Citizens For A Freer America's Rebuke of the NAACP
By Daryl Hunter

Something happened during the presidential campaign that is troubling me. The NAACP ran the despicable issue advertisement of James Bird's daughter trying to link George W. Bush to her father's brutal and shameful dragging death behind a pick up truck. As tasteless and unfair as that issue advertisement was, that advertisement isn't what is haunting me. What is haunting me is my reaction to it; I now find myself hating the people of the NAACP who have lost their compass. And now the NAACP is making me lose mine.Something happened during the presidential campaign that is troubling me. The NAACP ran the despicable issue advertisement of James Bird's daughter trying to link George W. Bush to her father's brutal and shameful dragging death behind a pick up truck. As tasteless and unfair as that issue advertisement was, that advertisement isn't what is haunting me. What is haunting me is my reaction to it; I now find myself hating the people of the NAACP who have lost their compass. And now the NAACP is making me lose mine."

Now some conservative white man hating the people of the NAACP wouldn't seem like a stretch to a person of color; however, it bothers me as I have never been prejudice. I grew up in a small town in California that didn't have many minorities; hence, no gangs that so often hasten judgment and prejudice. As a boy of 5 years old I was exposed to my racist grandfather who believed that all African-Americans should be sent back to Africa with a Mexican under each arm. (not his wording). I have always been curious, and at five years old I met an African-American boy my age at a park and I decided I wanted to find out what was so bad about them. After playing with this boy for an afternoon I had decided that he was no different than me.

This early experience planted empathy in my soul for African Americans, as I had recognized, even at that early age the blind unjustified hate of people like my grandfather for people they had never met. Later in school I read some books that strengthened my empathy, Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin and Manchild In The Promised Land by Claude Brown.

In 1972 I moved to Chino CA where half the population was Latino, my friends there who being prejudice, kept talking about their racial problems, gangs and such and how a white person couldn't safely walk down D Street, a part of the barrio. As a believer in the goodness of humanity at the idealistic age of 18, I couldn't believe that I would get beat up for walking down a street just because I was white. So on a bet I did walk down D Street, I got jumped, knocked out and robbed. My only consolation was that several groups of young men first asked where I lived, so it is my belief I was jumped not because I was white, but because I was out of my turf and I was trespassing in theirs. It was also a young man from the neighborhood that picked me up and took me to the hospital. In defense of my friends, they revoked the bet before I took the D Street walk in an effort to talk me out of it as they didn't think when they made the bet I would take them up on it. However, as a hard headed idealist with a point to make I was compelled to do it anyway.

A few years ago, a niece and nephew of mine joined the skinheads racist group. They were not to thrilled when I informed them that I was part Jewish, and part Mexican, as certified in my Heinz 57 pedigree, as was their father. I felt it my duty to inform them "Be careful whom you hate! It may be yourself, or someone you love."

Having been enlightened to the challenges of being African-American in America via biographical literature and historical observation, inspires in me the greatest respect for those that overcome the odds, General Colin Powel, Justice Clarance Thomas, Oklohoma Representative J.C. Watts, Ken Hamblin, Walter Williams, Congolesa Rice, Armstrong Williams, These men and women of strong conviction and self determination are heroes of mine. Not only have they overcome the challenges of succeeding despite their color, as conservative Americans they didn't have the support of their own race either, Uncle Toms they are called. I would like Alan Keys to leave Maryland and move to my small conservative state of Idaho and run for congress or governor as a resume building move as no one can start their political career in the Presidency. If Alan could run, win, and successfully govern or legislate I would love to see him in the Presidency. These conservative men of conviction have realized that advancement doesn't come from government social programs to make life easier for the people of poverty, advancement comes from enabling inspiration of self worth via self determination.

I myself was raised on welfare to a single mother of 5 children. I have seen how dependency on social programs has spread like a cancer through the generations of my own siblings and their children. I have experienced the crippling dependence of social programs from the inside and that's one of several reasons why I am against them. Social programs (socialism) teaches dependency not self sufficiency. It is from the inside that I discovered that the democrats are by and large panhandlers and freeloaders via the ballot box, or those that shamelessly pander to them.

Which brings me back to the original subject. How does it serve the National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People to polarize me and the other half of the nation that share my views against the NAACP due to their effort to install their procurer of socialism programs into the Presidency, whereas the NAACP, by charter are supposedly an apolitical group advocating the acceptance of people of color. Why in the world does the NAACP want to alienate 50 percent of America as Jesse Jackson's Rainbow-Push coalition has done for a myopic side trip down a dead end path.

NAACP, please halt your polarizing campaign of liberal advocacy as that is not your mission. The Advancement of Colored People is your mission, stick to it and Citizens For A Freer America will continue to be with you. Stray from it and you will have fallen down on the job and defeated your noble and righteous cause.

Daryl L. Hunter

Founder of Citizens For A Freer America