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]
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