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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2003

"In the fall of 1999, i had the privilege of covering the 90th national NAACP convention in New York City, where the main items on the agenda, along with celebrating the seminal civil rights organization's history, were recruiting young people and finding relevance for the 21st century.

Sadly, a headline-grabbing push by the Norwich NAACP to take 17th century Indian slayer John Mason's name off a school administration building, built on the site of Mason's home, makes the local chapter look irrelevant and uninspired.

The skirmish began with a Jan. 28 letter from Norwich NAACP president Jacqueline Owens to the Norwich Board of Education, requesting the erasure because “to have a public building named in honor of a man of Captain Mason's ilk is insensitive and an affront to the city's non-white residents.”

So much offense has already been taken over this issue that I don't want to add my name to the list. I do object, however, to the implication that because Mason was white, only non-whites –– which happens to exclude a good percentage of Connecticut's Indians –– find his legacy offensive."

Get the Story:
Bethe Dufresne: NAACP Should Leave Mason To History (The New London Day 2/28)

More White Lady:
White Lady: Tribes should build housing [where?] (01/31)
White Lady: Extreme fighting (08/30)
White Lady: More Indian proof needed (08/23)
White Lady: Squabbling, not BIA delays, hurt tribes (07/19)
White Lady: Assimilate the Asians (05/03)