NAACP Resolutions Database
Description
While at the University of Maryland, Christian Davenport] engaged in a project to study the NAACP. This was prompted by the upcoming 100 year anniversary as well as an interaction with the then NAACP Research Division, which soon dissolved. Initially, we were interested in trying to get a comprehensive understanding of what the NAACP did across time and space. The "Big Project" was outlined below. As conceived,
The “Big Project” (was) multi-faceted and one that takes an expansive view of the NAACP’s operational structure and impact in the black community historically and currently. Some deliverables of the project would include:
Why this is a good project
This project is important because it will highlight the significance of the NAACP historically and current in a way that has not been done. It seeks to understand the historical and current day development of the organization. It is an expansive project that will not only emphasize the general and scholarly communities to changes over time with the organization and the impact that it has had within the black community, but will also prove useful for the NAACP leadership and staff as it seeks to embark upon its 100th year in existence and beyond. The information gleaned could assist the organization to make changes where necessary to its units, structure, etc. to move forward successfully.
The Buy-in for the NAACP
The buy-in for the NAACP is the scholarly and general attention to the organization through its partnership with the universities/colleges involved in the project (which could also lead to an enhanced internship partnership with students from these colleges/universities from across the country). This could also yield additional memberships, particularly from the engagement of more youthful individuals as they learn more about the project and about what the NAACP is doing nowadays. Another benefit to the organization will be the dollars that come to the organization as a result of funding sought by the “Big Project” team. The scholars benefit by them being allowed to use the information gained from the research for their scholarly purposes.
Project Lead
Christian Davenport, Professor of Political Science at the University of Maryland College Park, would like to pull together a number of scholars working in different academic areas, as well as the NAACP Research Department, to conduct a multi-year (three-years) exploration of the organization. The project would require the assistance/participation of various NAACP components such as the local units and organization leadership.
Professor Davenport will spearhead the funding effort for the project, which will include a specified amount of dollars coming to the NAACP should the organization agree to engage this project. The projected amount is not known at this point but could be anywhere between $500,000 and $1 million.
Next Steps
In order to move forward with the funding request, Professor Davenport would need the following:
The NAACP president/CEO’s authorization by way of a letter indicating that the organization is on board with this project. An additional letter of support from the Research Director might also be needed.
Once that information is received:
What topics do resolutions cover and when?
Do the resolutions either track or lead legislation/court rulings?
Do resolutions track general conditions (employment, education, etc.)?
Using residuals, does the organization track conditions less over time?
Enjoy
[Christian Davenport]
Professor of Political Science - University of Michigan
Faculty Associate - Center for Political Studies, Institute for Social Research
Research Professor & Global Fellow - Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Director - Radical Information Project (RIP)
Director - Stop Our States (SOS)
Co-Founder - New Jack Academics with Professor Darren Davis
Co-Founder - .EDU: opening minds & changing worlds with style with Professor Jillian Schwedler & Rodney Williams
Co-Founder/Director - Conflict Consortium (CC) with Professor Will Moore
The “Big Project” (was) multi-faceted and one that takes an expansive view of the NAACP’s operational structure and impact in the black community historically and currently. Some deliverables of the project would include:
- archival of old pictures
- documentary – interviews with leadership at various levels of the organization
- digitization of the old issues of the Crisis
- finish the electronic transformation of all resolutions that have not yet been completed
- assessment of chapters/units and their functionality (ties into the Branch/Unit Assessment that appears on the Research Dept. work plan)
- mapping of all chapter/unit locations across the country
Why this is a good project
This project is important because it will highlight the significance of the NAACP historically and current in a way that has not been done. It seeks to understand the historical and current day development of the organization. It is an expansive project that will not only emphasize the general and scholarly communities to changes over time with the organization and the impact that it has had within the black community, but will also prove useful for the NAACP leadership and staff as it seeks to embark upon its 100th year in existence and beyond. The information gleaned could assist the organization to make changes where necessary to its units, structure, etc. to move forward successfully.
The Buy-in for the NAACP
The buy-in for the NAACP is the scholarly and general attention to the organization through its partnership with the universities/colleges involved in the project (which could also lead to an enhanced internship partnership with students from these colleges/universities from across the country). This could also yield additional memberships, particularly from the engagement of more youthful individuals as they learn more about the project and about what the NAACP is doing nowadays. Another benefit to the organization will be the dollars that come to the organization as a result of funding sought by the “Big Project” team. The scholars benefit by them being allowed to use the information gained from the research for their scholarly purposes.
Project Lead
Christian Davenport, Professor of Political Science at the University of Maryland College Park, would like to pull together a number of scholars working in different academic areas, as well as the NAACP Research Department, to conduct a multi-year (three-years) exploration of the organization. The project would require the assistance/participation of various NAACP components such as the local units and organization leadership.
Professor Davenport will spearhead the funding effort for the project, which will include a specified amount of dollars coming to the NAACP should the organization agree to engage this project. The projected amount is not known at this point but could be anywhere between $500,000 and $1 million.
Next Steps
In order to move forward with the funding request, Professor Davenport would need the following:
The NAACP president/CEO’s authorization by way of a letter indicating that the organization is on board with this project. An additional letter of support from the Research Director might also be needed.
Once that information is received:
- Professor Davenport will begin exploring funding sources that would be interested in funding scholarly work examining various facets of the project, including organizational structure, the black community, history, media/documentary, etc.
- With the assistance of the NAACP Research Department, Professor Davenport and his team will begin the craft assessment (including survey questions) to conduct a census of the 2,200+ local chapters/units and the extent to which they are functioning.
- This would be one of the first-year objectives to be completed
- Professor Davenport and the “Big Project” team will also begin outlining the process for archiving NAACP historical and current day information and resources.
What topics do resolutions cover and when?
Do the resolutions either track or lead legislation/court rulings?
Do resolutions track general conditions (employment, education, etc.)?
Using residuals, does the organization track conditions less over time?
Enjoy
[Christian Davenport]
Professor of Political Science - University of Michigan
Faculty Associate - Center for Political Studies, Institute for Social Research
Research Professor & Global Fellow - Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Director - Radical Information Project (RIP)
Director - Stop Our States (SOS)
Co-Founder - New Jack Academics with Professor Darren Davis
Co-Founder - .EDU: opening minds & changing worlds with style with Professor Jillian Schwedler & Rodney Williams
Co-Founder/Director - Conflict Consortium (CC) with Professor Will Moore
Example Resolution - 1955
| resolutions.1955.tif |
| resolutions.1973.tif |
| resolutions_2003.pdf |
NAACP Policy Handbook - 2007
| naacp_policy_handbook_draft-5.9.07.pdf |
NAACP Notes Regarding Changes in Content Over time (From NAACP)
1910’s
*review other early resolutions for more insight into determining when NAACP policy changed to advocate desegregating schools and also change to current acceptance of hyphenation
1930’s
1940's
1950's
large focus on legal protections/ending government-supported discrimination. Examples: desegregation first focused on the military and then education, housing and other areas
[main point/goal in this decade: equality under the law and increased enforcement of those laws in some cases]
1960's
1970's
1980's
1990's
2000-2007
- military segregation and violence especially the incidence of focus were the main issues
- 1919 resolution stated that the NAACP didn’t advocate desegregating schools but equal funding yet also had resolutions against Jim Crow laws
- against “color hyphenation” with names (such as African American?)
*review other early resolutions for more insight into determining when NAACP policy changed to advocate desegregating schools and also change to current acceptance of hyphenation
1930’s
- some main issues are lynching, discrimination in the justice system, government-sanctioned discrimination (as in federal projects, appointments, and contracts).
- also focus on economic justice, with a main focus on social security (fewer benefits for sectors in which blacks most often were employed), affordable housing (with focus on government’s duty to assist and fairness in FHA), equal job opportunities for blacks (inclusion in labor unions, education, equal consideration for promotions and even hiring).
1940's
- previous decade was marked by a call to action on issues like lynching, poll taxes, etc. but at this point some legislation on these and other civil rights issues had been introduced and there was some focus on organizing people to support these bills, improving the bills, and passing them. 1949 has the first resolutions regarding police brutality.
- more of a focus on strengthening direct action campaigns in the years to follow (1949).
- focus extended from anti-sharecropping to also being against the treatment of migrant workers.
- otherwise, some of the same focus on fair employment, fairness in social security/minimum wage, government help on affordable housing, desegregating the military, etc.
1950's
large focus on legal protections/ending government-supported discrimination. Examples: desegregation first focused on the military and then education, housing and other areas
- demanded nondiscrimination clauses for use and distribution of federal funds and that the government not require racial designations on official forms
- advocated for government departments devoted to civil rights/anti-discrimination
- advocated passage of civil rights legislation
- declared the organization “anti-communist” in response to McCarthyism but also were against the use of “loyalty orders” which gave those reporting “anti-American” activity anonymity but this was being used to fire blacks in a discriminatory manner
- much greater international focus likely due to decolonization.
- beginning to focus not only on access to unions and fair employment but also access to professional organizations especially in medical and dental fields
- efforts to generate positive publicity regarding the NAACP and blacks in general (remove racial designations in newspapers, celebrate Brown v Board, “enlighten public opinion regarding the NAACP”)
[main point/goal in this decade: equality under the law and increased enforcement of those laws in some cases]
1960's
- increased use of sit-ins, boycotts, and attempts to sway public opinion.
- focus on keeping money within the black community (patronize black-owned businesses and credit unions etc).
- developed a kind of score sheets for politicians to publicize who did and did not support civil rights (voter registration and voter education stressed).
- advocated increased job training for blacks and the idea that it was the government's responsibility to employ the unemployed (manpower projects). Increased focus on police brutality.
- need for blacks on draft review boards, police review boards. and school boards discussed.
- in the early 1960's language is less vague regarding how a problem ought to be solved (instead of saying that a problem should be solved saying who should solve it—Congress, the President, a certain agency, etc—and also how—legislation, an executive order, boycotts and demonstrations, etc.).
- general goals like fair employment, equal voting, fair/affordable housing, desegregated schools, etc. remain unchanged.
1970's
- beginning of advocation of affirmative action
- some more stress on cooperating with other groups (though cooperation with labor unions and churches had been done for some time)
- some focus on general social ills like drug abuse, teen pregnancy, mass transit, ERA, etc.
- statements against vouchers, education tracks (blacks trapped in general not college prep), and pushing blacks onto the next grade instead of failing them, expanded focus to university-level disparity, standardized tests, and other signs of lower-quality education for blacks not directly related to segregation
- first resolutions against redlining and gerrymandering
- resolutions reassuring/stating that the NAACP is not just for blacks and is open to all religions (even though it started with much white involvement—not clear from the resolutions when the shift in ideology occurred such that the NAACP began to be perceived and to some extent practice as an organization only for blacks)
- statements against divisive black nationalist groups range from late sixties to early seventies
1980's
- response to federal budget cuts because services and programs harmed were ones that helped many blacks
- more focus on job training to complement social safety nets
- discussions of the relocation of the national NAACP office in the early 1980's
- help for the elderly (rights/economic benefits)
- emphasis on rehabilitation and job training and other anti-recidivism measures for blacks in prison
- other major issue areas remain the same
1990's
- resolutions supporting gun control
- increasing number of blacks in the military
- solidarity with Native Americans and sports team mascots
- hate crime legislation
- environmental justice/environmental racism: more blacks living in places adversely affected by pollution etc.
- formation of the NAACP Image Awards
- resolutions to save HBCU's with increased enrollment, government funding, and funding from private sources
- support for reparations
2000-2007
- exploitation of student athletes
- continued and increased focus on high proportion of blacks in prison (actions against the death penalty and police brutality)
- support for continuation and expansion of Head Start
- support for foreign aid and debt relief for African countries
- policy statements against predatory lending
Database
| naacp_resolutions_with_topic_code_123111.xls |
Incomplete Listing of NAACP Branches (circa 2007)
Other Information Compiled:
Sample FBI files
| naacpsum1a.pdf |
| naacpsum1b.pdf |
