Chair of NAACP Discusses Race in America at Lecture

Editor-in-Chief

Photo by Eric Bell

Making a Point - Chair of the NAACP Julian Bond lectures on race in the Fine Arts Center Auditorium March 27.  Bond signed copies of his book, "A Time to Speak, A Time to Act," after the lecture in the Spencer Gallery.

   Along with the Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lectures, the University of Arkansas at Monticello hosted Julian Bond, chair of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.  Bond, who has served as the NAACP's chair since 1998, lectured on "Black, Jewish, Muslim : Common Cause," exploring the issues of race that still exist in America.

   "We come together now at an auspicious time," Bond began, referring to Sen. Barack Obama's recent call for a dialog on race in America after the controversy over his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright's comments on America.

   Despite Rev. Wright's comment of "God damn America," Bond said he found it somewhat offensive Obama had to separate himself from his pastor, considering the endorsements other candidates receive without chastisement from the media.  Bond referred to Sen. John McCain's acceptance of an endorsement from Jerry Falwell, who has been quoted as saying such things as, "I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America ... I point the thing in their face and say you helped this (9/11) happen."

   According to Bond, "denunciation of people became a litmus test to black leaders, a humiliating power play."  Bond went on to say he believes in an integrated America, in homes, jobs and schools; yet, he points out that racial inequality is embedded in the post-Civil Rights generation.  Americans today try to blame culture, not race, as the problem.   Even worse, leaders began to reform the words of the discussion to shift blame from racism's perpetrator to its victims, he said.

   "There are no nonracial remedies for racial discrimination," he said.  "As long as race counts, we've got to count race."

   Bond said that people who think race is history have it backwards - history is race.  One-hundred years of state sanctioned discrimination followed 246 years of slavery; therefore, Bond noted, the country has only had approximately 40 years to heal from the wounds of discrimination and racism.  Bond's own life shows how close today's generation still is to the dark history of racism in our country.

   "Only my father's generation stands between Julian Bond and human bondage," he said.  "My grandmother was from a transcendent generation - born as slaves and freed by the Civil War to make their way as free men and women.  Martin Luther King was of another transcendent generation - born into segregation and freed by their own actions to make their way as free men and women."

   Bond gave a call of action to the audience.  He said the small and passive resistance to American apartheid before the Civil Rights Movement led to a "mighty movement that changed the world."  This movement, he said, provided the foot soldiers for the Freedom Army.  King did not walk alone, he had thousands marching with him and thousands marching before him, Bond said.

   "We have a long and honorable system of social justice in America that history shows, if we work together, will work for us," he said.  "It will require our common effort to bring it to an end. 

   "None of it is easy work, but we've never wished our way to freedom," he explained.  "We worked our way towards it."

   According to Bond, the only way to change the current state of race in America is to confront it.  In fact, the only way to confront any problem we face as a country is to unite and stand up against it.  In reference to the controversy stirred up by Rev. Wright's comments, Bond pointed out that while some will say criticizing your government is wrong, he considers working and wanting to raise your country's ideals very patriotic.

   He quoted Martin Luther King, Jr. to make his point, "I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today - my own government."

   During the question-and-answer session following the lecture, one audience member asked Bond's advice on what to say to people who say, "I never owned (a slave) and you never were one, so get over it."

  Bond responded saying, many white people tend to believe after King, he waved away the racial problems in America, but though King did well, racism is still here and it still affects people; therefore no one can get over it.

   "We often misunderstand today's racist situation because we willfully misunderstand yesterday's," he said.  "All of us should be trying to get it right no matter our historical past.  I hope as you're moving ahead, you realize people were hurt by this, so reach out and help people along."

Photo by Eric Bell

Bridging the Gap - Julian Bond signs a copy of Carol Strong's book during the reception Thursday night.  Strong, a professor of political science, attended the lecture along with over 200 other people from around the area.

   Professor of English and a leader of the Rockefeller Committee, Robert "Redhawk" Moore said the Rockefeller Lecture is one of the most important programs at this university because it gives the campus and local communities a chance to meet people like Bond, who have made and continue to make a difference in the world.

   "I think he handled the history so eloquently and with all the questions, he added a little humor," said Tammy Vaughn, Academic Partnership coordinator in the Social Work Department.  "It (the lecture) brought about an awareness and served as a reminder we still have a ways to go.  It's a phenomenon we're still dealing with.  It's going to take a lot of work and healing."

   Though this Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture is one of the most successful yet with approximately 240 people in attendance, including people from towns as far away as El Dorado, Bond's lecture inspired varying reactions from the audience members.

   Matthew Robinson, a first-year student from Stuttgart, said, "I wish he wouldn't have talked about so much past, but talked about more present activities."  Despite his criticisms, Robinson added, "But, I would definitely listen to him again."

   Bond served as an active figure during the Civil Rights Movement in America.  He served in the Georgia General Assembly for 20 years, as well as founding the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in 1960.  In addition to teaching at several universities across the country, Bond holds 23 honorary degrees and is currently a Distinguished Professor at American University in Washington D.C. and a professor of history at the University of Virginia.

   Any students interested in joining the local chapter of the NAACP can contact President Courtney Levingston at cjl5217@uamont.edu.  According to Bond, "NAACP is open to any student.  We don't have a religious test ... (we) don't believe colored people are all one color - all who share the values of the NAACP are welcome. ... We ask them if they believe in equality and justice, and if they do we say, 'come on.'"

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