I haven’t posted recently, as I’ve been on vacation up in Yooperland dodging da Trolls dat live in da Mitten below da bridge. As my family and I were returning from Whitefish Point to the Soo, I encountered a nice story on my phone that merits mentioning.

It has often been observed that the difference between the beliefs of the elites and the “rank and file” in a given group are different from one another. The Republican rank and file, for example, are more conservative that the elites. The same could be said for many union members when compared to the leadership.

It has also been remarked by many people, among them Juan Williams*, that the Black community has been dominated by a select number of leaders whose public statements often find themselves at odds with the beliefs of many African Americans. Most these leaders are running on the last fumes of the legacies they built during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, now only caring about their own enrichment and promoting their narrative rather than what’s good for the community they claim to represent (indeed, when I see Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, I am reminded of Oliver Cromwell’s exhortation to the Rump Parliament). The younger ones, meanwhile, have been elevated to their positions generally because they march in lockstep with the old guard without questioning the narrative they are given.

We see evidence of this again in the wake of Mitt Romney’s speech to the NAACP. Contrast the reaction of NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock:

“Unfortunately, much of his agenda is at odds with what the NAACP stands for — whether the issue is equal access to affordable health care, reforming our education system or the path forward on marriage equality,” NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock said in a statement Wednesday.

With that of the activists who gathered to hear him:

But in his speech in Houston to the organization, Romney was applauded by the NAACP activists when he said: “As president, I will promote strong families — and I will defend traditional marriage.”

[…]

The applause from the activists at Romney’s declaration that he’d defend traditional marriage is notable because the leaders of the organization voted to officially support gay marriage earlier this year.

And it’s not just the activists at the NAACP. The black community’s opposition to same sex marriage is something that has been commented on at length. Proposition 8 in California is a classic example, as black voters managed both to help Obama pad his margin in the state and gave the ballot measure the necessary margin it needed to pass. North Carolina, earlier this year, reconfirmed it.

In fairness, it isn’t a total disconnect. The activists booed Romney when he slammed Obama on healthcare, but nevertheless, we are left to ask ourselves, particularly on social issues: just who does the NAACP represent? Does its leadership really listen to its members, or the rest of the black community? Do they really care, or are they in actuality a Liberal advocacy organization using race to further its own (read: the Left’s) agenda?

These are questions we all need to ponder, though I suspect many of us already know the answers.

*=Read that book. It’s good, seriously, regardless of what your opinion of Juan Williams is otherwise.

P.S. The issue of same sex marriage is something I am quite on the fence about, but hypocrisy like this is something I cannot stand.