Thursday, October 16, 2008
NAACP is like a rope in siblings' tug of war
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Shanna Flowers is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.
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Come on, now. The Roanoke branch of the NAACP has far more important business than mediating a sibling rivalry.
The post of branch president occasionally is contested, and as of Wednesday afternoon, the matchup had incumbent President Daniel Hale squaring off against his sister, Brenda.
Brenda Hale freely admitted Wednesday that she and her brother are "competitive," but "I consider us to be on very good terms."
Mac McCadden, the branch's communications chairman, released a statement Wednesday afternoon. The branch is "not at liberty at this time to release information regarding the upcoming Branch election. We will do so at a time more appropriate for the branch," he wrote.
But according to Brenda Hale, who is a past president, the nominating committee for the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People nominated her during a Tuesday meeting.
After turning down the panel's nomination for a vice president slot, Daniel Hale accepted a nomination for the presidency that came from the floor. That set up the only contest on the Nov. 8 slate of officers.
By Wednesday afternoon, Daniel Hale told me he would step aside and cede the nomination to his sister. Asked when, he responded, "soon."
If Daniel Hale steps down, he should be commended for putting the organization above his personal ambitions.
But whether sibling rivalry, petty internal squabbling or something else is at play, the tussle for NAACP leadership suggests a breach in an organization whose mission is to bring people together.
Brenda Hale, 62, said she's worried about the organization's declining membership. She said it has dropped about 45 percent since she was president from 2001 to 2005.
But she said her main reason for seeking the presidency now is concern for her brother's health.
Daniel Hale, 63, didn't want to discuss the nomination in detail Wednesday. But he acknowledged that he has had a heart attack, a stroke and a bad back among other maladies. But his health hasn't been a hindrance to him serving as president since 2005, he said.
"They put it on my health when that wasn't a problem," Daniel Hale said. He would not get into why he believes she sought the nomination.
Brenda Hale said she and her older brother have competed since childhood. She recounted a story in which she took over his paper route when they were in elementary school in Connecticut.
"Our history has always been very competitive," Brenda said, adding, "something bigger is happening. His health is my No. 1 concern."
"He may be annoyed at me," Brenda Hale said. "I bear no animosity to my older brother."
Good. Then can you all make up and get on about the business of fighting discrimination?
