NAACP
Get Involved | Conclusion | Sources
About the NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. It was founded February 12, 1909 on behalf of African Americans. The NAACP's headquarters is in Detroit, Michigan, with additional regional offices in California, New York, Michigan, Missouri, Georgia, Texas, and Maryland. Each regional office is responsible for coordinating the efforts of state conferences in the states included in that region. Local, youth, and college chapters organize activities for individual members.
Mission Statement
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination. ( NAACP)
Local Branches
Though the Greater Harrisburg Chapter of the NAACP was formed in 1920, the Greater Carlisle chapter did not come about until 2000. The Unity Rally at Dickinson College in September of 2000, in protest of the Ku Klux Klan's visit, drew about 3,000 people and helped spawn the Greater Carlisle branch of the NAACP.
In February 2002, NAACP leaders in Carlisle claimed that a black student had been assaulted by a security officer at a sporting event. Although the officer was cleared after an investigation by Carlisle police, the incident raised concerns about how minority students were being treated by district employees. After this incident, Carlisle High School co-principal Gary Worley headed up a committee of NAACP leaders and school staffers to improve the treatment of minorities in schools.
Ann Van Dyke, the president of the PA Human Relations Commission, who has spent years tracking hate groups, was honored by the NAACP in 2005. At the NAACP banquet, she was quoted as saying "Hate is not an act of strength. It is an act of fear and weakness."
