Van Jones, the former Green Jobs czar for President Obama, is to be given the NAACP Image Award this Friday. This award “celebrates the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts and literature, as well as individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors” [source].

If I were a black man, I would be deeply offended by this recognition for Jones. Why? First, let’s remember two points:

• Van Jones is a communist. Even in his work as Green Jobs czar, he was not just interested in creating “green” jobs. He wanted to “change the whole system.”
• The NAACP is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

So what is so insulting about this award being given to Van Jones?

The NAACP organization has as it’s fundamental purpose the advancement of blacks. Their desire is for the state of those in the black community to improve. That’s great! I want that too. But judging from their decision to give this award to Van Jones, it would appear that my thinking as to how to improve the situation of the black community is very different from the thinking of the NAACP.

The goal of communism is equality. Not equality in opportunity, mind you, but equality in outcomes. In a communist system, money is taken from the rich and given to the poor. For this to work, you have to have a strong centralized government to take from the rich and redistribute the wealth to the poor.

What “advancement” occurs in a communist system? If you’re rich, you don’t advance at all. In fact, you regress. (So don’t bother working hard. The fruit of your success will just be taken from you to give to the unsuccessful.) If you’re in the middle, you don’t advance either. You just stay right where you are. (So don’t bother working hard. You can’t improve your situation.) If you’re poor, you advance by having the money that was taken from the rich and given to you. (So don’t bother working hard. You’ll be taken care of just the same.)

Notice the pattern? No matter if you’re rich, middle class, or poor, you have no incentive to work hard. No wonder communism has failed in every country in which it was implemented.

So back to Van Jones and the NAACP.

The NAACP wants the black community to advance. The communist ideology of those like Van Jones states that advancement comes, not through hard work, but from a benevolent government that is simply using money that was taken from one group of citizens to give to another.

Does the NAACP really think so little of the black community that they believe communist ideology is something that should be awarded? Do they think that individuals in the black community are so incapable of working hard and improving their own situation that they must rely upon the government to support them? Whether they believe this or not, this is the message that is being sent with their recognition of Van Jones.

I, however, choose to believe better of the black community. I believe that individuals (white, black, hispanic, whatever) who are willing to work hard, do what is right, and take responsibility for their own actions are able to make it and even advance in a free society. Will everyone’s outcomes be equal? Of course not. But everyone’s opportunity is equal.

If the NAACP really wants to help the black community advance, they need to be preaching the virtues of hard work and personal responsibility, rather than encouraging people to become enslaved through their dependence upon government.