New Allies in an Old Quest

The N.A.A.C.P. takes afresh look at industry

Ever since the days of F.D.R.'s New Deal, black organizations have basically accepted the liberal premise that Government intervention is the best way to achieve economic justice. A corollary of that premise was that the private sector could contribute in only a secondary way to the aspirations of blacks and other poverty-affected minorities.

That attitude is now changing. Last week the nation's largest civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, released two policy papers that challenged Government regulations limiting free enterprise. In a sharp attack on President Carter's energy program, the N.A.A.C.P. called price controls on newly discovered oil and gas "incompatible" with supply needs and asked for more stress on development of nuclear power. Later, the organization attacked new fuel economy standards for trucks that had been proposed by the Department of Transportation.

The rationale for the two policy stands was basically the same: both the energy program and the fuel standards would adversely affect the economy--meaning, specifically, jobs for blacks. In its eight-page analysis of Carter's program, the N.A.A.C.P. argued that the White House had overemphasized conservation measures and had offered little or nothing to increase energy production. That stress, the organization charged, "reflects the absence of a black perspective" in drawing up the plan. If black unemployment is to be reduced, the N.A.A.C.P. went on, the nation's economy must grow rapidly. Since that requires more energy, oil and gas prices should be allowed to rise so that companies would have more incentive to step up exploration and output.

As for the fuel proposals--which would require most trucks weighing less than 8,500 lbs. to average 20.5 m.p.g. by 1981--the N.A.A.C.P. argued that the strict standards would lead to "massive" layoffs in the industry and increase the costs of U.S.-built trucks, thereby contributing to an inflationary pressure that "fell harder on minorities than on any other group in the country."

At his Washington press conference last week, the President said that he had discussed the report with N.A.A.C.P. Executive Director Benjamin Hooks; Carter admitted that he was "surprised" by the energy statement and that he disagreed "strongly" with its conclusions. Other pro-industry manifestoes may soon be issued by the N.A.A.C.P., whose top leaders concede that they have lost some of their old faith in Government as the primary catalyst for affirmative action. Says Denton Watson, the organization's acting public relations director: "The oldtime civil rights coalition is no longer useful for blacks. Our old liberal friends are more concerned about environmental issues and about reverse discrimination. The N.A.A.C.P. feels that blacks must seek out new allies," and one of them, clearly, is the business community.

N.A.A.C.P. Chairman Margaret Bush Wilson argues that "there is a new, more sensitive and more perceptive attitude about some of the corporate leaders in this country." The N.A.A.C.P. will still look to Washington for help on problems where only Government can effect change. But beginning with energy issues, the organization is thinking pragmatically about a new kind of alliance--a partnership, says Mrs. Wilson, "between Big Government, the Big Minority and Big Oil. The three of us should sit down together and see what we can do [about full employment]. We've been creative in this country before. We can be again."

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