THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, October 12, 1994            TAG: 9410120462
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                           LENGTH: Short :   27 lines

NAACP DISAVOWS OFFICIAL'S VIEWS OF RE-ENACTMENT

The Virginia NAACP said Tuesday that an official of the organization spoke only for himself when he praised a slave auction re-enactment as ``passionate, moving and educational.''

Jack Gravely, political action director for the Virginia State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, muted his criticism after seeing Monday's mock slave auction at Colonial Williamsburg.

Before the event, Gravely denounced it as crass entertainment that was demeaning to black people.

But afterward, he said the poignant re-enactment of African-Americans being sold as property changed his mind.

But he said the NAACP remained concerned about slave auction portrayals and would discuss it further with officials of Colonial Williamsburg. by CNB