THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 4, 1994 TAG: 9410040410
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
A group of 160 African-American ministers in Hampton Roads endorsed U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb's re-election bid Monday, saying Republican challenger Oliver L. North ``would turn back the clock on all the gains we made as a people in the past 40 years.''
The Robb endorsement was the first that the Tidewater Metro Baptist Ministers' Conference has made in any members' memory, and could be the first in its 112-year history, said the Rev. James Edwards III, chairman of the group's political action committee.
``We have come a long way in obtaining our rights,'' said Dr. Milton A. Reid, pastor of Gideon's Riverside Fellowship in Chesapeake. ``Colonel North represents that ultra-conservative wing of the Republican Party which says, in effect, that we've come too far.''
The conference represents 80 Baptist churches with a combined membership in the thousands. In a statement read at an afternoon news conference, the group ``wholeheartedly'' endorsed Robb, saying he has a strong record of commitment to African-American concerns.
``Senator Robb has supported our efforts - and justice issues in Virginia, the nation and around the world that would make peace,'' Edwards said.
KEYWORDS: SENATE RACE CANDIDATE ENDORSEMENT by CNB