The "Image Awards" offered by the NAACP are supposed to honor those who have done something to promote an honest image of the black community. Instead, according to PNS commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson, they have become yet another celebration of celebrity. The 30th NAACP Image Awards take place Saturday, February 13th and Sunday, February 14th in Pasadena. The two-hour telecast is tentatively scheduled to air March 4th on the Fox Network. PNS contributor Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of "The Crisis in Black and Black."

A parade of current and wannabe movie and TV celebrities go flitting through the aisles hugging and glad-handing each other while keeping one eye on the cameras filming the event. This is the NAACP "Image Awards."

Many of those on display at a recent ceremony were young and nominated, it seemed, only because they had appeared in a recent TV sit-com, cut a pop or rap album, or published a kiss-and-tell autobiography. One woman in the audience muttered loudly, "Who are these people?"

Her question stands as an indictment of the event. Few of the nominees publicly challenged racial stereotypes in the media and entertainment industry in any way. Worse, some promote negative images on the screen and in their music. And some of the corporations that produced their work were even more guilty of fanning stereotypes, and had abominable records in the hiring and promotion of African-Americans.

The NAACP has worked hard for 30 years to turn the Image Awards into a crowning showcase for black America. The fame of some of these artists, however fleeting, and corporate deep pockets guarantee an orgy of lobbying -- the 300 industry pros and NAACP officials who judge the contest are bombarded with bushels of video tapes, CDs, books, and promo material.

All this is a big turnabout. A few years ago, the event was tottering on the edge of permanent extinction. The Awards ran up debts of $1.5 million, forcing the NAACP to cancel the 1995 show. But with the help of Northwest Airlines, Chrysler, McDonalds, corporate donations, and a TV deal with the Fox Network, the Image Awards came back -- last year, profits topped $1 million.

The rescue came at a price. The event is now glutted with glamour. The idea is to appeal to a public hooked on celebrities and entertainers with only the mildest possible references to social activism during the ceremonies.

NAACP officials have proved deaf to the grumbles from many blacks that the Image Awards have become a black imitation of the Academy Awards.

In 1997 a small group of rebels inside the NAACP denounced the Awards for nominating the stars of TV sit-coms which are among the worst image assassins of blacks. NAACP officials' only response was a terse reprimand of Warner Bros. for showing "contempt" by its clownish portrayal of African-Americans on the WB TV Network.

Since that time NAACP officials have been missing in action on these issues in the battle for positive racial images:

* The mass campaign to remove the TV series "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer" from the airwaves, and eliminate stereotypes from the TV series, "The Pjs."

* The decision by the UPN and WB TV Networks to segregate black-themed shows into one time block and then replace them with programs aimed at young, affluent whites.

* The Federal Communications Commission report condemning major corporations for refusing to advertise on black-owned radio stations, and in black-owned newspapers.

On a more general level, the NAACP has failed to speak out against alcohol and tobacco ads that target young blacks or on the companies, filmmakers, producers, actors and writers that continue to pump out vile, shopworn images of African-Americans as crooks, clowns, and charity cases. Nor have they remarked on the exclusion of black writers and directors from the Screen Writers and Directors Guilds.

Works by independent and black- owned publishers, film, dance, drama and music companies do not win Image Awards, nor have any rich and famous black celebrities bankrolled programs to involve talented non-commercial artists and activists in Image Award and NAACP activities.

The NAACP bills this year's ceremony Feb. 13 as a salute to "50 years of entertainment, and 90 years of courage." It can live up to this billing by honoring the artists who aggressively challenge the negative stereotypes of African-Americans, and refuse to take money from corporations that promote those stereotypes and not equal opportunity. Until that happens, the NAACP Image Awards will be seen as a promoter of entertainment but not courage.