NAACP sets sights on blacks in business

One of the A's in the NAACP is gradually taking on a new meaning. It's the one that stands for ``Advancement'' -- specifically, economic advancement for blacks, which is increasingly taking priority over other traditional civil rights issues.

When the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People meets in Dallas next week, much of the talk is likely to be about support for black businesses and blacks in the workplace. The group's new board chairman, William F. Gibson, explains the challenge:

Take South Carolina, for example, he says. Blacks make up 31.7 percent of that state's population. They hold 30.7 percent of the state jobs. Sounds fair, right? ``But we hold only 1.8 percent of the state's top grade positions that pay $55,000 to $80,000 a year.''

``This discrepancy is not indigenous to South Carolina,'' he notes. ``Things are not too much better in the other 49 states.''

The assessment of the NAACP's top leaders is that the organization is at a pivotal stage in its history -- a period in which civil rights is neglected, black people must do for themselves, and government grants and subsidies have run dry for minorities, college students, and the poor.

Dr. Gibson notes that the association is acting on a number of fronts to compensate for these factors. Its newest economic project is the Government Economic Enhancement Program (GEEP), aimed at helping blacks to rise into decisionmaking positions in local, state, and federal governments.

On the private-sector side, 32 national corporations have been signed up so far under the NAACP's Fair Share program, launched in 1983. The companies agree to do business with black firms, place funds in black-owned banks, advertise in black publications, and recruit and upgrade minority employees.

But ``bragging time is over,'' Benjamin L. Hooks, executive director of the NAACP, said in a telephone interview. When the 10,000 delegates meet in Dallas, ``every NAACP branch will participate in convention workshops that will teach them how to make Fair Share agreements with local and regional firms, and to be sure that local units of national Fair Share corporations are living up to their agreements.''

In working toward economic parity, therefore, the longtime goal of increased political leverage is never far from the surface. ``We have been too passive in seeking our economic rights -- parity in business enterprise, in obtaining loans and bonding funds as developers and contractors . . . ,'' Gibson says.

On the political front, Gibson himself is an example of the rising young leaders that the NAACP is counting on to push its economic agenda. Gibson is a dentist from Greenville, S.C., who succeeded the late chairman Kelly M. Alexander.

Three highly visible black politicians will also address the conference: Rep. William H. Gray III (D) of Pennsylvania, chairman of the House Budget Committee; Rep. Mickey Leland (D) of Texas, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus; and Rep. Augustus F. Hawkins (D) of California, co-author of the Humphrey-Hawkins employment bill.