NAACP Chair Renews
Attack on Conservatives
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, July 11, 2005
MILWAUKEE -- Renewing his
attack on conservatives and the Bush administration Sunday, NAACP chairman
Julian Bond accused national leaders of rolling back past civil rights gains,
crippling efforts to battle racism and undermining democracy.
''The President likes to talk to the talk, but he doesn't walk the walk,'' Bond
told members at the annual convention of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People.
President Bush has turned down five invitations to attend NAACP gatherings,
including this year's, and Bond on Sunday invited Bush to the next one, in
Washington.
''Mr. President, we're extending the invitation a year in advance,'' Bond said.
''We want to see you and we want you to see us -- we want to know you think
you're our president, too.''
The NAACP has been battling an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service,
which has said NAACP officials' political statements, mainly attacking the Bush
administration, are partisan comments that violate the group's nonprofit status.
The Baltimore-based group also dealt this year with allegations that former
president Kweisi Mfume granted workplace favors to an NAACP employee with whom
he had a relationship, and it has struggled in recent years to raise money.
Its national board last month selected a new president, retired Verizon
executive Bruce S. Gordon, who has pledged to raise an endowment and improve
efficiencies in the organization. He is expected to be confirmed Thursday.
The group's 96th convention, a six-day event, is being attended by more than
8,000 people, including 2,200 young adults.
Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin also spoke to the group Sunday
evening, saying he would help fight for reauthorization of the Voting Rights
Act, portions of which are due to expire in 2007.
''The stakes have not been higher on this in the last 25 years,'' Sensenbrenner
said.
Bond stressed the convention's theme, Conscience of a Nation, saying the NAACP
has been a pivotal force in shaping the U.S. and plans to continue doing so.
''There is not a single American -- black, white, male, female, Christian,
Muslim or Jewish, straight or gay -- who is not a beneficiary of the work the
NAACP did in the past or is doing today,'' Bond said. But, he said, ''the
enemies of justice and fair play'' are trying to ''steal the just spoils of our
righteous war.''
He criticized Democrats who agreed recently to support conservative judicial
nominees. And he pointed to conservative blacks and some black churches
that receive federal funding and promote conservative causes such as attacking
affirmative action.
Earlier Sunday, civil rights advocates and other NAACP officials echoed those
sentiments, saying blurring the lines between religious groups and politics
threatens equal opportunity.
Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia said religious groups that receive
federal funding for social programs are increasingly hostile to program
participants who disagree with their views on social issues.
''When you allow discrimination based on religion in federal programs, you lose
all your moral authority to enforce civil rights legislation,'' Scott said.
|
