NAACP
Chairman Julian Bond Dicusses Race in America Today
by Monica Lee
On
Wednesday, April 4, Julian Bond, Chairman for the NAACP spoke at
Finney Chapel. Bonds convocation speech, entitled Civil
Rights: Then and Now, traced the history of the civil rights
movement and racism from legal slavery to tensions arising from
the aftermath of Sept. 11.
A graduate of Morehouse College, Bond became involved in the civil
rights movement in the early 1960s. He went on to serve four terms
as a state representative, and six terms as a state senator in Georgia.
In 1987 Bond left office to teach, write, and dedicate time to public
service. He is currently a professor of history at the University
of Virginia.
American slavery was a crime against humanity, Bond
said. This crime is something the country has yet to overcome. Although
legal slavery no longer exists, Bond argued, the repercussions of
enslavement still affect society in deep and distinct ways today.
When the 20th century began, blacks were slaves in every way
but legally, Bond said. When slaves were legally emancipated,
Bond argued, they were forced into a capitalist society that set
them at a severe disadvantage. They started off with no education,
money, or ability to compete with whites. In effect, this tradition
of minority poverty still exists today.
To actively combat these great inequalities, the NAACP supports
a number of measures, from affirmative action to a pending bill
that calls for a commission to explore the possibility of paying
reparations to descendents of slaves. Supporting this bill, Bond
stated that society cannot overcome racism until it recognizes and
confronts racial issues.
Its foolish to the extreme to think that if we ignore
race, race will go away, Bond said. Simply ignoring racial
tension and acting as though all people are truly equal is ineffective
in the fight against racism, Bond argued. With a conscious disregard
of race, society allows the gap between the rich and poor, the privileged
and unprivileged to grow.
Continuing on to discuss racial tensions today, Bond recognized
that racial inequality affects not only African Americans, but also
Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian American and other minority groups.
At the NAACP we support colored people of all colors,
Bond said. The NAACP was founded by and has members of all racial
groups. It fights for the equal treatment of all races, and has
recently joined forces with Hispanic civil rights groups in the
pursuit of equal education for minority students.
On the issue of racial tensions surrounding the events of Sept.
11, Bond sees further complications in the pursuit of equal rights
and freedom. With Sept. 11, we have not conquered fascism
abroad and racism at home, Bond said. He finished his speech
with concerns about the nation, but great hope for the future and
confidence in Americas ability to free itself of racism.
Students had mixed reactions to Bond. While all found him to be
a thoroughly charismatic and entertaining speaker, many found his
speech lacking in substance, avoiding the many difficult issues
surrounding racial tension.
I found Mr. Bond to be a very engaging and polished speaker.
He expressed his opinion on issues rather than playing to the audience,
while remaining hopeful for the future, junior Bryce Poole
said.
Bond spoke about the way racial groups often compete over limited
resources, while they should really be working together to transcend
all racial boundaries. He made a good point on the issue of
competition among racial groups, first year Richard Morales
said. Others, however, held a more critical opinion of the talk.
While I appreciated his stress on the need for racial solidarity
as a form of patriotism, I also felt he avoided talking about non-Americans
and the need for empathy and love among all races and all nations.
We need to put ourselves in the Afghanis shoes, senior
Jim Hodge said. Many also felt that Bonds direct avoidance
of a question concerning gender issues in relation to civil rights
shed negative light on his oration.
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