Kelly Alexander Sr. Has Led Fight
To Eliminate Discrimination, Segregation
Dy susan Ellsworth
Post Staff Writer
Kelly Miller Alexander, Sr.,
born, raised and educated in
Charlotte, North Carolina, has
fought for the elimination of
discrimination and segregat
ion.
As president of the state
branch of the National Assoc
iation for the Advancement of
Colored People, Kelly Alexan
der, Sr. has worked toward
improving the quality of life
for blacks.
He joined the NAACP in 1939
because he was “disenchanted
with desegregation.” The
NAACP was the organization
he used to lead his fight
asamst racial discrimination.
1940, Kelly Alexander Sr.
waged a successful campaign
to reactivate the dormant
Charlotte branch of the
NAACP, and served as its
Secretary.
Kelly Alexander was elect
ed president of North Carolina
NAACP in 1948, and has held
that position for 30 years. He
was elected to the National
NAACP Board of Directors in
1950 and is now serving his
28th year as an active mem
ber. He is Vice Chairman of
the National Board of Direct
ors.
During his years of NAACP
leadership, Kelly Alexander
Sr. spearheaded attacks
against segregation. Effective
programs were developed to
desegrate public schools, hos
pitals and public recreation
facilities.
Kelly Alexander Sr. is invol
ved in many community activ
ities, such as the Board of
Charlotte Health and Hospital
Council and he is chairman of
the Charlotte Council for
Equal Business Opportunities.
He is a graduate of Tuske
gee Institute in Alabama and
is the president of Alexander
Funeral Homes, Inc. and the
president of Alexander Mutual
Burial Association
Kelly Alexai:d»r s a B. ptist
and attends First Baptist
Ch i. h; the Rev. J.M Hui
phrey is the pr .ti- He is
married to Margaret Alexan
der and has two sons, Kelly
Alexander, Jr. and Alfred
Alexander. Both sons are act
ive in the NAACP
Check the ads in the Charlotte
Po*t each week '
Dr. W. Montague Cobb
• NAACP President
Our New Day Begun
Reverse Job Issue-Continued
By Benjamin L. Hooks
Special To The Poet
The dust from Allan Bakke’s
sue essful Tight to gain admis
sion to the University of Cali
fornia's Davis Medical School
has hardly settled, yet a poten
tially more bruising battle is
shaping up.
The U.S. Supreme Court,
which began its new term this
month, will be asked to consid
er whether to accept an appeal
by the Kaiser Aluminum &
Chemical Corp. plant in
Gramercy, La., against lower
court decisions which found its
affirmative action programs
illegal. Brian Weber, a 31-year
-old lab analyst, has claimed
that Kaiser's program was
reverse discrimination be
cause he was rejected and
denied an opportunity in April,
1974, to train for a skilled
crafts job that would have
IfUlhlpH his nflv
Mr. Weber’s reverse discri
mination charge has been up
held by the Fifth Circuit Court
of Appeals and the Federal
district court in New Orleans,
which both held that Kaiser’s
program was illegal.
In a striking move. U.S.
Solicitor General Wade Mc
Cree filed a brief before the
court asking that the case be
sent back to the lower court
for further proceedings.
NAACP General Counsel, Nat
haniel R. Jones has also asked
the court for permisssion to
file a similar brief.
Like Bakke, the Weber case
grew out of the bitter anti
affirmative action climate
that began mushrooming tow
ard the end of the 60s. These
were products of the white
backlash climate that was
openly encouraged by the Nix
on and Ford Administrations
in oppostlon to efforts to pro
vide opportunities for minorit
ies in education and employ
ment.
It had been recognised last
June that the Supreme Court’s
convoluted ruling on the
Bakke case had left open the
way for further challenges.
Bakke, the NAACP recognis
ed, had decided little. A five
man court majority did order
the admission of the white
student to the University of
California Davis Medical
School. But the paradoxical
decision also provided a majo
rity for the affirmative action
concept.
The NAACP post-Bakke
symposium in Detroit that
was held in July to assess
Bakke’s impact recognized
that one of the greatest civil
rights challenges that minorit
ies would face in this area in
coming months was political.
The Supreme Court had, in
effect, upheld the use of goals
and timetables where a hist
ory of discrimination had been
found, but affirmative action
opponents still can Dass laws
in Congress that would des
troy these programs. This
they have been attempting to
do at every opportunity. Con
sequently, civil rights lawyers
have been hard-pressed to
beat back one amendment of
appropriations bills after ano
ther that would have disast
rous effects on efforts to end
discrimination. Meanwhile,
the legal struggle continues.
The maneuver to have the
Supreme Court remand the
Weber case back to the lower
bodies is crucial. The Carter
Administration, the NAACP
and other civil rights support
ers feel that unless this oppor
tunity to demonstrate that
Kaiser had practiced racial
discrimination in the past is
provided, they could certainly
Jotejfee a^dal battle, based '
the court’s reasoning in
Bakke.
Big corporations with mill
ions of dollars tied up in
affirmative action programs
and civil rights cases are
therefore, carefully watching
Ben Hook
NAACP Director
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