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NAACP Branch Emerging At Crossroads Of History

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 14, 2007

Oct. 20 marks the beginning of a new era in Pasco County because a needed civil rights organization, the Pasco County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is having its official coming-out party.

The organization, which started last year, serves as a check against civil rights abuses. As Pasco County continues to expand, a strong NAACP will assist in growing a healthy county that everyone can be proud of.

Approximately 250 people are expected to attend the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet in Ridge Manor.

It has been almost 20 years since the organization was active in Pasco County. But, at one time, Pasco had one of the most effective branches in the country.

In the late '60s, the local NAACP played a critical role in the integration process here, routinely confronting the school board, local governments and private businesses about unfair practices. Pasco County was served notice that all people would be treated fairly, without regard to race, religion, sex or national origin.

You would think such success would breed more success. In this case, success bred contentment. From the mid-'70s to the early-'90s, the organization had reactionary flashes but faded into obscurity.

By most accounts, of course, the modern civil rights movement was over by the mid-'60s.

However, many Southern towns formed their first branches a little later. The first Pasco County branch was organized in 1967 and chartered in 1968 after a black Pasco High School student was jailed for an incident on a school bus. The incident galvanized a group of whites, blacks, professionals, Baptists, Catholics, monks and others into action. They ran Jim Crow into hiding. The branch became one of the best branches in the state of Florida. Charles Arnade and his family, from San Antonio, were recognized for their courage and dedication to freedom and justice with the NAACP Freedom Award.

That is why studying history is so important. Malcolm X, in his maturity, stated, 'Of all our studies, history is best prepared to reward our research.'

It appears the Rev. Nathaniel Sims, pastor of St. Paul's Missionary Baptist Church in Dade City and president of the local NAACP branch, and his fellow committee members have done their homework. The group has been very patient and methodical about building the organization. They have taken the time to learn how to manage a branch the correct way, instead of with the impulsive management style that has been the trademark of and detriment to many previous branches. For instance, board members have completed mandatory board training; they have been participating in emergency training with the American Red Cross, and Sims has attended district-level training with other branch presidents and the state convention.

Sims also has successfully recruited many retired people who bring needed skills to the organization. The branch also has strived to include people from all over the county. Meetings rotate among locations in Dade City, Hudson and Land O' Lakes.

One hopes that Sims will give a hint of where the organization is headed at the banquet. Pasco County needs to know what can be expected of the organization during the next 12 months.

As a committee member, I have given the organization ideas of where I think it should go in the next year. I have recommended that the organization meet with the Pasco County school system, area law enforcement officials, higher education leaders, the state attorney and chamber of commerce executive boards in the coming months. Sims can report back in a year.

The organization should take this minimum course of action out of respect for people such as Harry T. Moore's ally John Gilbert, who was responsible for ending pay discrepancies between Florida's white and black teachers while a teacher in Brevard County. For his courageous act, he was blackballed from the profession. John died quietly in Dade City in April 2000, with only a few people knowing anything about his past.

Such action also would honor the late Naomi Jones, a charter member who dropped the organization's name around town like she was the Johnny Appleseed of the local NAACP.

Finally, the organization has an obligation to the voiceless and disenfranchised, to be their advocate against the forces of power.

Being affiliated with the NAACP is not for the faint of heart. Everyone has an opinion about the organization. Some think it doesn't do enough, and others see it as black people's version of the Ku Klux Klan. Like all businesses and nonprofit organizations, the civil rights organization has to adjust to the times. The iconic symbols of racism and bigotry, such as governors George Wallace and Lester Maddox and sheriff Eugene 'Bull' Connor, are gone. There are more subtle issues to be addressed today, such as the Jena Six, the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, environmental racism, etc.

It is common for ministers to lead branches because of their relative economic independence. But ministers today can find themselves in precarious situations in this dual capacity. Sims is bound to be confronted with the conflict. Would he recommend that the organization support or host events in churches that don't recognize female clergy? He will have to choose between faith and justice. He also will have to resist the temptation of co-optation that renders many leaders corrupt and broken. He will have to say 'no' to the many perks that will come his way.

With that said, we should look to Pasco County's future with enthusiasm because of the service the NAACP can offer. A willingness to conduct a dialogue with public and private agencies, along with businesses, is always a good start and often leads to meaningful collaboration. This is a new Pasco that belongs as much to the future as it does to the past.

Therefore, it is advisable that the organization doesn't become a colony of the Democratic Party, nor can it be allowed to be marginalized by the Wallace Southern strategy that has become a mainstay of Republican Party politics.

When this happens, we will truly be able to say that the banquet's theme, 'Continuing the Dream,' really matters.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet

WHEN: 6 p.m. Oct. 20

WHERE: Ridge Manor Community Center, 34240 Cortez Blvd.

SPEAKER: Lawyer Donald Watson, a partner in high-profile lawyer Willie Gary's firm

COST: $50 per person

CALL: (352) 567-6565

Imani Asukile, a Hernando County native, is a longtime Dade City resident and one of the founders of the African American Heritage Society of East Pasco County. His column appears every other Friday. To suggest a future column, e-mail him at idasukile@yah

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