Bruce Gordon Resigns as President of the NAACP

NAACP president Bruce Gordon has resigned, citing concerns that the NAACP board has focused too much on political advocacy and not enough on direct social services.

I was never a fan of Gordon's approach. He replaced the amazing Kweisi Mfume in 2004 and almost immediately took on a more moderate tone, reaching out to President Bush and other critics of civil rights legislation and smoothing out some of the organization's more aggressive advocacy rhetoric. In many ways he appeared to be trying to do with the NAACP what Patrick Murphy Malin did to the ACLU during the 1950s: Increasing the size and power of the organization by making it more mainstream.

I wish Bruce Gordon the best, but I have to say that in some ways I am relieved to hear that he has resigned. In this time of gross civil rights violations, we cannot as a nation afford a moderate NAACP that is not willing to take unpopular positions to protect the rights and interests of African Americans.

ACLU general counsel Dennis C. Hayes will serve as interim president of the organization until a new president can be selected. Hayes is no stranger to the role of interim president, as he also served in this capacity following Mfume's resignation.

Full Coverage: History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement