The retirement of Mfume

A couple of very interesting articles here and here relating to the retirement of Kweisi Mfume.

Liberty Files is no fan of Mfume. The linked articles indicate the hard work done by Mfume to rehabilitate the organization from the smoking crater it was 9 years ago. But to be clear, the articles state that Mfume raised the organization from laughingstock status to something better. I would disagree. The NAACP is more interested in demagoging anything done by the Bush Administration than seeing low income blacks better educated, better connected to economic growth opportunities, and independent of government assistance. When the President in an election year snubs their summons to appear at their convention, while doubling his take of the black vote from four years before despite dedicated hammering from the organization, it's hard to argue that the organization is anything but joke.

But the real matter with which I take issue is the notion that blacks need another group of self-appointed "leaders". So far, the likes of Mfume, Julian Bond, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the like have succeeded in making themselves very popular and wealthy at the expense of the people they purport to "advance." I can't recall the last time one of Jesse Jackson's corporate shakedowns had cash flowing to a school voucher program or to a job training program. If you know of any, though, please let me know.

Unless a new leader brings and remains committed to a very heavy and different message like Bill Cosby, that people are real moral agents responsible for their own choices and status, and are responsible for raising their own children and squashing the brigandage that runs rampant in their communities, the laughingstock label will continue to stick.