NAACP says national leaders are eroding civil rights

Received by Newsfinder from APJul 10, 2005 17:06 Eastern Time By ERIN TEXEIRAAP National WriterMILWAUKEE (AP) _ Civil rights advocates on Sunday called the blurring lines between religion and politics a threat to equal opportunity, and said conservative judges and lawmakers are threatening progressives’ gains nationwide. “You have three branches of government that seem to have an orchestrated approach to, in effect, chisel away at civil rights protections. It’s systematic,” said Hilary Shelton, director of the Washington, D.C., branch of the NAACP, speaking at the group’s annual convention. The 96th annual gathering of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People comes as the Baltimore-based nonprofit has been struggling to raise money. Its new president, retired Verizon executive Bruce S. Gordon, has pledged to improve efficiency in the organization and raise an endowment, as well as to stress economic equality. During weekend panel discussions and meetings, convention delegates discussed laws that bar felons from voting, racial patterns in death penalty sentencing, reparations for slavery and the federal funding of religious groups, among other issues. U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., said religious groups that receive federal funding for social programs are increasingly hostile to participants who don’t share their views on social issues _ a violation of equal protection laws and a broad threat to civil rights. He also criticized legislation proposed last year by North Carolina Republican Rep. Walter Jones that would allow religious leaders who receive federal funding to endorse political candidates from the pulpit. “When you allow discrimination based on religion in federal programs, you lose all your moral authority to enforce civil rights legislation,” Scott said. “Typically, you rely on the judiciary to get you through times like this, but unfortunately the judges being appointed only affirm many of the things happening.” NAACP officials also announced Sunday that Mexican President Vicente Fox, who has been criticized for telling a trade group that Mexicans in the U.S. are doing work that “not even blacks want to do,” had declined two invitations to attend the convention. Fox cited scheduling conflicts in declining the invitation, NAACP officials said. More than 8,000 people are attending the six-day convention, which runs through Thursday.