NAACP Discriminates Against Deneen Borelli and Other Black Conservatives

by David L. Goetsch
I wonder what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would think of the NAACP discriminating against black people.  Since he sacrificed his life fighting to end discrimination against blacks, he would probably be more than a little disappointed, and rightly so.  Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening, at least to conservative blacks.  At the recent National NAACP Conference in Florida, Deneen Borelli and her husband were barred from renting booth space for their organization FreedomWorks in spite of the fact that booth space was readily available.  What, you might ask, does the NAACP have against Deneen Borelli and FreedomWorks?  The answer is simple:  Ms. Borelli and her husband are bright, educated, successful, articulate black Americans who happen to espouse a conservative worldview.
Don’t get me wrong, the NAACP has nothing against Ms. Borelli being bright, educated, successful, and articulate.  Their problem with her and FreedomWorks can be summed up in one word: conservative.  Ms. Borelli’s unforgivable “crime” in the eyes of NAACP officials is that she courageously and articulately challenges the holy grail of liberal orthodoxy.  In an ironic twist of circumstances, their attitude toward Ms. Borelli is reminiscent of the bad old days of Jim Crow when black people were arrested, beaten, and put in jail for the crime of being black.  In the eyes of NAACP officials, Ms. Borelli and her husband are guilty of the one unpardonable sin a black person cannot commit in contemporary America: being black conservatives.

The acronym “NAACP” has become so ingrained in the American lexicon that we sometimes forget what it stands for.  To refresh the reader’s memory, the letters stand for “National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.” The term “colored people” is no longer used in everyday conversation, but the organization retains its title as a way to honor its history. The NAACP was formed in 1909 with the mission to “ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.”
The NAACP’s mission represents a worthy undertaking and one that many people of all races fought, bled, and even died to trying to achieve.  Progress has been made, but the battle for equality of rights and to end racial hatred and discrimination is not over.  In fact, in the past six years America has experienced one set back after another in this arena.  Racial hatred and discrimination still exist in America, a sad enough statement by itself.  But what is even sadder is that the very organization established to fight these things is now guilty of both.  The NAACP has devolved from an organization that fights for the rights of victims of discrimination to an organization that is guilty of discrimination.  What is even worse is that the NAACP is not just guilty of discrimination it is guilty of discrimination against the very people it was established to protect.  One can only wonder what W.E.B. DuBois and his fellow founders of the NAACP would think of their organization now.

If the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is really committed to the “advancement of colored people” it should embrace not reject Deneen Borelli and other conservative black Americans.  Ms. Borelli and many of her fellow black conservatives exemplify the NAACP’s founding philosophy. In short, it is they and not the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of the world who personify the success of the organization’s mission.  When the NAACP names the recipients of its annual Spingarn Medals for outstanding achievement, those honored should include conservative black Americans like Deneen Borelli.  Ms. Borelli’s achievements are sufficient to bring her honor and distinction without reference to race, but when compared with others who have received this distinguished award she should certainly be one of next year’s honorees.  Further, FreedomWorks should be provided booth space in the most visible and highly-trafficked part of the conference center.
One of the most popular terms in the lexicon of liberals is diversity.  Officials of the NAACP have long used this term to describe how they view the ideal workplace, the ideal student body, and the ideal world.  The concept of diversity is practically mantra among liberals.  Unfortunately, their view of diversity does not comport with Webster’s definition of the term.  Apparently in the eyes of the NAACP, the concept of diversity is restricted to those black Americans who toe the line of liberal orthodoxy.  If officials of the NAACP are not willing to embrace black Americans who espouse a conservative worldview, they should change the name of their organization to the NAALCP: National Association for the Advancement of Liberal Colored People.  Having done this they should then extend a collective apology to the founders of their organization and Americans of all races and political persuasions who fought, bled, and sacrificed trying to make the NAACP’s mission a reality.