Published: May 17, 2008 11:20 pm         

Education encouraged at NAACP banquet

Poor education, poverty and lack of health care access in the black community must end, a Virginia college professor and CEO and state NAACP leaders said Saturday.

But citizens — regardless of race — must take action now and not simply wait for others to help them.

Dr. Carolyn Browning was the guest speaker at the Raleigh County NAACP branch’s annual Freedom Fund banquet Saturday. Browning, who grew up in Tazewell, Va., is an associate professor/business and industry training specialist for New River Community and Technical College and CEO of Zenith Associates, an educational, business and industry consulting firm in Cedar Bluff, Va.

Also, Lt. Col. Kenneth Hale, president of the state NAACP, addressed the crowd. Hale serves in the West Virginia Air National Guard and works as an equal opportunity officer. Hale was selected for his NAACP position last August.

In an address Browning called “The Minority Report,” she noted the Jamestown settlement in Virginia celebrated its 400th anniversary last year. At that time, the first slaves from Africa arrived on American soil. Since then, blacks have made great strides and shattered stereotypes. Notable political figures like presidential candidate Barack Obama and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are examples.

However, she called the state of the black community in America a “mixed bag”.

Browning said the average black family’s household income is about half of the average white family’s. Severely disproportionate numbers of blacks are diagnosed with illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, asthma and HIV. Ninety-eight-thousand blacks were in prison in 1954, the year of the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision which outlawed public school discrimination. In 2008, 910,000 blacks were in prison.

“We have to find solutions to these problems instead of looking to the government and others for them,” she said. “Why are we sitting on our blessed assurances, waiting for someone to come and help us? Jesus died on the cross, and that is all the empowerment we need.”

Education and academic achievement are the keys to progress and breaking social divisions like race, gender and socio-economic disparity, Browning said.

“If you’re ignorant, they keep you enslaved,” she said. “They don’t want you to know your rights and your opportunities.”

Young people must stop dropping out of school, Browning said. They should also be proactive while in school, asking their teachers questions. If they do not receive satisfactory answers, they should go to their principals — and those higher in the command chain, if necessary.

Browning quoted a portion of the Declaration of Independence, emphasizing that all people are created equal and have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“Then we need to make it happen,” she said. “This was put in the documents that framed our country. Therefore, we need to cash in on it. Everyone was created in the image and likeness of God.”

Minorities, Browning said, were defined as people with limited access to wealth, power and prestige. Therefore, so many other people — regardless of race — are minorities. People in southeastern West Virginia, she said, are considered minorities. Everyone must work together for better lives. She noted many white Americans helped form the NAACP. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked for everyone who did not receive “what America promised.”

Hale noted a “crisis,” particularly with young people. During the past three years, 1,600 students in Kanawha County alone dropped out of school. He also believes state government has not done enough to improve education equality.

In the meantime, the father of seven and grandfather of 10 noted many young people complain they do not have enough to do. To keep children occupied, adults must get involved in their lives.

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com