by Anthony Shopa
We all see different forms of Racial discrimination every day whether it is a joke you emailed to a friend, or someone being told they are not allowed to participate because of their ethnicity. Where do these feelings originate from and how can we go about stopping it? Who is working to stop it? How can I be a part of the movement to end this?
“National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is here to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. The vision of the NAACP is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race,” The NAACP was found February 12, 1909 by Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Archibald Grimke, Oswald Villard, Lillian Wald, Mary Ovington, William Walling, and Henry Moskowitz. State representatives are elected every two years in the NAACP to help serve the people suffering from racial discrimination. (http://www.liquisearch.com/national_association_for_the_advancement_of_colored_people/history/the_birth_of_the_naacp)
John Jordan is the head of the NAACP’s Pennsylvania Community Relations. He was elected two years ago, and he works in Philadelphia.
“There’s all types of racism out there. There’s systematic racism, which we find in the work force. We find it in large institutions, hospitals, schools, manufacturing companies, and more. We do whatever we can within the confines of the law,.” Jordan said “We work directly with the Department of Labor, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, and the institution itself, to ensure that discriminatory behavior is not something that – not just that employee won’t experience again – but any employee will not experience again. We will work with whomever we need to work with to ensure this does not happen again, even if it’s an attorney that needs to start a lawsuit.”
John Jordan works within the Philadelphia community on Pennsylvania’s state board of director, with the NAACP, on many different problems where you will see people face racial discrimination. He also served as their civic engagement for the State of Pennsylvania, where he was responsible for voter registration, voter education, voter mobilization, and voter protection. His work within the community is focused on a lot of common problems for politics, veterans, health, the youth, and education. He will talk to the committees of the NAACP for each of these problems whenever he is needed. He helps spread the word within the community or helping to solve the problem directly.
“Working with all the arms of the NAACP, whether it’s our veterans affairs, housing, political action, youth in college, health, education, wherever there is a need by one of our committees, Community Relations will assist them in getting the word out into the community or assisting on whatever the focus may be,” Jordan said. He worked hard through the months of October and November during the 2016 election to make sure that all races were properly registered and were not discriminated against when trying to exercise their right to vote. This is just one of the ways the NAACP works to make a discrimination-free community.
Racism within the education system is one that is sometimes overlooked in more poverty-stricken areas. With the state lowering their funding to schools with low state test scores, it results in them taking away different programs such as art, music, and athletics. It also makes it so that they can’t afford to have the right amount of qualified teachers for each subject. With all these different things against them the NAACP works hard to ensure all of the youth can get equal opportunities.
“If it’s education, we assist our education committee in reference to quality and equitable education opportunities, be it a public or a private charter school across Pennsylvania. Were, just making sure that every child has an even seat at the table, (monitoring) the education they are receiving, and the funding they receive for that education,”Jordan said.
The NAACP has a number of different people whom they can work with throughout their community. As Jordan stated, the organization works with the Department of Labor, Pennsylvania Human Resource Commissions, and if necessary, attorneys.
“Communication and advocacy, the communications piece is to first sit down and hash out the problem, make sure that the norm isn’t the jokes at the water cooler or the internet posts, so the first key is to communicate what the problem is, once the problem is identified and the root of the problem then we work on the broad base solutions. How can we as an organization and how can you as a member of the community guarantee future generations will not be subjected to racial discrimination?” Jordan said.
The NAACP believes that if individuals continue to communicate as a community and as a nation it will bring greater awareness to the problem with racial discrimination. If all individuals are active with the advocacy of this issue, the NAACP believes that we will all be able to live peacefully and not be subjected to discrimination in schools, in the workplace, in voting booths, or anywhere within the community, which includes in interactions with law enforcement.
Solutions to Unite 