The Reverend Nelson B. Rivers III, chief operating officer for the NAACP spoke out in South Carolina during a Democracy Day event about... democracy.
Rivers spoke out against all forms of discrimination, including against Latinos, immigrants, gays and lesbians, and the poor.
Too often, leaders on the front lines of the civil rights movement get bogged down in a "my discrimination is bigger than your discrimination" or "how dare you compare your experience to ours" division that only serves to keep the status quo firmly in place. No one has to agree on every item on a community's plate, or no one will ever get anywhere. Recognizing that discrimination has occurred, and working to rectify that inequity, ought to be the focus.
The NAACP has been criticized in some quarters for being late to [return to] the issues facing other communities. Well, better late than never. There are battles that, often enough, when we look around and realize that a clear majority of people agree to work together right the wrong, that the wrong crumbles away before the battle.
Rivers spoke out against all forms of discrimination, including against Latinos, immigrants, gays and lesbians, and the poor.
Too often, leaders on the front lines of the civil rights movement get bogged down in a "my discrimination is bigger than your discrimination" or "how dare you compare your experience to ours" division that only serves to keep the status quo firmly in place. No one has to agree on every item on a community's plate, or no one will ever get anywhere. Recognizing that discrimination has occurred, and working to rectify that inequity, ought to be the focus.
The NAACP has been criticized in some quarters for being late to [return to] the issues facing other communities. Well, better late than never. There are battles that, often enough, when we look around and realize that a clear majority of people agree to work together right the wrong, that the wrong crumbles away before the battle.
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