NAACP head resigns

NAACP President Bruce S. Gordon is quitting the civil rights organization, leaving after just 19 months at the helm, he told The Associated Press Sunday.

Gordon cited growing strain with board members over the group's management style and future operations.

"I believe that any organization that's going to be effective will only be effective if the board and the CEO are aligned and I don't think we are aligned," Gordon said. "This compromises the ability of the board to be as effective as it can be."

Gordon said he will give up his duties before month's end. He spoke by phone from Los Angeles, where he had just attended the taping of the NAACP Image Awards.

Dennis C. Hayes, general counsel of the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is expected to serve as interim president, Gordon said.

Hayes filled the same role after Kweisi Mfume resigned the presidency in 2004 after nine years.

Gordon said that while the NAACP is an advocacy organization, it needs to be more focused on service and finding solutions.

"I'm used to a CEO running an organization, with the board approving strategy and policy," Gordon said. "But the NAACP board is very much involved."

Gordon said he made the decision in recent weeks and told the board at its annual meeting in New York City in mid-February.

NAACP leaders were surprised by his decision and engaged in hours of discussion, he said.

"They expressed disappointment," Gordon said. "We attempted to see whether there was a way to continue but that didn't happen."

Gordon sounded weary as he boarded a flight home to New York City on Sunday.

"I don't view this as I'm right and they're wrong. I view this as I see things one way and they see things a different way," he said. "That misalignment between the CEO and the board is unhealthy."

Asked about his plans after leaving the NAACP, Gordon said: "I'm going to catch my breath."

"What I've clearly learned in my tenure here is that all is not well in black America, that's for sure," he said. "I believe I have a lot to offer. I've got to find a way to be engaged that optimizes what it is I bring to the table. My intention is not to disengage, but to find a different way."