From: jfh@rpp386.lonestar.org (John F. Haugh II)
Newsgroups: tx.politics
Subject: Re: HR 4983
Date: 12 Aug 92 14:42:13 GMT
Reply-To: jfh@rpp386.cactus.org (John F. Haugh II)
Distribution: tx
Organization: River Parishes Programming, Austin, Republic of Texas

In article <1992Aug12.032956.6767@seas.smu.edu> dleon@seas.smu.edu (David Leon) writes:
>John Haugh II wrote "And we've already done the biz about the NAACP
>getting in the way of black adoptions.  It isn't an adoptive parent's
>fault if a racist group of thugs like the NAACP stands in the way of a
>white couple taking the easiest route to parenthood possible."

>As I am new to this discussion group, I would appreciate your explaining that
>statement.  

Sure.

The NAACP was originally created as a group that stood for the advancement
of legitimate Black interests.  It is a very old group, as the words
"Colored People" in the name reveals.  When the NAACP was founded, the
grievences that the NAACP had with our white-dominated society were very
legitimate.

As time has past and society has become more enlightened, the barriers
between the races have largely fallen.  In its struggle to maintain a
reason for its existence, the NAACP has adopted more and more radical
stands.  Recall, for example, the protests over Blacks students that
attempted to attend Ole Miss.  Those students were accepted based on the
same criteria as whites.  Today the NAACP endorses racial preferences in
hiring, school admission, housing, etc.  Not racial equality or merit
based decisions, but set-asides and preferential treatment.

In the specific case I've mentioned, the NAACP has protested against
the adoption of Black infants by white couples.  A Blacks have moved
up the ladder into mainstream society, it is no longer a stigma for a
white and a Black to be married, nor is it a stigma for a white to
associate with a Black.  Yelling "Nigger Lover!" is an anachronistic act
that only the most die-hard racist would perform.  The result of this
opening up of society is that white couples who are unable to have their
own children, or who want to give another child the benefit of a real
family, now consider Black infants to be "acceptable".  That parents
previously made adoption decisions based on race is an unfortunate
reality - children of all races need good parents, but people want
their kids to look like them, and in the past children were often not
told that they were even adopted.  It would have been hard to keep the
secret in a mixed adoption.

Anyway, times have changed, and desiring to leave no good deed
unpunished, the NAACP has stepped in to prevent Black infants from
being adopted by white couples.  The claim is that these Black infants
will be denied their heritage.  Since the African-American heritage
in this country is so much a part of Americana itself, it would be
hard or impossible for even a white child to not learn of Black
heritage.  We are taught about the many contributions that Blacks
have made in the fields of art, science, religion, civil rights, etc.
College course in Black studies abound, entire calendar months are
declared "Black History Month."  Blacks are astronauts, politicians,
business leaders, etc.  In short, Blacks =are= Americans.  One of the
greatest benefits of the Reagan/Bush administration has been the
movement of large numbers of Blacks into the middle and upper classes.

Again, Blacks =are= every bit as American as the white couple that the
NAACP is denying the opportunity of adoption.  A Black child in a
middle class white household is likely to have most of the same
life experiences as if that child were raised in a middle class
Black household.  We have Blacks in our neighborhood, and we even have
mixed marriages.  This =is= America.  Living with whites is now a part
of what being Black in America is all about.  Yet the NAACP must
reach back to the racist past of this country to continue to justify
its reason for existence.  And it does this by claiming that whites
want to deprive Blacks of their "heritage".

No, these white couples want to GIVE Blacks their heritage - the
Birthright of being an American is opportunity.  The same opportunity
that the other oppressed peoples who came to this country have
enjoyed - whether those oppressed peoples were Catholics, Puritans,
Irish, or Chinese.  This is what Martin Luther King said when he spoke
about America not making good on its promise.  The "check" that he
mentioned will continue to be returned with "Insufficient Funds"
stamped across it because the NAACP refuses to stand aside and let
Progress take its course.  Any organization which denies equal
opportunity is un-American.  Any organization which deprives one
race of something which another enjoys is racist.  The NAACP is both.
Only this time, it is punishing the peoples it pretends to represent.
-- 
John F. Haugh II                   | Life's Little Instruction Book:
Ma Bell: (512) 251-2151            | "#138.  Learn Spanish.  In a few years,
UUCP: ...!cs.utexas.edu!rpp386!jfh |  more than 35% of all Americans will speak
Domain: jfh@rpp386.cactus.org      |  it as their first language."