Local NAACP reflects on landmark segregation cases

In celebrating the 100th anniversary of Plessy vs. Ferguson, a court case which allowed segregation in public schools, a local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sponsored a forum to discuss the continual struggle for racial equality.

Participants who attended the forum, sponsored by the Ypsilanti-Willow Run branch of the NAACP, revisited Plessy and Brown vs. Board, which in 1954 declared that the "separate but equal" clause was unacceptable. They concluded that some of the same racial problems continue to plague society today.

"The (Brown) decision is not fully implemented. We continue to struggle to see equality for all people," said NAACP Ypsilanti-Willow Run branch President Raymond Mullins. "It is a lifelong work, until we die, to end discrimination."

Mullins said misconceptions exist that blacks are usually criminals and that the economic conditions of African Americans and whites are still not equal.

John Matlock, director of the University Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, said race remains the major issue in the country today, although some people do not see race as a problem at times.

"One thing that always bothers me now is that we don't seem to get mad anymore. We have had enough to go out and protest. If we look at our movement, we have always been protesting. We start looking for excuses now. All those things that we have fought for, we need to revisit those," he said.

Matlock mentioned past leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. in his speech, to encourage the audience to step out as leaders and act for the future. He said people should understand that they have some control over their destiny.

Eleanore Rhoden, a participant and Ypsilanti resident, said, "I have an expectation one day we will realize the opportunity that we will be extended equally without prejudice of color, gender and ethnic background."

NAACP Ypsilanti-Willow Run branch Vice President Victoria Swanson said the program reminded people of how desegregation started in an educational system. She said the Brown decision opened up the door for minorities who were denied equal opportunities. She added that African Americans can improve their status if they act as a "self-supportive, but not a separate, community."

Swanson said, "We are developing a self-supportive system when we are creating a situation where we can better do it ourselves than to depend on someone else to do it for us."

When Matlock talked about how the Brown spirit extended to campus, he said the University needs to deal with people's attitudes, which help build a better atmosphere of racial harmony.

"We still have a long way to go before we are truly a campus that values and appreciates diversity," he said. "The whole issue in terms of the Brown spirit is that even though Brown opened the door for integration, the whole issue of mutual appreciation is often lacking."

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