How White Is Maine?

The head of the NAACP's state prison chapter is a white dude. And convicted murderer/honorary soul brother William "Billy" Flynn doesn't sound overwhelmingly down with the cause either:

And if the question is why he is in the association at all, he explains that it seems better than the Jaycees and the Longtimers, the only other organizations the prison allows, because the NAACP chapter receives outside support. The leaders of the Portland NAACP branch and Jealous have been willing to meet with prison officials on behalf of the inmates. With "an extra-powerful support group on the street," Flynn says the prisoners can get the officials' attention. They have been able to get them to grant them lower phone rates and to issue new rules that let social groups meet more often.

The NAACP Doesn't Want An Irishman To Become Mayor of Baltimore. I'm Glad We Cleared That Up

In the annals of weird things the NAACP says and does, this ranks high up there:

Leaders of the Maryland NAACP, worried that a Baltimore mayor's criminal conviction could result in the appointment of a white or Republican leader who may not fully represent the majority black and Democratic city, are asking state lawmakers to strip the governor of authority to permanently fill the office.

OK. Fair enough. I hate white politicians too. But unlike the NAACP I haven't been kept up at night with worry of that happening anytime soon, because in this city the City Council President is a black female who also happens to be a Democrat. And even though I've never voted in a city election and spend most of my time blogging about boobies, I know that in Baltimore when there is a Mayoral vacancy, the line of succession leads straight to the City Council President. How do I know this? Because it happened 2 years ago in this fucking city.

Still, it is not clear that the resolution or a law change is warranted. According to Dan Friedman, an assistant attorney general who is counsel to the General Assembly, the governor does not have the authority to make an appointment.

Instead, the state constitution defers to the city's charter, he said, which elevates the city council president to be mayor in case of a vacancy. That's how Dixon became mayor in 2007 after Martin O'Malley, her predecessor, was elected governor.

It gets better:

Marvin L. Cheatham, the president of the Baltimore Chapter of the NAACP, introduced the resolution because he heard an attorney on a radio program discussing a lack of clarity on succession if Dixon were to be convicted and sentenced.

"Our concern is who would the governor appoint?" Cheatham said. "Here you have a predominantly African-American city. What if the governor appointed somebody white? ... Would he appoint someone Irish to be the mayor?"

Wow. Breathtakingly stupid and tone-deaf. From one "I can't believe I just said that" person to another, how the fuck do you say that out loud? I'd like to meet the guys working in the local NAACP's communication department. I betcha they have fancy degrees from places like University of Phoenix and Walden University. Christ, what a bunch of fucking idiots.

But seriously, I'm wondering --- Can they really be that stupid? First, they have the facts of succession so horribly wrong that it leads you to believe that they were blinded by scoring some cheap political points. But that doesn't even make sense. It seems like a Hey, look at us! We're still here! type of thing. But as a Baltimore Sun editorial points out, for the NAACP to be talking how a black mayor is essential to running a majority black city 9 months after we elected a black president to run a majority white country...well I don't know, it just seems really stupid. That's not to say the NAACP is incapable of doing really stupid things, just that this seems really, really fucking stupid. Even for them.

Civil Rights Crusading -- NAACP Style

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - At Baltimore’s Lexington Market, cold beer is poured fresh from the tap — but there’s a catch.

To buy a cup of suds, patrons must also purchase food — a policy some customers call a “rip-off” and the NAACP alleges is “possible discrimination.”

“I think it’s extortion,” said Rodney Orange, the fifth past president of the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “Why should someone have to buy food if all they want is a cup of beer?”

See, Rodney wanted a beer only -- no food -- and was told it was against market policy and he would have to buy food. Then, instead of worrying about things like the murder rate in Baltimore among young black males, or the unemployment rate, or any number of real problems in the black community; or just going to any other market in the city, he decided to protest the possible discrimination of Lexington Market for only selling beer to patrons who buy food. Makes sense. Or I guess I should say in Baltimore this makes sense.

See here, here for more proud and pointless moments (respectively) in recent Baltimore NAACP history.

Full story here. Via Baltimore Crime.

NAACP Confused; Buries 'N-Word' Instead of 'Nigger'

In case you missed the news, another senseless death in urban America:

DETROIT // The NAACP held a mock funeral yesterday for one of the most inflammatory terms in the English language: the N-word

[...]

"Today, we're not just burying the N-word, we are taking it out of our spirit, we are taking it out of our minds," Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said to thunderous applause of hundreds who gathered at the city's riverfront Hart Plaza. "To bury the N-word, we've got to bury the pimps and the hos and the hustlers. Let's bury all the nonsense that comes with this."

[..]

Leading the procession was a horse-drawn carriage carrying a simple pine casket, blanketed in wilted flowers. At the Hart Plaza amphitheater, the crowd gathered for two hours under the punishing sun, waving signs reading "Bury the N-Word" and "Gone forever."

I mean that's cool...Go ahead and have a funeral for a word, while actual funerals with real black people in caskets are happening everyday. Young black men are victims of homicides at a rate 4-5x more than their white counterparts, and I'm confident that not a single one of those victims was murdered by a word. It's silly, just plain silly.

Full article here. And yes, Mayor Kwame is that guy, who has had some problems in the past.