Honoring and Praising the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the Occasion of its 97th Anniversary

HONORING AND PRAISING THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 97TH ANNIVERSARY -- (House of Representatives - March 01, 2006)

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to recognize the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on its 97th anniversary. The NAACP holds a very special meaning to me. One honor I especially treasure is being named Virginia's first individual Golden Heritage Life Member. That honor was a great addition to the honor of having served as president of the Newport News chapter. The NAACP also holds a special place in the collective memory of all of our people.

The NAACP is an organization that has made a difference from the very beginning. In 1909, 60 prominent Americans, including Ida B. Wells-Barnett and W.E.B. DuBois, met on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln to discuss racial violence and social justice. Out of that meeting, the NAACP was born--with the goal of securing rights, liberties and protections for all Americans, as guaranteed by the Constitution.

The NAACP has always fought against injustices by using nonviolent protests, the press, the ballot, and the courts. The NAACP took on the President of the United States in 1918 and President Wilson finally publicly condemned lynching. During World War I, the NAACP successfully campaigned for African Americans to be commissioned as officers in the army. And in World War II, the NAACP pressured Roosevelt into ordering a non-discriminatory policy in war-related industries and Federal employment.

In 1946, the NAACP won the Morgan v. Virginia case where the Supreme Court banned states from having segregated facilities on buses and trains that crossed state borders. And in 1948, the NAACP pressured President Truman into signing the Executive Order that banned discrimination in the armed forces. In 1954, the NAACP won its landmark legal case--Brown v. the Board of Education--declaring ``separate and equal'' unconstitutional.

Through the 50s and 60s protests made a lot of difference. In 1955, NAACP member Rosa Parks was arrested and fined for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This led to the Montgomery bus boycott, which led to the emergence of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. All of these events led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, President Johnson's 1965 Executive Order banning employment discrimination in Federal contracts, the 1968 Fair Housing Act, and other landmark civil rights reforms.

The NAACP is what the late Bishop Stephen Gill Spotswood, a former National Board Chairman, has called ``the oldest, largest, most effective, most consulted, most militant, most feared and most loved of all civil rights organizations in the world.'' Bishop Spotswood's statement remains true today.

In the 21st Century, the NAACP is needed as much as ever to make a difference--at all levels--National, State and local. Despite victories won long ago we are still facing challenges. In its 97th year, the NAACP needs to continue its great legacy of contribution and commitment to ensure that these hard-won civil rights will always be protected. Congratulations on your 97th anniversary.

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