Civil Rights

In a USA Today commentary, entitled "Blacks' protests lack unity of purpose," the writer comments on the state of the modern-day civil rights movement:

Unlike the past campaigns led by Martin Luther King Jr., today's leaders forget that there is as much a need for cohesion and transparency as for justice. It is a shame that at a time when civil rights are eroding and blacks are willing to mobilize, this opportunity might be squandered because of protest overkill and frayed lead

With the Jena Six case finally receiving national attention, many are weighing in on its impact. In a recent Op-Ed piece, DeWayne Wickham commented that the case has awakened the civil rights movement:

The Jena Six case has produced the kind of awakening among young blacks that gave birth to the 1960s freedom rides and sit-in demonstrations.

A DiversityInc article summarizes a recent research study on the psychological basis for resistance among whites to issues such as affirmative action and reparations:

Most white people don't get the continued inequities facing black people.

The house passed a bill last week that establishes a new division which would focus exclusively on unsolved murders from the civil rights era. Named for Emmett Till, it would authorize $10 million a year over the next decade:

The bill, which is also moving swiftly through the Senate, would authorize $10 million a year over the next decade to create a unit at the Justice Department to pursue cases that have sat cold for decades.

The author of a Salon.com op-ed piece wonders whether the NAACP is on the verge of collapse:

With Bruce Gordon's recent departure as president after just 19 months and the recent announcement that the NAACP is shuttering its regional offices, the future does not look bright for the nation's oldest advocacy organization.

Has the NAACP outlived its usefulness?