THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512140007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
After years of decline and drift, the NAACP has turned to Rep. Kweisi Mfume for renewal. The Maryland Democrat will leave his seat in congress for one as president and CEO of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group.
Special interest groups have gotten a bad name, often for pursuing narrow agendas at the expense of the public interest. But American democracy has also been enriched by the operation of organizations able to speak for likeminded people more persuasively - and loudly - than they could as individuals. The ACLU, AARP and the Christian Coalition are examples.
The NAACP is one of the most respected of these. For decades it was a leading voice against segregation and discrimination in our society. But in the last 20 years, the NAACP has been less effective. It has sometimes seemed unsure of its mission. Its membership has gotten older and the recruiting of new blood has faltered. The troubled tenure of Ben Chavis marked a low point and has left the organization diminished and in debt.
Mfume may be the man to turn the NAACP around. His early years were spent on the mean streets of Baltimore where he seemed to be headed for a wasted life. But Mfume remade himself, took responsibility of illegitimate children he'd fathered, completed college, earned a masters at Johns Hopkins, won a seat on Baltimore City Council and has been a member of Congress for a decade.
He's been an effective legislator, often presiding over the House, building coalitions and working out difficult compromises. Those coalition-building skills will be useful at the NAACP and he has indicated the themes that have animated his public career will become part of the agenda at the civil rights organization.
Mfume is a proponent of individual responsibility, discipline and self-help - no doubt as a result of personal experience. He believes deeply in education and in the need for citizens to participate in democracy to achieve their ends. So he will also emphasize voter education, a traditional NAACP role.
The Million Man March organized by Louis Farrakhan suggested that there's a pent-up desire in the black community to return to the kind of commitment to progress that characterized it three decades ago. Leadership has been lacking. Farrakhan, for instance, has flaws that limit his effectiveness. But under Kweisi Mfume a revitalized NAACP might help fill the vacuum and again play an important role as a voice for African-American aspirations. by CNB