NAACP 100 Years of History

Jocelyn Favela

NAACP 100 YEARS OF HISTORY

Q&A

• Question:

What is the objective of the NAACP?

• Answer:

The NAACP formed to protect the rights of minority citizens in the U.S. and work towards achieving equality for everyone no matter their color/race.

Q&A

• Question:

How large was the NAACP when it was first founded?

• Answer:

A group of white liberals had founded the NAACP, and later consisted of about 60 others of whom seven were African Americans themselves.

Q&A

• Question:

What acts or laws was the NAACP directly associated with at the time?

• Answer:

The NAACP, as of 1919, supported congressman Leonidas Dyer’s Dyer Bill or Anti-Lynching Bill which set repercussions to the act of lynching and ensured equal protection laws in every state.

Q&A

• Question:

In what ways did the NAACP raise awareness for themselves and of what they were trying to accomplish through their organization?

• Answer:

The NAACP established their own official journal called The Crisis that talked about the dangers of race prejudice. The journal was directed by Du Bois, the only African American among the executives there in the organization.

Q&A

• Question:

In what way is the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era connected to the NAACP?

• Answer:

The south lost in the Civil War and Reconstruction was started to rebuild and restore the damage in the south as result of the war. Yet white southerners lost much more i.e. slaves and that lead to the loss of their wealth. This lead to animosity against the newly freed and all African Americans in general.

TIME PERIOD

The NAACP was founded on the 12th of February, in 1909. The group was formed in response to the lynching that had been occurring throughout the south at the end of the Reconstruction Era, which ended in 1877. A time when violence and hostility against African Americans was at a high point.

IMPORTANCE

The NAACP is a civil rights organization who's objective is to eliminate discrimination and prejudice among race. They work toward the equality of minority groups in the United States in all aspects such as social, political, educational, and in the economy. The NAACP has been responsible for many of the measures that have ensured the protection and rights of minority groups.

IMPACT

Of the problems affecting African Americans at the time, one of the most evident would have been the lynches and lynching mobs that would take place on a regular basis. To combat this, in 1919 the NAACP supported the Anti-Lynching Bill, also known as the Dyer Bill, which was then passed by the House of Representatives on January 26, 1922. They also advocated for more political and social rights.

QUOTE #1

“The NAACP was formed partly in response to the continuing horrific practice of lynching” (NAACP 100 Years of History), a practice that meant the killing of thousands of African Americans for crimes, most of which they were falsely accused of, in an span of over 70 years.

QUOTE #2

Even after the 15th Amendment was passed, which ensured an American citizens right to vote no matter their color or race, new obstacles were created and tactics used including “…outright intimidation to stop people from casting free and unfettered ballots.” (naacp-history-voting-rights-act)

NAACP headquarters

Lynching in the south