No one loves paradoxes and anomalies more than WWTTBlog.   We’re cool with Jews for Jesus and Log Cabin Republicans.   But we were a bit taken aback by the profile in a recent Washington Post of Billy Flynn, the white, Irish President of the Maine State Prison Chapter of the NAACP.   Yes, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.   Like, can a teenager be President of an AARP Chapter?

Now, there are some special circumstances involved with the NAACP Maine State Prison Chapter.  First, it’s in Maine which has a severe shortage of “colored people.”  In fact, Maine holds the record for whitest state in the U.S. with African-Americans comprising just one percent of the population.    Furthermore, it’s in a prison so recruiting an African-American president from another state would be a tough sell.  But, an Irishman?  If ever there was a job description that justified the admonition “No Irish Need Apply” it should be this one.   How about a Latino?  Or a Native-American?

National NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous explains the anomaly with the quip, “colored people come in all colors.”   Except white, Ben, which is defined by Dictionary.com as “lacking color.”  And, while we’re on the subject, not to be too politically correct (too late for that), but shouldn’t this organization be The National Association for the Advancement of African-Americans?  Or, if that’s too radical a change, Black People?  This is relevant to the Maine Prison Chapter because having a white dude referring to African-Americans as “colored people” could get him in some serious trouble.

The silver lining for the Maine Prison Chapter (if not for its President) is that Billy Flynn is serving 28 years to life.  No succession problems there.