THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702210009
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 44 lines
The NAACP's long and, until recently, proud history has been bolstered by a year of repair and rebuilding under the leadership of President Kweisi Mfume.
In the 12 months since Mfume took over an organization crippled by internal dissension and the missteps of then-President Benjamin Chavis, he has helped turn a $5 million debt into a $2 million surplus, improved internal organization and launched a $50 million endowment-fund drive.
These necessary steps have restored credibility to an organization weakened by financial embarrassment and internal power struggles. Now Mfume can turn his attention to an equally pressing matter: the philosophical direction of the NAACP.
Mfume's critics complain that the organization's voice hasn't been heard during debates over national policies of vital concern to African Americans, particularly welfare reform.
But a speaker for whom there are no listeners might just as well be silent. Mfume correctly recognized that the NAACP needed to get its house in order before it could again be taken seriously as a public-policy advocate.
Formerly a Maryland representative and head of the Congressional Black Caucus, Mfume is right as well when he says that the America of 1997 is not the America of 1967. Resolving current economic and racial problems will require both government intervention and self-help.
Mfume advocates both when he endorses an an anti-violence campaign and economic-development initiatives. He also argues against tilting at windmills. Last month, for instance, he criticized a planned protest of a speech to Delaware schoolchildren by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Mfume's view is that it is a waste of energy to continually attack a man with a lifetime appointment. Right again. The NAACP would be better off focusing on the content of Thomas' message rather than on the man.
What the nation needs from the NAACP is not yesterday's solutions or even its remembered passion, but a thoughtful, nondoctrinaire voice on increasingly complex racial issues. The organization has a history of performing such a service. And Kweisi Mfume shows promise of being the right man to return it to leadership.