Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 22, 1995                   TAG: 9502240017
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EVERS-WILLIAMS

By a one-vote margin, the NAACP's Board of Directors ousted its long-time chairman, South Carolina dentist William Gibson, and replaced him with Myrlie Evers-Williams.

As the widow of Mississippi NAACP chief Medgar Evers, Evers-Williams evokes a time when advancing the cause of racial equality could require great physical courage.

Now, the call is less for physical courage than for the kind of persistence Evers-Williams has shown since then in her 30-year quest to bring Evers' killer to justice.

Financial mismanagement, the embarrassment of Ben Chavis' 16-month tenure as NAACP executive director and his own autocratic style combined to bring about Gibson's ouster.

The task for Evers-William is to restore the NAACP's credibility with its own members, to restore its credibility with the general public and contributors, and to address not only lingering racism but also the more complex problems of economic distress and family breakdown that, while not purely racial, affect black Americans in disproportionate numbers.

Already, Evers-Williams has taken steps to reinvigorate the ties between the national board and the association's 2,200 local branches, the real source of the NAACP's strength.

At its peak, the NAACP was a genuine mass movement committed to righting the terrible injustice of racial segregation. The challenge has changed, but the need for a large and committed membership has not.