January 18, 2008

Tribes buy NAACP's support

NAACP head is paid by tribes, backs their planThe president of the California NAACP has been paid more than $40,000 in consulting fees--and the organization itself has received $60,000--from a coalition of Indian tribes at the same time the civil rights group has endorsed four ballot measures pushed by its tribal benefactors.

The payments to Alice Huffman, who has served as president of the state conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People since 1999, continue a three-year pattern in which Huffman's political firm has been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by special interest groups.

Those same interests, including tobacco and pharmaceutical companies, have also donated tens of thousands of dollars directly to the state NAACP while receiving the organization's backing.

It is commonplace for political campaigns to hire consultants for outreach to various constituencies and ethnic groups. But Huffman's dual role as a paid political strategist and president of a respected civil rights organization has raised questions about whether the group's endorsement can be bought.
Comment:  How are the four gaming compacts a civil-rights issue? Shouldn't the NAACP remain neutral on something that doesn't concern it?

Huffman claims she's showing solidarity with the tribes. But several tribes oppose the compacts, so how is that possible? There's no unified tribal position on this issue.

2 comments:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
Please show writerfella a picture of the NAACP or any group in modern-day America, especially this blogsite, remaining neutral on such a subject that monetarily is to its advantage.
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

I'm sure the PTA, the Boy Scouts, and the United Way could use tribal funding. As far as I know, they haven't taken a position on the gaming compacts.

As for "this blogsite," it's not to my advantage to note that tribes are buying the NAACP's support or Schwarzenegger is short-circuiting the compacting process. But I posted those items anyway. Why? Because I post items whether they benefit me personally or not.