Game Over
When you are the coach of a fabled collegiate football team, the coach of a pioneering profesional football team, or the head of a civil rights group; performance counts.
In all of these cases it is about wins and loses. For the sports teams it is measured in how the team does on the field of play. For the head of the NCAAP, it is measured in the elections. If you don't turn out the black vote for the Democratic candidate, (and especially if the trend is that the Democrats are losing the black vote in the long run), then you have a choice, quit or be fired.
Either way you wish to interpret the end of Mfume's reign, he is gone, and the NCAAP will be manuvering to find an able replacement who can resurrect the good old days when Democrats could count on the Black community to vote in lockstep. Those days may be gone forever, as it is abundantly clear that Republicans, lead by President Bush, are the ones recognizing the talented, and promoting the capable, regardless of race, religion, or gender.
Perhaps someone at the NCAAP will be visionary and the organization will realize that a man like Bill Cosby has more understanding of the details that make advancement happen, than do those who continue to repeat the old rants proclaiming victimization. However, I am not holding my breath until they replace Mfume with a reasoned, forward-looking, individual with an understanding (and the resolve), to point out where people are failing to take the responsibilities, and where they are failing to make choices, which will positively impact their futures. After all, said the cynical middle-aged man, where is the profit in actually helping people?
