It's hard to say goodbye to things we care about, but getting older has a way of helping us understand that sometimes we must pull the plug. It can be gut-wrenching, but it also is an undeniable part of life.

The more I hear about the ongoing wrangling at the once-revered Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the clearer it becomes that it might be time to shutter the venerable civil rights organization.

Founded by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957, the SCLC stood with the NAACP as the premier freedom-fighting organizations for black people during the 1960s.

At that time, the SCLC had a clear mandate and mission, an excellent roster of leaders and a well-defined evil to combat.

It has none of that today. And I wonder if the lack of those factors has contributed to the group's slow downward spiral.

I'm not going to criticize the current core of SCLC leadership or point blame at specific people in the current fight. Though today's leaders can be criticized for being a bit petty, stubborn and putting their own interests ahead of the group's good, I don't think they are bad people.

And there has been so much "he said, she said" between the combatants, it's hard to accurately fix blame on either side.

It is a bit strange that Dr. King's daughter Bernice, who was also elected last October to bring stability to the organization, has been silent during the fighting in the months before she takes office.

Perhaps she's just a little overwhelmed. I know I would be.

To me, the problem is defining the group's mission. It was much easier to fight racism back in 1957 -- sadly, it was everywhere you looked.

In 1957 alone, Klansmen forced a black truck driver to jump to his death in the Alabama River. Meanwhile, Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was rallying against the civil rights bill with a record-setting 24-hour-plus filibuster on the Senate floor.

And let's not forget that at the same time, Arkansas Gov. Orville Faubus was calling out the National Guard to prevent (that's right, not protect, PREVENT) black students from enrolling in Little Rock's Central High School.

Racism was all around and being practiced by government officials as well as cowards in white hoods, and the SCLC and other groups did a fine job fighting it.

But battling today's more subtle and institutionalized forms of racism is a far more difficult task. Sadly, many civil rights organizations aren't up to the task.

There is no shame for the SCLC that it has outlived its usefulness.

The group founded by our greatest civil rights leader has a long distinguished history, but now it should go gently into that good night, because every story detailing the unseemly infighting today adds a little tarnish to the SCLC's legacy.