Local NAACP Chief Switches to GOP

Have the earth's poles reversed, or are we now spinning in the opposite direction? It must be something like that in order to explain the story of a county NAACP chief switching to the GOP:

As of this week, Derrick Wallace, head of Orange County's NAACP, has switched parties -- to become a Republican.

"I've thought about this for two years," Wallace said Tuesday afternoon, just a few hours after returning from the elections office. "This is not a decision I made yesterday."

It is, however, a decision that rang out like a shot among political circles.

Republican Party leader Lew Oliver described himself as "extraordinarily pleased," while Democratic leader Tim Shea said he was disappointed.

Wallace, a construction-company exec, was candid about the fact that his business life was a big part of his decision to change.

"It's purely a business decision. Ninety percent of those I do business with are Republicans," he said. "Opportunities that have come to my firm have been brought by Republicans."

To that, Shea responded: "I'm a little confused. Are we talking about the National Association for the Advancement of Construction Professionals -- or Colored People?"

Wallace elaborated that his "business" line of thought also referred to the NAACP. Behind many of the power desks in this town sit Republicans. And he said he wants his organization to be part of that structure. Just as importantly, he said, he didn't want people to immediately brand -- or dismiss -- NAACP concerns as synonymous with those of liberal Democrats. "I want this branch to be respected," he said.

It's hard to say whether Wallace's motives are anything other than business (which is not a bad motive at all), but he's sure to hear about it from the state and national honchos. You can't go off the reservation much more as a black than by joining up with the Republicans.

This ought to be a wake-up call to other branches of the NAACP. The business opportunities their members need won't be coming from Democrats. It might be time to consider a switch.