Local black leaders, citizens: Charlotte NAACP prez does not speak for us

Local news station WBTV had an excellent report earlier this evening from journalist Steve Crump on how Charlotte NAACP President Kojo Nantambu’s idiotic call for major sports tournaments (and the Democrat National Convention) to boycott the “racist bastion” of Charlotte have backfired big time. Click below to watch.

In a nutshell, the video talks about how many prominent black elected officials and business leaders we have here in the Charlotte area, quoting some of them as saying that the charge Charlotte is a “bastion” of racism are simply false. The report also talks about there’s a concern that Nantambu’s call for a boycott could hurt local minority businesses – and how it’s unclear whether or not the national NAACP sanctioned Nantambu’s remarks, since NAACP boycotts typically orginate at the top. If they haven’t, Nantambu will not only be on the bad side of local black business leaders but the national organization as well.

Aww.

Meanwhile, here’s what the SC NAACP was up to yesterday:

No offense was intended.

The S.C. NAACP said Tuesday it was not trying to hide a State House statue of George Washington at its annual Martin Luther King Day rally Monday.

The group has draped the founding father’s statue at previous rallies. It did so again this year and questions quickly arose about whether Washington somehow was being slighted.

Not so, says the NAACP.

A three-sided structure that covered the front and sides of the statue was intended to display a rally graphic and serve as a backdrop for the event’s speakers, said S.C. NAACP executive director Dwight James. However, the graphic was not finished before the rally and could not be put in place.

Photos of the event showed a three-sided box with the founding father’s statue visible only from behind the stage.

In case you were wondering:

‘No offense intended’? Riiight.

Update – 8:30 PM: blogprof has even more revealing photos of the boxed in Washington statue. Wow.