The amusement park "has admitted negroes to the park, but refused admission to the swimming pool and dance pavilion,'' said a July 6, 1961, NAACP press release preserved by the Cincinnati Historical Society. "People were refused admission to the pool on the basis of fear for their safety. This was done by Cincinnati police officers working as private police for Coney Island with permission from the Cinti. Police Chief.''

To most of us, 1961 is ancient history - or a fading photograph of tailfins, drive-ins and Brylcreemed Elvis haircuts.

To the NAACP, it's just yesterday. And today. And tomorrow.

And that's why the NAACP is a few quarts low on credibility.

When it was formed in 1915, the Cincinnati chapter was a radical group with about 20 members. In the civil rights crusades of the 1960s, its thousands of members joined boycotts and sit-ins.

Today, it is scorned by blacks and whites for being too timid to honor a boycott or speak out against it. It's not radical - just radically predictable.

Its report last week on the death of Nathaniel Jones in police custody was widely ignored. NAACP President Calvert Smith pointed out that Jones "had consumed an enormous amount of drugs and other behavioral altering substance prior to the incident.'' He said, "It is logical to conclude that Mr. Jones' behavior precipitated the incident.''

That made sense. Jones was obese and took a lethal mix of cocaine and angel dust. He scared the crew at a White Castle by acting bizarre, and refused to leave. They called 911 - and Jones attacked the cops and suffocated in the struggle.

The No. 1 conclusion by Smith: "If African-American young men in this city are to avoid warranted conflict with the police, we've got to adopt more socially acceptable behavior.''

But then he swerved back to safe, tired race rhetoric.

He said Jones was only "partially'' responsible and blamed the police for a "culture'' that "sanctions the excessive use of force on African-American men.'' Smith said the report would "improve the quality of life for all people ... particularly for the young men in the African-American community.''

Marcus Jenkins is one of those young men. "I thought it was garbage,'' he said. "They haven't done anything worthwhile in 20 years. And now they are making something out of purely nothing.''

Jenkins, who has his own business, said it's a farce for the NAACP to speak for blacks. "They're just playing the race card again. They should have called on the community to address the narcotics problems and support the officers who are trying to deal with it.''

Once upon a time, the NAACP bravely battled racism and segregation. But like a WWII sniper on a forgotten island, the leaders don't seem to know the war is over. They won.

On the historical society's Web site, Smith says, "If the deceased warriors in the fight for freedom for African Americans could return to this city today, they would literally be amazed to discover that we are still confronted with some of the very same problems they thought they had conquered some 40 to 50 years ago."

If nothing has changed, all the victories of the past century are meaningless - and we're all trapped in 1961 like the NAACP.

That's not leadership. That's misleadership.

---

E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.