The Mar-Saline Branch of the NAACP, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation's oldest, largest, and most widely recognized civil rights organization strongly oppose any plan that would decrease or in any way jeopardize the guaranteed benefits that American seniors, disabled or surviving family members currently receive from Social Security.

Clyde Williams, president of the Mar-Saline Branch, said: "Social Security is the only source of income for 1 in 3 African Americans over the age of 65. Without the guaranteed benefits they receive today, the poverty rate among older African Americans would more than double. This will push seniors into squalor and poverty during their vulnerable years."

The NAACP opposes gambling Social Security benefits on the volatile stock market that has in recent years, left too many seniors with nothing but a government program to sustain them. The concern is that privatization will result in all Social Security beneficiaries paying more for the administration of the program, thus receiving less.

Moreover, Williams said: " President Bush's assertion that Social Security is a bad deal for African Americans because our life expectancy is shorter than whites is misleading. It assumes that blacks will forever die sooner than whites. Rather than privatize Social Security, the Administration should take steps to improve health care as a means to increase the black mortality rate. It is also noteworthy that the life expectancy rate for blacks improves if they survive the pathologies that impact young African Americans, particularly black males." The New York Times reported African American men who live to 65 generally collect benefits for 14.6 years, just short of the rate of 16.6 years for white men.

The Mar-Saline Branch of the NAACP believes Social Security remains especially important to African Americans and other racial and ethnic groups as they have traditionally been at the low end of the earning scale over their lifetime. Consequently, Americans of color are less likely to have substantial individual savings and are generally more dependent on Social Security in their retirement years. The Bureau of Census reports less than half of all retirees receive income from pensions.

Proposals to "privatize" Social Security concern the NAACP for several reasons. While the NAACP strongly encourage all Americans at every age of every racial and ethnic background to invest in the American economy and to save for the future, privatization of one's Social Security would make many seniors even more dependent on the state of the national economy.

Furthermore, Social Security benefits for disabled workers and surviving family members are imperative to the survival of a high number of African Americans. African Americans between the ages of 50 and 59 are nearly two times as likely as other workers in the age group to become disabled. Additionally, African American children are almost four times more likely to be lifted out of poverty by Social Security benefits than their white counterparts.

Williams said: "We must take care to see that the impact of any changes in the Social Security system does not fall disproportionately on lower income groups or on those American whose work-life has been physically demanding. Any changes should not make the financing of Social Security any less progressive."

In addition to ensuring the continuity of guaranteed benefits at their current levels, the Mar-Saline Branch of the NAACP will also focus on the need to address issues that have not changed for decades, such as the burial amount given to survivors. Currently, Social Security provides families with $225 to cover burial fees; an amount that has not changed since 1955. At 2005 rates, that is barely enough to cover the flower arrangements.