Kweisi Mfume and the NAACP:
Defining Advancement in the Information Age

By Michael Fletcher

Kweisi Mfume became president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in February 1996. Mfume came to the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group after serving in Congress, where he had represented Maryland's 7th District for 10 years and had served two years as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

A Baltimore native, Mfume is a graduate of Morgan State and Johns Hopkins Universities. Since taking the helm of the NAACP, Mfume has been credited widely with bringing new life to the organization -- eliminating the group's once-crippling debt, refocusing its public-policy agenda, and remaking the organization into a national political force.

US Black Engineer & Information Technology talked with Mfume about the organization's work in bridging the "Digital Divide" and advocacy about technology issues.

USBE: How important an issue is the Digital Divide in the eyes of the NAACP? Does it rate as a legitimate civil rights issue?

Mfume: We think it is a very serious issue, because it has the potential of creating a whole new set of divisions in our society between the "haves" and the have-nots. But, in this instance, the gap is between those who have access to computers and those who do not. And because we are in an information age and increasingly dependent on information and the transfer of information for power and for commerce, it's just very important that people not fall asleep on the potential here of looking up and seeing a whole new type of segregation in place as a result of what people call a Digital Divide....
So, yes, it is a civil rights issue, and one that is not as sexy as some other things.... It has been difficult drawing attention and bringing light to this subject. It is a lot different than "racial profiling," which people sort of understand intuitively. But it has been something that we have dedicated a lot of time, a lot of energy, and a lot of resources to in hopes that some day, discussion of this in terms of its potential will catch on.

USBE: Is this an issue that the NAACP has taken to private corporations and also to the federal government?

Mfume: We are doing two things. On the government side, we are working very closely with Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who has pretty much decided that information technology and bridging this digital separation is going to be her legacy issue. She has worked very, very hard on a number of pending pieces of legislation.... On the private side, we have been working with SBC Communications and with AT&T. In the instance of AT&T, we have arranged a partnership where the NAACP will be opening six to eight family tech centers in communities across the country.... We call them family tech centers, because we recognize that, in many instances, parents may not be as astute as their children in terms of technology. Often times, they feel bad about that and don't want to talk about it and, in most instances, don't want to try to use technology with their children.... So we decided that the concept of a family tech center would be where we wanted to go. They allow families, traditional or otherwise, (to) come together at locations in communities after school and access e-mail together, surf the Internet together, work on basic computer development programs together, and sort of create a literacy that didn't previously exist.

USBE: How have computers and technology enhanced the NAACP's internal operation?

Mfume: When I got here there was nothing in this building but 20 stand-alone computers. And most of them were already outdated. There were no networks. There were no laptops. There was no Web page here at the NAACP, and there certainly was no e-mail. There was no fax tree, and I could go on and on and on.... It's changed, and our efforts to enhance it continue. I want this to be a paperless environment. We're close to being that way now: most of our communication is done by e-mail.

USBE: Are all 2,200 NAACP branches reachable by e-mail?

Mfume: No, not yet. They all have e-mail addresses, but they don't all have the equipment to access them. What we're looking at is the first tier. That is to make sure that the largest 500 branches have Internet access and e-mail access. We have provided e-mail addresses for every branch, and we have provided technology in several demonstration projects, such as in Virginia where we took a number of branches in the state and connected them vis-a-vis a network, so they can have advanced communications.... Aside from being completely paperless soon, we hope to also be wireless soon. While we are on the road and away from standard phone lines, personal digital systems can be used so that senior staff can access e-mail and the Internet, without having to plug into a modem.

USBE: Do you expect the Bush administration to be responsive to the NAACP's concerns about the Digital Divide?

Mfume: I don't know what to expect from Mr. Bush, I tell you. I just don't know. I'll be more than happy to give him the benefit of the doubt, simply because I don't know. But I've not heard Mr. Bush talk about the danger that exists if people don't have access to technology and if schools are not connected.... Intuitively, maybe he does understand, and maybe he does get it. But I know eventually he is going to have to communicate that, so that other people understand that he gets it.

USBE: Do you think our community grasps the breathtaking changes going on in information technology?

Mfume: As a whole, I don't know. Let me tell you why. There is so much going on in communities of color that compete for attention and time and importance in some instances because of a tremendous amount of pressure that exists. So as a result of those competing interests, there may, at times, prove to be less of a familiarity in terms of technology, because it is an ever-changing kind of picture. It is not what it was last week, and it won't be next week what it is today. And that requires not only for you to understand it but to also read about it, to immerse yourself in it, and then to talk it as well as to take advantage of it by using it. I do believe that the Black community is further along than some communities in our nation with respect to information technology and computerization, but that is relative. The larger question is, "Is it enough to keep pace with what we see happening all over America?", particularly in White communities, where there is greater access and where there has proven to be almost a greater interest in what is going on.

USBE: What do you make of these private research reports, by Forrester Research and others, claiming that the Digital Divide doesn't really exist, or at least has been closed? If that is true, they seem to suggest the problem is more one of education than access. Do you buy that?

Mfume: It is kind of like saying that we don't have a problem with irrigation, because we have the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay. And, yet, if you are in the interior of this country where there is a drier, more arid environment, the problem exists. It is really a matter of where you are standing.... And the other thing is that even access is relative. You may have access at your job, if you have a job. But how many hours are you there? How much time can you do what you want to do besides working there? If you don't have it at home, because you can't afford an Internet service provider or if you can't afford the hardware, that poses a different sort of question. So, I am a little wary of those kinds of explanations about whether or not the issue is access or education. I think it is both. You've got to be educated to know why access is important to begin with and how to take advantage of it. And you can't take advantage of the access unless you have some kind of proximity to it.

USBE: Do you think minority business people are taking advantage of the wealth of opportunities presented by new technology? 

Mfume: I don't think we're doing it at the rate that I see happening in the Asian community and certainly not at the rate I see happening in the larger White community. But business people by their very nature have a different kind of nose when it comes to sensing opportunities that are available that most of us might not necessarily see. The dot-com crash that we are witnessing now is happening in every community, but I think they are happening less in the Black community, because the greater number of people who tried these start-up companies tended primarily to be White. This whole dot-com business is something that I am starting to see more Black people and African-American entrepreneurs looking into. I'm kind of glad, in this instance, that they're a little bit behind the curve, because their perspective is one of seeing what works and doesn't work. In this instance, being out in front of the curve didn't prove to be the wisest thing in the world. Now, it is easier to construct a business plan and move forward. The question is, "Is that happening in large numbers?" I don't see the proliferation there as much as I see the proliferation in mom-and-pop stores, which concerns me.

USBE: The NAACP supports the issuance of low-power FM licenses by the FCC. But is this a good business for minorities, or would they be getting into the radio business 30 or 40 years too late?

Mfume: We see that as a foot in for Black entrepreneurs who were not able to pull together huge sums of money who could put together enough to get a license and go into the business. As far as being late, remember, they said that when FM radio came in it would be the end of AM radio. But, yet, AM reinvented itself in a talk format, and they seem to be doing quite well. Or when television came into existence, everybody said that is it for radio. So, it is a matter of finding a nitch more than anything else. Even with this proliferation of Internet activity and Internet opportunity, that should not suggest that is the only activity (that) is going to occur. There are still ways to prosper with a small FM license if you are able to develop a nitch and have some sort of market appeal. For the NAACP, it is better to support both low-power FM, while, at the same time, arguing and demonstrating a need to not only create opportunities in high-tech but to work on breaking down this divide that we are talking about.

Michael Fletcher can be reached at MFletcher@ccgmag.com