N.A.A.C.P. Scrutinizes Branch Over Honor for Clippers Owner [View all]

[alp227]

Source: NY Times

When the racist words of the Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling spilled out in a recording last week, the incident not only caused the N.B.A. to ban Mr. Sterling for life, it also drew attention to the N.A.A.C.P.’s small Los Angeles branch, which had been planning to honor him with a lifetime achievement award this month.

Officials from the California state conference of the N.A.A.C.P. are reviewing why the branch was planning to give one of its highest awards to Mr. Sterling, who has been accused of making racially offensive comments and discriminating against blacks and Hispanics before, a person familiar with the review said.

At the center of that investigation is the man that many people familiar with the Los Angeles branch say spearheaded the effort to honor Mr. Sterling, Leon Jenkins, its president. Under Mr. Jenkins’s leadership, the branch gave Mr. Sterling a similar award in 2009. On Monday, Mr. Jenkins announced that it had rescinded its award to Mr. Sterling, whose foundations have given the Los Angeles branch at least $45,000 since 2007, records show.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/02/us/donald-sterling-honor-turns-spotlight-on-naacp-branch.html

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NAACP just posted on Facebook:

Interim President and CEO Lorraine C. Miller has accepted the resignation of Leon Jenkins from his role as President of the L.A. branch of the NAACP. We are committed to developing more stringent guidelines for our branches. We appreciate everyone who has engaged with the NAACP on this issue.