ABSTRACT
NAACP (minorities) The oldest, largest and most respected national CIVIL RIGHTS organization. It uses the US legislatures, legal court system and legal DECISIONS to help blacks achieve full equality and integration in American society. It was founded in 1909 by a biracial group of intellectuals, including W.E.B. Du Bois, with the belief that AFRICAN AMERICANS deserve equal rights in the US and the full, legal protection of those rights, especially concerning voting for black men and women and ending DISCRIMINATION. Over the years it has won many legal cases by proving the illegality of: the GRANDFATHER CLAUSE1 (1915); the PRIMARY ELECTION only for white voters (1927); and SEGREGATION laws in housing (1935). In 1939 it established the NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND (NAACP-LDF) to continue this work. It publishes the CRISIS and serves as a spokesman for the MODERATE African-American community. It supported the MARCH ON WASHINGTON OF 1963 but did not support BLACK POWER, the BLACK PANTHERS nor the MILLION MAN MARCH. Currently, it remains a strong organization and counts 400,000 members. [Abbreviation of ‘N’ational ‘Association for the ‘Advancement of ‘Colored ‘P’eople.] Compare NIAGARA MOVEMENT.
