NAACP Statement on “Occupy Wall Street”

“We are encouraged by the broad national support and by the great diversity of Americans who have been participating in the Occupy Wall Street campaign.  The movement and the peaceful protesters who are a part of the campaign share many of the same goals as the NAACP.”

 

“The NAACP shares the protesters’ concerns about the growing disparity in the access to wealth in America, and the decline of economic opportunity for poor and middle class Americans. For over 102 years we have supported the policies which create, preserve and expand living wage jobs, increase economic opportunity and protect the right of every American to build and retain wealth and equity.”

 

On October 15, The NAACP National Board of Directors unanimously approved a motion “to support the Occupy Wall Street movement consistent with the policies adopted by the NAACP.”

 

Specifically, NAACP policies support the Occupy Wall Street movement’s principles calling for:

• The creation and expansion of employment opportunities through job formation and support of small business development, support and growth;
• Job creation through government and private investments in infrastructure, school construction and refurbishing projects, and the renovation and preservation of abandoned or foreclosed homes and properties;
• Decent, livable wages for all workers, including the right by employees to collectively bargain for adequate pensions, health care and other benefits;
• The protection of essential services to low and middle-income Americans and investments in our nation’s human capital;
• The fair opportunity for small and minority-owned businesses to obtain government contracts;
• The abolishment of predatory financial services, such as exploitative payday loans and unsustainable and discriminatory mortgage and lending products;
• Access to a safe, secure and affordable home for all Americans;
• Opposition to barriers to homeownership including exorbitant down-payments, predatory terms and continued housing segregation;
• Programs and policies which encourage wealth building and preservation, including housing counseling for Americans facing foreclosure, those wishing to purchase a home, renters and the homeless; and a strong government role in the secondary mortgage market which also serves to protect the interests of all homebuyers, encourages housing fairness and discourages discrimination; and
• Opposition to corporate subsidies that favor multinational corporations or encourage the outsourcing of jobs overseas.