Preserve civil rights, NAACP chief urges

HOUSTON — NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said Monday that Americans must work to preserve their civil rights in the post-Sept. 11 world because fear of terrorism can lead to individual liberties being trampled.

"Now is the time for us to be eternally vigilant in protecting the republic but also in protecting the democratic principles on which it stands." Mfume said in his keynote address at the 93rd annual NAACP convention.

Mfume warned that "for blacks and browns, in particular" both war and recession have correlated with periods of "diminished civil rights" in the nation's history.

Julian Bond, the NAACP board chairman, opened the meeting Sunday night with a speech that criticized President Bush and his administration's record on civil rights.

Two years ago, Bush "promised to enforce the civil rights laws," Bond said. "We knew he was in the oil business — we just didn't know it was snake oil."

It was the second straight year Bond has assailed the Bush administration's record. Bush addressed the convention as a presidential candidate in 2000 but has declined written invitations from Mfume for the past two years.

"The president is focused on bringing people together and uniting the nation," said White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan. "We're very proud of the administration's record of vigorous enforcement of our civil rights laws."

Mfume joined in the criticism of Bush, and chided the president for skipping the NAACP meeting. "You can't be the president of all the people when you only want to deal with some of the people," he said.

Later Monday, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People plans to release a report on election reform and push for the passage of election reform legislation being considered by Congress. Black voters overwhelmingly favored Democratic candidate Al Gore over Bush in the 2000 presidential election.