One could argue that Black Americans’ struggle for justice in America is as old as the nation itself, and this may help explain why one of the goals of our national government is to create a more perfect union, as stated in the Preamble of our U.S. Constitution.
Also, “the struggles of Black Americans are fundamental to the very meaning of the United States itself.” This quote by Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. is most appropriate in the context of celebrating this 2026 yearlong commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary of the American colonies declaring independence in 1776. Preceding independence, it was in Virginia in the 1660s that laws were passed to make Africans brought to the colony slaves for life, setting a precedent that would continue in each of the 13 colonies.
Throughout this historical journey over the past 250 years of Blacks in America, a constant theme has been the triumph of the human spirit and the ongoing struggle for human dignity and equality.
Now, as we reflect on the status of Black Americans following emancipation as a result of the Civil War in 1865, and in the subsequent years, down to the early 1900s, the fight for justice and equality took on a new urgency. As a matter of fact, the period between 1877 and the 1950s has been dubbed the era of racial terror lynching, primarily throughout the South, with over 6,500 Black women, men, and children documented as victims of racial violence.
And during the first decade of the 20th century, Black Americans were at the nadir in American society, being viewed as a “rejected, despised people.” Thinking that the time had come “to assail the ears of America,” and to put more light on America’s troubling race relations, an interracial group of progressive American reformers met on Feb. 12, 1909 — which was the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln — and founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Just imagine, for the last 117 years of our history as a nation, it has been the NAACP acting as an advocate on every front, that has led the way in the assault against bigotry and injustice, exposing the oppressive effects of racism and Jim Crow.
Having helped America get on the right path, the NAACP has been an agent of change for the past 117 years and must remain in the forefront for racial equality and social justice. As Americans of all stripes, we do owe a great deal of gratitude for the NAACP’s impact on American life and history.
To be sure, the founders of the NAACP would strongly encourage us to remain vigilant in our march toward complete freedom, vowing to never give up the struggle to overcome generations of inequality, while resolving to work harder at building a more just society. As the conscience of the nation, the NAACP must remain the key player, on the front line for justice.