No city in America can claim a more prominent role in slavery?s end than Baltimore. And no organization in America can claim a greater role in eliminating slavery?s legacy than the NAACP, until now.
By leaving Baltimore with more than 100 employees and moving to Washington, the NAACP risks leaving its roots and distancing itself from its legacy. It also could be marginalized, becoming yet another group among countless interest organizations in the capital.
Unfair to the mission
Back in 1864, when the Republican Convention met in Baltimore, President Lincoln asked the delegates to “favor a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery.” They did. In a resolution, attendees demanded “its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the Republic” ? launching the 13th Amendment ending slavery. To this day, Baltimore remains home to many events and people prominent in a more equal nation. For example:
» By 1850, free blacks helped to set up 30 to 40 mutual aid societies with fraternal, welfare and insurance dimensions.
» In 1895, the Baltimore Mutual United Brotherhood of Liberty was founded. This organization used the courts to pursue civil rights for African-Americans.
This history is all but absent in the city of Washington. Great dreams sometimes are fulfilled there, but the movements leading to them and people who sparked them come from elsewhere.
As the NAACP has alluded to in various interviews, it already has an office in Washington, one that fulfills the roles which they argue can be met by moving everything there. According to the group?s Web site, the Washington bureau “is one of the primary forces in the nation?s capital lobbying for civil rights. The bureau?s activities are focused on the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. It plans, coordinates and communicates the political action and legislative program of the NAACP ? .”
Unfair to employees
The median home price in Washington was $351,100 in 2004. How can the NAACP leadership realistically expect employees to live there? The average salary in the Washington region is $90,000 and the median income exceeds $70,000. In Baltimore, nearly half of residents make less than $25,000 per year. Consider these other issues:
» Food and dining are far more expensive in Washington.
» Employees will pay more in transportation costs, as Washington boasts one of the longest commutes in the nation.
A better solution
The NAACP can fulfill its mission by moving instead to a building close to Penn Station in Baltimore City. There it would be less than one hour by train from the nation?s capital and the Capitol, making it easier to draw national leaders to Baltimore and nourishing the conscience of those who visit.
With the headquarters in D.C., many NAACP employees will undoubtedly have to live far beyond a one-hour commute to reach headquarters. That literally adds distance between its people and its mission. By moving to a place close to Baltimore?s Penn Station, the NAACP could play an instrumental role in revitalizing another part of Baltimore as so many free blacks chose to do in 1850. Making this choice would be good for Baltimore, but better for the NAACP.
Mike Mitchell is executive director of Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity and a Democratic candidate for delegate in the Maryland General Assembly for the 46th district. Habitat for Humanity International and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People partner in a project, “Love Thy Neighbor,” that will build at least 25 new homes with families affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
