Fact Check

NAACP Said 'Black Cops Aren't Real Black People'

Exaggerated reporting led to the false claim that the NAACP proclaimed "black cops are not real black people."

Published Sept. 30, 2016

Claim:
The NAACP asserted black cops are "not real black people."
What's True

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP spokesperson said that many black cops "become blue" in order to "survive in a police department."

What's False

Neither the NAACP itself nor any spokesperson of that organization said "black cops are not real black people."

On 27 September 2016 the clickbait site Downtrend published an article originally titled "NAACP SAYS BLACK COPS ARE NOT REAL BLACK PEOPLE," asserting that:

One of the craziest things to come out of the Keith Scott shooting in Charleston, NC is the idea that it is racist for a black police officer to use deadly force on an armed black man. The NAACP, in its infinite wisdom, has come up with a foolproof way around this little problem. According to the organization, black cops are not real black people so therefore it is racist when they shoot actual black people.

“Many black people who become police officers become blue, not black. In order for you to survive in a police department, you take on the police department’s ideology, ways of life, and culture,” said an NAACP representative.

It doesn’t get any clearer than that. The NAACP is saying that becoming a police officer robs a black man of his black essence. That black cops are no longer truly black and must surrender their “black card” to the NAACP. In the context of the Keith Scott shooting, this statement also implies that black police officers are transformed into racist white killers of innocent black men.

This goes along with the popular black concept that articulate black people are “acting white,” or that responsible employed black people have sold out to the man. The NAACP is reinforcing the bullshit belief that the only way to be black is to be a jive-talking white-hating revolutionary scumbag.

Significant changes were made to the article between its original publication on 27 September 2016 and 30 September 2016. The revised version walked the claim back to being something supposedly stated by a "local NAACP" brand or chapter rather than the national NAACP organization:

A local branch of the NAACP, in its infinite wisdom, has come up with a foolproof way around this little problem. According to the organization, black cops are not real black people so therefore it is racist when they shoot actual black people.

The local NAACP is not convinced the Scott shooting was justified, despite multiple videos showing that he was armed. Even the facts that a gun was recovered from the scene and that Scott was illegally carrying a weapon when police shot him has done nothing to persuade them.

The article linked to news content published by Charlotte television station WCNC, which included video and transcribed comments from a Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP spokesperson:

Meanwhile, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP is calling for justice after Scott was shot and killed by a CMPD officer.

Many black people who become police officers become blue, not black,” the local organization said. “In order for you to survive in a police department, you take on the police department’s ideology, ways of life, and culture.”

In other words, a single spokesperson for a local NAACP chapter (likely Charlotte branch president Corine Mack) suggested that many black cops have to subordinate their racial identities to police culture in order to work effectively as part of a police force, but no NAACP representative asserted that "black cops are not real black people."

Sources

Boyle, Mark.   "Keith Scott's Record Shows Past Run-Ins with Law Enforcement."     WCNC-TV [Charlotte].   29 September 2016.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.