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"I do not believe the future will belong to those who are content with the present. ... The future will belong to those who have passion, and to those grassroots heroes who are willing to make the personal commitment to make our country better. The future will belong to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

The future belongs to us. We will be heard.

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(Julian Bond has been Chairman of the NAACP Board of Directors since February 1998. He is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Government at American University in Washington, DC, and a Professor of History at the University of Virginia.)

ⁱ In an April 1998 poll conducted by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, 81% of blacks reported a favorable opinion of the NAACP. An October 1995 US News & World Report poll reported 90% of blacks supported the NAACP. A 1993 leadership study by Brakeley, John Price Jones, Inc., showed 75% of blacks believed the NAACP the leader among groups with civil rights, social justice and race relations agendas. In this study, 75% of all respondents believed the NAACP adequately represented the black community. The NAACP is profoundly democratic. "Nationally, the NAACP (of all black civil rights/political organizations) is governed by its individually based membership." In Class notes by Adolph Reed, The Free Press, New York.
ⁱⁱ Saunders, Robert W., Sr., Bridging the Gap at 82, Univ. of Tampa Press (2000).
ⁱⁱⁱ Id. at 86.
^iv Patrice Marin & Edgar K. Lee, Appearance and Reality in the Sunshine State: The Talented 20 Program in Floridaat 14, The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University (2003).
^vi Id. at 15.
^vii Id. at 21.
^viii Gratz v. Bollinger,539 U.S.__, __, slip op. at 7n10 (June23, 2003) Ginsburg, J., dissenting).
^ix Id.
^x "Bush Advisor Backs Use of Race in College Admissions", The New York Times at A14 (January 18, 2003.)
^xi "Dr. Rice said ' I am myself a beneficiary of a Stanford initiative that took affirmative action seriously, that took a risk in taking a young PhD from the University of Denver', referring to her arrival on the campus in 1981" in "Rice Considered a Centrist in Affirmative Action at Stanford", Los Angeles Times (January 25, 2003).
^xii Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. __, __, slip op. at 13 (June 23, 2003).
^xiii Id., slip op. at 5 (Thomas, J., dissenting), (emphasis added).
^xiv Id.at 1.
^xv Frederick Douglass, "The Blessings of Liberty and Education: An Address Delivered in Manassas, Virginia" (September 3, 1894).
^xvi Paraphrased from "The Slow and Tortured Death of Affirmative Action," The Black Commentator, July 3, 2003.
^xvii Gratz v. Bollinger, slip op. at 1-2 (Ginsburg, J., dissenting) (citation omitted).
^xviii Id. at 2-3 (footnotes omitted).

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