NAACP Head Seeks Meeting with Bush

NAACP President and Chief Executive Officer Kweisi Mfume has written a letter to President Bush requesting a meeting to "put aside past differences" and to discuss issues important to African-Americans. President Bush declined to address the NAACP's annual convention last summer for the fourth straight year and has been a frequent target of criticism from Julian Bond, the organization's board chair. "I would sincerely request the opportunity to sit down with you when your schedule permits to discuss what we can do to work together to address many of the more serious social problems facing communities across America," Mfume writes in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the NNPA News Service. "If we can find a way without rancor or recrimination to put aside past differences and look toward a future of attempting to work together, I am sure we can work toward an aggressive strategy that will reduce or eliminate many of the scourges that continue to hinder our nation." NAACP officials say Bush has not yet replied to Mfume's overture. The two-paged letter, dated Nov. 5, was a sharp departure from the tone of Mfume remarks in July after Bush rejected the NAACP's invitation to address delegates.[more]