Posted on December 2, 2004

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NAACP President to Step Down

Kweisi Mfume has resigned as president and CEO of the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and will conclude nine years at the helm of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization on December 31, the Washington Post reports.

Mfume, who grew up in Baltimore and went on to represent Maryland as a Democrat in Congress, was selected as president of the organization in 1995 at a time when it was $3 million in debt and reeling from a sex scandal involving former president Benjamin Chavis. With the help of then-chairwoman Myrlie Evers-Williams and former Georgia congressman Julian Bond, her successor, Mfume improved the NAACP's fundraising efforts by bringing corporate leaders into the organization and eventually succeeded in wiping out its debt.

Dennis C. Hayes, the organization's general counsel, will serve as acting president after Mfume steps down. Hayes said the organization will seek a successor "with an understanding and commitment to civil rights and the struggle, someone with a business background and management skills."

Mfume's announcement ignited a rumor that he would seek to re-enter politics, possibly with a 2006 bid for the Senate seat now held by Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), who is expected to seek reelection. But Mfume played down the rumor, telling the Post, "It's kind of like the rumor that I was going to run for mayor [of Baltimore] four years ago. Paul Sarbanes is my friend. It's too early for me to speculate. It's disrespectful for me to talk about what-ifs." However, Mfume did not completely back away from the idea. "I'm a partisan animal," he told the Post. "And at some time I would like to get back into the fray. I'm not ruling anything out."

Mfume's departure comes at a difficult time for the NAACP. In his first term, President Bush broke with tradition by declining to attend the organization's annual conferences after his administration was harshly criticized by Bond, and recently the IRS opened an investigation of the organization, saying it may have violated its tax-exempt status when Bond criticized Bush during the presidential campaign. The NAACP is contesting the IRS's reasons for launching the investigation, and Mfume said any finding by the agency probably would not stand in court.

Fears, Darryl. “Mfume to Leave NAACP Post.” Washington Post 12/01/04.

Primary Subject: African Americans/Blacks
Location(s): Baltimore, Maryland, National

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