How the NAACP has changed, and why it's still relevant to Dartmouth College

When we consider the changing face of ethnic diversity at Dartmouth, it begs the question as to why the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has only recently chartered a college chapter at one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges in the nation. Like students at Dartmouth, the founders of the NAACP were from very diverse backgrounds, all coming together in the one hope to transform the atrocity of race relations in post-Reconstruction America. For nearly a century, people from all races, religions, and nationalities have come together under the NAACP to promote racial equality in America. So what was the rationale for establishing the NAACP at Dartmouth nearly five decades after the Civil Rights movement?

In the summer of 2005, Dartmouth College recognized the NAACP as a student organization. After building its membership and proving its dedication to social activism and political awareness, two years later, in March of 2007, the student organization was recognized by the NAACP National Office and officially designated as a National College Chapter of the NAACP at Dartmouth College.

Targeting the protection of civil rights for African Americans since its founding in 1909, the NAACP has broadened its scope to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights for all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination. The NAACP has transcended boundaries of race to recognize other critical issues in U.S. policy, such as class, gender, economic status, healthcare, labor, homeland security, international civil rights and supporting an end to the current genocide in the Darfur region through divestment in Sudan.

Though the NAACP is a national organization that caters to the protection of civil rights for all minorities, it thrives on the microcosm of diversity that is Dartmouth. Indeed a small institution of higher learning, the wealth of culture that students bring to the old College on the Hill is beyond measure. Hence a Dartmouth liberal arts education combines the intellectual achievement won in the classroom with the cultural capital that students gain as they share experiences with their peers and professors and shape their own individual identities. But why is diversity at Dartmouth important to the mission of the NAACP? It is important because the NAACP prides itself in being accessible to all people. What better place to educate others about the civil rights of minority groups than Dartmouth, a place of multi-ethnic representation and equality?

Furthermore, Dartmouth is a place of budding leadership and unrivaled academic opportunities, so why not recruit the best and brightest that our nation has to offer in the crusade for civil rights equality and social justice? Over the past century, race relations in America have improved considerably but are far from perfect, and innovative thinkers and leaders are needed to promote ethnic equality in America and around the world. Dartmouth students pride themselves in knowing the best of everything, so why not the civil rights of ethnic minorities?

In the everyday hustle and bustle of Dartmouth, with students crossing the Hanover Green to their classes, the Hopkins Center, to the Alumni Gym, or to Thayer Dining Hall, it is easy for critical issues to be misplaced or forgotten about altogether. But do we have to allow the issues underlying ethnic diversity to become subdued by schedules jammed with extracurricular activities, athletic games, Greek life, world news and events, and genuine exhaustion from the perpetual burden of academic work? Are these things so much more important to us that we forget that it is in the cry for diversity--diversity of race, culture, intellect, and personality--that we are brought together in the first place? Let us take a step back and understand not only the essence of our environment, but the priorities of our peers.

Nevertheless, the history of our nation is conveniently replaced by our present social conditions as we keep our eyes in a forward direction, refusing to lose precious seconds in our pursuit for academic and social success. So amongst the chaos, when are the needs of ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, addressed? Or have they shamelessly been forgotten, condemned to the trenches of simulated 'ethnic diversity'?

Dartmouth offers numerous resources to minority groups through the Office of Pluralism and Leadership (OPAL) and the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity (IDE). As a subsidiary of OPAL, the NAACP Dartmouth College Chapter is recognized as an organization that contributes to the diversity of Dartmouth by increasing awareness about issues affecting minority groups in America and abroad. The NAACP has been heavily supported by IDE and OPAL because it takes pressure off of each office to "administer" these programs and perspectives. For example, The NAACP Dartmouth College Chapter recently held a rally on Collis Front Porch to spread awareness about the Jena Six, sponsored a discussion on "Race and Politics" in America with Peter Burns, a visiting professor in the Department of Public Policy, and held a town hall meeting with Actress Victoria Rowell, a social activist for better foster care and improvements in the U.S. health care system. In sponsoring these events, the NAACP lessens the responsibilities of OPAL and IDE, thereby empowering students to create the events and programming that they want to see. Additionally, the Dartmouth Chapter NAACP is planning a poster campaign for Black History Month that will be on display in Collis Commonground.

But how do these programs relate to OPAL and its mission, which is to "provide a comprehensive program for cultural enrichment and leadership development to ensure that historically under-represented groups in particular and all Dartmouth students in general will have rich learning experiences outside the classroom"? Furthermore, how does educating students about the civil rights of minorities enrich their learning experience at Dartmouth? And ultimately, is the NAACP even necessary at Dartmouth?

First, the NAACP contributes to the cultural learning experience of students by keeping them informed about issues affecting minorities and minority civil rights in America and abroad. In addressing the purpose of the NAACP at Dartmouth, we must ask a simple question: If someone does not take on the responsibility of practicing peer-to-peer education about our differences and the reasons for such differences, what guarantee is there that Dartmouth will ever truly achieve 'ethnic diversity'? While OPAL and IDE strive to increase the pluralism and leadership on the Dartmouth campus using institutional methods, students are interacting with their peers on a daily basis outside the realm of influence of OPAL and IDE, thus necessitating the need for peer-to-peer education.

Moreover, to have a representation of diversity is not enough, especially when members of minority groups tend to become lost in the cloak of Dartmouth--which is placed upon all who matriculate as students, immediately linking all in a common bond that is ultimately sealed upon graduation with the receipt of the much coveted Dartmouth diploma. Yes Dartmouth does have multi-ethnic representation to support the premise of diversity, but that is not enough to alleviate the dual pressures of conformity and alienation by majority culture. Furthermore, is it truly 'diversity' when what is most recognized is the ability to conform academically and socially, and not the dynamic qualities that make each person a different strand in the DNA of Dartmouth?

On the other hand, we must evaluate whether or not it is appropriate to consider diversity so vehemently, as we should be more appreciative of the fact that Dartmouth is an elite academic institution, and it is not the sole mission of Dartmouth to recruit people from diverse backgrounds, but to allow those with great academic potential to befriend others of similar academic pursuits. In this way, diversity is achieved naturally and not through some system of cut-offs and quotas.

Moreover, in considering the purpose of the NAACP at Dartmouth, we must question if it is doing members of minority groups a disservice by considering their needs apart from the majority. Should the NAACP be more focused on what makes minority groups similar, not different, to their Caucasian counterparts? After all, our time at Dartmouth is limited and we cannot undo what was done in the past. We must learn from our mistakes and maintain a positive outlook for the future. Although this is indeed true, we must also acknowledge that people are different because of their different ancestries, and until we accept this truth the future will never become a distant relative of the past.

The Dartmouth Chapter NAACP plays an integral role in addressing this question of ethnic diversity and equality. However the question of 'what makes the NAACP different from any other student organization?' inevitably arises. Furthermore, with the numerous student organizations that saturate undergraduate life, one may argue that the NAACP is simply a different group of students advocating the same issues as other student organizations. Only one other organization, MEChA, which supports Chicanos and Latinos at Dartmouth, is active in this regard, and the NAACP has begun working with MEChA to increase effectiveness in the political sphere.

So is the NAACP only for people of 'color', specifically African Americans? Though many of the advocacy issues that the NAACP champions nationally concern the protection of civil rights for African Americans--who have been bastardized by American majority culture, branded by the everlasting pain and torment of slavery, and beaten by the ubiquitous deluge of deep-seated racial prejudice--the civil rights of all historically disenfranchised Americans and people subjected to civil rights abuses fall under the scope of the NAACP. After all, African-Americans were not the only minority group in America to endure the pains of cultural isolation and disparity, and many more minority groups have joined the crusade for ethnic equality in America.

Nationally the NAACP is an organization that aims to help people of color by bringing awareness to issues, pushing through or fighting legislation, and by defending people of color who have been wronged. The NAACP Dartmouth College Chapter demands the attention of the student body in order to create awareness of the issues affecting people of color and other minority groups. Though a nascent organization, the NAACP Dartmouth College Chapter could have the power to be one of the most influential groups not just for minority groups, but for the greater Dartmouth community. For more information on the efforts of the NAACP National Office, please visit www.naacp.org.

Dartmouth Chapter of the NAACP is led by:
Lamar Moss '07, President
Jasmine Richards '10, Vice President
Roselina Harmony Gbe '10, Treasurer
Ashley Smith '09, Secretary
Adria Buchanan '08, Senior Advisor