Ryan Bomberger and the righteous cause

Last summer I wrote a column for WORLDmag.com about Ryan Bomberger, a pro-lifer who created provocative black pro-life billboard campaigns (e.g., “Black children are an endangered species”). His mission includes keeping Planned Parenthood’s eugenic roots front and center.

Bomberger believes Planned Parenthood targets blacks, and he frequently calls out the pro-abortion NAACP for its seeming lack of concern over disproportionate abortion rates among blacks. In a recent and righteously derisive commentary at LifeNews.com, Bomberger castigated the NAACP for honoring negative images of blacks and spouting rhetoric about “economic, social and environmental ‘justice,’” while every year more than 360,000 black babies are denied the right to live:

“The only racial profiling the NAACP supports is the vilification of any black public figure or organization that is conservative and the targeting of unborn black children for death via abortion.

“The National Association for the Abortion of Colored People has no moral ground to stand upon, just quick sand oozing with the blood of those most discriminated against. The NAACP’s covert and overt support of Planned Parenthood negates any other human rights they purport to defend.”

Scathing, isn’t it? Shortly after the column was published, the NAACP threatened to sue Bomberger and LifeNews.com over copyright infringement of its name and logo. The move reeks of intimidation, but Bomberger has not backed down. In fact, he’s filed suit against the NAACP, accusing the organization of intimidation. He contends he has a right under fair use to use the term “National Association for the Abortion of Colored People” and a logo that looks similar. Bomberger wants the court to declare that he is protected under the First Amendment and to award “such other relief as may be just and proper.”

Politics can be dirty and daunting, and it takes someone dedicated and impervious to pressure and bullying to withstand the onslaught and refuse to back down. The NAACP knows Bomberger has the right to freely mock it and to shine a bright light on its hypocrisy. Threatening to sue for infringement is a cynical attempt to silence him or least get him to tone it down. Based on what I know of Bomberger, he won’t do either.

I used to write about race often, calling the NAACP a dinosaur that wouldn’t die, disparaging the civil rights industry by looking for “racism” under rocks, especially when a problem like family instability among blacks is a much more pressing concern. I thought it was imperative to let my fellow Americans know that not all black Americans were pro-abortion, government-program-supporting liberals seemingly suspicious of the concept of liberty.

Although I believe it’s important and worthy to call out the civil rights industry for its left-leaning hypocrisy, I grew cynical over the years and wondered whether what I said made a positive difference to anybody. But people like Bomberger help to restore my faith that dedication to and action on behalf of a righteous cause do make a difference.