!” said criminologist Dr. Peter Scharf.
Some committee members said they found the NAACP's inaction peculiar, especially since President Danatus King called for a federal investigation into the police department's handling of the Danziger Bridge shooting.
Although two people were allegedly killed by police officers in that shooting, there have been 16 murders this month alone in New Orleans.
And some NAACP members have questioned the organization’s motives.
“Their priorities are in the wrong place! So egos, agendas, whatever you want to call it. I think there's nothing more precious than life,” said Reverend Al Mims, Stop the Violence Committee member.
For now, the group said they would push forward with their priority: putting an end to all violence.
“Right now, these young black men that are dying in the streets are kids that are dying, that's priority right now in this city. And so that's where we have to put our focus,” said committee member Brandon Boutin. “And if they want to go to the Danziger 7, I'm not going to knock you for that, that's where your focus is. That's fine. But right now, that's why we had to break away, because our focus is on the murders in this city.”
NAACP President Danatus King had no comment on the statements the committee members said to Eyewitness News. He said they would have to be addressed within the organization.
www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl013007jbnaacp.36c60a31.html