Politics & Policy

Why the NAACP Went to Geneva

It gets attention.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has gone to the United Nations — specifically the U.N. Human Rights Council — for, in the words of USA Today, “help battling what the organization views as forces attempting to push back voting rights.”

Those “forces” are laws being passed by various states that require a photo ID for voting.

The NAACP move is so absurd and so self-destructive that one has to wonder why the organization has done this. According to the Freedom House 2011 assessment of freedom in the world, of the 41 members of the U.N. Human Rights Council, fewer than half are free countries. Ten are ranked “Not Free” and twelve “Partly Free.” Among the “Not Free” members are Angola, China, Congo, Cuba, Jordan, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Those countries’ elections, if they have them, are rigged, and prominent opponents of the incumbents are jailed, tortured, and killed.

#ad#To bring a human-rights complaint before countries in which there are almost no human rights is truly absurd. That the alleged human-rights violation takes place in the freest country in the world further elevates the level of absurdity. And when the alleged violation is a law that requires all voters, irrespective of race, creed, or color, to show photo identification before voting, we have gone beyond the absurd and entered a modern Twilight Zone.

The absurdity explains why what the NAACP doing is also self-destructive. It’s one thing for a prominent individual or organization to make a mistake. But it is quite another to seem ludicrous, which is how the NAACP appears to everyone who is not on the left — and perhaps even to thoughtful leftists.

Why, then, would the NAACP open itself to ridicule?

According to NAACP president Ben Jealous, the reason is that “in the past twelve months, more U.S. states have passed more laws pushing more U.S. citizens out of the ballot box than in any year in the past century.”

One can only say that if in the past 100 years, fewer blacks were disenfranchised than in the past twelve months, many claims about Jim Crow laws disenfranchising blacks must have been wildly exaggerated. But, of course, this, too, is absurd.

As South Carolina governor Nikki Haley pointed out, one needs a photo ID in order to obtain Sudafed. One therefore might as well argue that blacks and other minorities are disproportionately denied the right to purchase Sudafed because a photo ID is required. The counterargument that there is no comparison between the two because there is no constitutional right to Sudafed completely misses the point. The Sudafed example does not argue constitutionality; it argues against the claim that great numbers of people will not vote if a photo ID is necessary. If few members of racial-minority groups have been prevented from getting a cold pill because of the need for a photo ID, it stands to reason that the need for a photo ID won’t prevent blacks and others from voting.

The truth is that it insults the intelligence of blacks and Hispanics to claim that getting an official photo ID is too laborious, too demanding, and ultimately disenfranchising.

So, why is the NAACP going to the U.N.?

Because the wonderful fact of American life is that most American civil-liberties and civil-rights organizations have little reason for their continued existence. The NAACP, therefore, has to justify its existence. Which it does by manufacturing crises (and hopefully garnering media attention). Without major eruptions of racism, its raison d’être disappears — along with its funding.

That is the real reason something as utterly innocuous as requiring a person to show a photo in order to vote is taken to the United Nations. It gets attention, and makes supporters of the NAACP think their money is being used for the greatest electoral-rights battle in a hundred years.

— Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio-talk-show host and columnist. He may be contacted through his website, dennisprager.com.

Most Popular

U.S.

The Lockdowns Are Now a Scandal

A boy in my neighborhood committed suicide a few weeks ago. It’s possible that the teen’s preexisting problems were exacerbated by the seclusion, tediousness, and helplessness of a national lockdown. Maybe not. I didn’t really know him. I do know that locals were forced to pay respects by sitting parked ... Read More
U.S.

The Lockdowns Are Now a Scandal

A boy in my neighborhood committed suicide a few weeks ago. It’s possible that the teen’s preexisting problems were exacerbated by the seclusion, tediousness, and helplessness of a national lockdown. Maybe not. I didn’t really know him. I do know that locals were forced to pay respects by sitting parked ... Read More
Science & Tech

Trump Derangement Syndrome at The Lancet

Remember when we were told that the administration of Donald J. Trump posed a pernicious threat to science and medicine? In an attempt to sharpshoot Trump’s most famous scientific claim, one of the world’s leading medical journals just blew off its own foot. What other possible explanation can there be for ... Read More
Science & Tech

Trump Derangement Syndrome at The Lancet

Remember when we were told that the administration of Donald J. Trump posed a pernicious threat to science and medicine? In an attempt to sharpshoot Trump’s most famous scientific claim, one of the world’s leading medical journals just blew off its own foot. What other possible explanation can there be for ... Read More
U.S.

The ‘Institutional Racism’ Canard

About twice as many white people as black people are killed by police. In fact, in about 75 percent of police shootings, the decedent is not black. Of course, that is not what you would grasp from consuming media. Take the website statista.com, specifically its breathless focus on “Hate crime in the United ... Read More
U.S.

The ‘Institutional Racism’ Canard

About twice as many white people as black people are killed by police. In fact, in about 75 percent of police shootings, the decedent is not black. Of course, that is not what you would grasp from consuming media. Take the website statista.com, specifically its breathless focus on “Hate crime in the United ... Read More
Politics & Policy

The Protest Loophole

Did you know there is a giant loophole to the legally enforceable social-distancing guidelines of the COVID-19 pandemic? New York City mayor Bill de Blasio was reminded by a reporter earlier this week that retail stores and houses of worship had been closed for months. All public gatherings were limited by law ... Read More
Politics & Policy

The Protest Loophole

Did you know there is a giant loophole to the legally enforceable social-distancing guidelines of the COVID-19 pandemic? New York City mayor Bill de Blasio was reminded by a reporter earlier this week that retail stores and houses of worship had been closed for months. All public gatherings were limited by law ... Read More
Politics & Policy

Flames from False Narratives

The indefensible killing -- captured on video -- of George Floyd, following closely after the release of video showing the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, triggered the riots, looting, and conflagrations that have engulfed scores of cities across the country. As horrific as these killings were, it's questionable ... Read More
Politics & Policy

Flames from False Narratives

The indefensible killing -- captured on video -- of George Floyd, following closely after the release of video showing the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, triggered the riots, looting, and conflagrations that have engulfed scores of cities across the country. As horrific as these killings were, it's questionable ... Read More
NR Webathon

Don’t Let Them Destroy the Country

I   don’t come to you with tidings of joy. If you aren’t alarmed by what’s happening to the country, you haven’t been paying attention. I don’t simply mean the sickening violence. I mean the campaign to excuse it and normalize it by the media establishment and the intellectual elite. It’s ... Read More
NR Webathon

Don’t Let Them Destroy the Country

I   don’t come to you with tidings of joy. If you aren’t alarmed by what’s happening to the country, you haven’t been paying attention. I don’t simply mean the sickening violence. I mean the campaign to excuse it and normalize it by the media establishment and the intellectual elite. It’s ... Read More