Civil rights organizations - Essay Example

 Civil Rights Organization "The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination" (NAACP: Our Mission). The organization aims at having a society where everyone has equal rights without any consideration of race. Accordingly, the organization works towards the enactment and enforcement of local, state and federal laws supporting civil rights.

It also educates people about their constitutional rights and works towards achieving those through democratic processes. Apart from spearheading several issues of prominence, the NAACP works towards reducing the racial wealth divide among the people of different races. Possession of Wealth is one of the crucial measures of socio-economic well being of people; however, that still forms a great inequality within the society. Recent economic crisis of the US has further aggravated the wealth inequality among the races.

It is pertinent to note that between 2005 and 2009, median wealth of Hispanic households has reduced by 66% with only 16% wealth reduction among white households. It is apparent that economic insecurity prevails more with the People of Color when compared with White Americans. African Americans or other people of color are less likely to invest in homes and retirement plans in comparison to Whites due to their lesser incomes. It has also been found that almost 31% of Hispanic and 35% of black households have nil or negative net worth; in comparison, the proportion of white households with nil or negative wealth is just 15 percent (NAACP: Our Work).

The economic inequality that prevails in the US society, currently, is enormous and the NAACP is committed to bridge those gaps. In a bid to reduce it, the NAACP aims to work with government and industry to help them formulate an appropriate model that can reduce large economic gaps that exist within the society. The NAACP also aims at empowering local communities with the necessary resources to secure their educational advancement as a tool to bring economic equity in the society (NAACP: Our Work).

Some of the measures that the NAACP has streamlined can be described as fair lending, diversity and inclusion, financial education, and community economic development. Nine banking principles developed by the NAACP aim at bringing fairness to the people of color along with improving their relationships with financial institutions so that they can avail mortgage loans without any difficulty. The NAACP influences job creation through its advocacy efforts targeting industries with the sole aim of bringing African American and other communities of color to participate in wealth building activities.

The NAACP Financial Freedom Campaign is one of the important initiatives that not only helps eliminate discrimination but also improves financial freedom of the people of color. Through the growth of small businesses and community asset building activities, the NAACP promotes economic development of blacks and other people of color across the nation (NAACP: Our Work). Historic civil rights issues had its modest beginning since 1896 culminating into the African-American Civil Rights Movement of 1954-68.

That finally gave way to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bringing an end to the discrimination based on race, color, creed or national origin. The NAACP, as civil rights organization, takes it further and aims at eliminating economic discrimination through its democratic and advocacy efforts across the US to create, in true sense, an equitable society in the world. Work-citedNAACP: Our Mission. Web. 31 May 2014. NAACP: Our Work. Web. 31 May 2014.