NAACP's Mfume Announces Resignation

WASHINGTON -- Kweisi Mfume, the former congressman from Baltimore who helped rescue the NAACP from debt and controversy nearly nine years ago, on Tuesday announced he was resigning as the president and chief executive officer of the venerable civil rights organization.

Mfume, 56, teared up when he talked about spending more time with his youngest child, saying his 14-year-old son has known him mostly as away on airplanes and at news conferences. 



"I don't want to miss another basketball game," Mfume told reporters. "I want to sew on his varsity letter on his sweater." 



He added: "I just need a break. I need a vacation." 



Marc Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans who has been president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League for less than two years, praised Mfume's achievements and said the job of steering a civil rights organization is demanding. 



"You do these jobs for eight to 10 years," Morial said in an interview. "They're tremendously taxing. There's a tremendous amount of travel, and a lot of managing." 



Mfume, who helped clear the organization's $3.2 million debt in his first few years in office, leaves with some clouds still overhead. President Bush declined to attend the NAACP's convention this year, with the White House citing the political name-calling by the organization's leadership. And in October, the IRS informed the organization it was reviewing the group's tax-exempt status. 



The NAACP's chairman, former Georgia state senator Julian Bond, said the investigation stemmed from a speech he gave at the convention in July criticizing Bush. For organizations to keep their tax-exempt status, "leaders cannot make partisan comments in official organization publications or at official organizational functions," according to the Oct. 8 letter to the NAACP from the IRS office in Louisville, Ky. 



Whatever the outcome of the investigation, insiders say it has already achieved its goals -- to silence black leaders during the presidential election campaign and to dim fundraising prospects. 



"It has left a cloud over our fundraising," said one Washington official for the organization. 



And membership is static, at about half a million, although officials say many more blacks think of themselves as members of the United States' oldest civil rights organization. In September, the group launched a national billboard advertising drive to boost membership. Mfume said at the time that he hoped to increase membership by 20 percent. 



Mfume, born Frizzell Gray, was in his early 20s when he adopted his West African name, which translates to "conquering son of kings." A political activist at Morgan State University in Maryland, he edited the school newspaper and was president of the Black Student Union. In the 1970s, he regularly donned a dashiki and became a well-known radio talk show host. 



In 1979, he translated his street popularity into a seat on the Baltimore City Council, which he won by three votes and then held easily for the next seven years. Elected to Congress in 1986, he served five terms and was leader of the Congressional Black Caucus before stepping down in 1996 to become the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 



"For the last nine years," he said, "I've had what I believe is both the honor and privilege to help revive" the organization, which he described as "an American institution."



He added: "In my heart of hearts, I know the job has been done." 



Amid rumors that he may run for another office or seek a business opportunity, Mfume said he plans to be unemployed for a few months. "This is not about some internal struggle," he said. 



As for a new political campaign, he said, "If that happens, it happens." 



The NAACP announced that its general counsel, Dennis Hayes, would serve as interim president and CEO while officials conduct a search for a new chief executive. 



"To serve as the president of the NAACP ... clearly has been the most rewarding and the most fulfilling experience in my life," Mfume said. "I walk away with more rather than less."