NAACP needs to look in the mirror after Donald Sterling mess
OPINION - The NAACP long ago lost its image as a fearless lion protecting the civil rights of black people. As it searches for a new national president, this Sterling controversy is not doing the organization any favors...
Another Disbarment
A free man, but disbarred from practicing law in Michigan, Jenkins moved back to his native Los Angeles and practiced law there. Even at that time in the early 1990s, Jenkins was heavily involved with local NAACP chapter, and his law practice was mostly devoted to personal injury, police brutality and wrongful death.
In 1991, a 15-year-old named Latasha Harlins was shot in the back of the head and killed by a Korean grocer over a bottle of orange juice in Los Angeles. The shooter, Soon Ja Du, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter but served no jail time, instead receiving five years probation. The sentence was handed down about five months before the LA Riots and surely contributed to the increasing racial tensions that led up to the riots. Jenkins represented Harlins’s family in a wrongful death lawsuit, and in 1992, a $300,000 settlement was paid to the family.
However, even with high profile cases, numerous pro-bono hours logged and no disciplinary issues in California, Jenkins was disbarred in California in 2001. California statutes allow disciplinary proceedings in other jurisdictions to be considered in its own proceedings. Jenkins admitted to improperly handling some citations but insisted that the Michigan charges were more fluff than substance.
The California State Bar Court believed otherwise and stated that “The Michigan Supreme Court independently reviewed the record of Michigan judicial disciplinary proceedings, finding respondent culpable of corrupt and improper judicial conduct on ‘overwhelming evidence.’ . . . [Jenkins] has shown no constitutional unfairness, and his culpability found in Michigan would compel a finding of culpability in California.” In conclusion, the court found that Jenkins “failed to demonstrate that he understands the magnitude and severity of his misconduct found in the Michigan decision to revoke his law license.”
Post Law Life
After once again losing his law license, Jenkins turned his attention full-time to the NAACP and was first elected president of the LA chapter in 2008. According to a 2011 bio in the LA Sentinel, Jenkins is also involved in “real estate investments, sales and financing.” That brings us to today, a time in which all three of the awards intended for Sterling (two given, one rescinded) have been during Jenkins’s tenure as LA NAACP chapter president.
A Call to Leadership
The Sterling incident has not only put the spotlight on racism in all of its ugly forms but also puts black leadership front and center as well. While rappers, athletes, Al Sharpton, President Obama and even Oprah have weighed in on the controversy, much criticism has been hoisted upon the LA NAACP chapter because of its past accolades for a known racist and the handling of the current situation. The NAACP long ago lost its image as a fearless lion protecting the civil rights of black people.
As it searches for a new national president, this Sterling controversy is not doing the organization any favors.
Leon Jenkins has proven to be a resilient man when it comes to re-inventing himself and overcoming his own professional obstacles. Can he use that same resilience and tenacity to step up and take real action against racism even (perhaps especially) when that racism comes in the form of a conveniently generous, wealthy white man?
What do you think the LA NAACP chapter should do about the Donald Sterling controversy?
Follow Demetria Irwin on Twitter at @Love_Is_Dope and connect with her on Facebook.
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