Myrlie Evers-Williams, the newly elected chairwoman of the NAACP, confronts a difficult agenda. In the next few months she must heal the deep divisions left by her predecessor, William F. Gibson, sort out the tangled finances that have left the nation's oldest civil rights group some $4 million in debt, find a replacement for fired Executive Director Benjamin F. Chavis and deal with a Republican-dominated 104th Congress that is determined to dramatically cut back affirmative action, welfare and other programs that affect African Americans.
None of these tasks will be easy. Dr. Gibson, whom Ms. Evers-Williams defeated for the chairmanship by a single vote, has not accepted defeat gracefully. Though no longer chairman, he retains a seat on the board and the support of a loyal minority of members. Ms. Evers-Williams, the first woman chair of the NAACP, must somehow accommodate Dr. Gibson's faction while also seeking to restructure and rebuild the board into a more effective governing body. This will require all her skills of tact and diplomacy.
Ms. Evers-Williams also must get a handle on the group's mounting debt. An audit ordered last year was delayed until this month. The board did elect a new treasurer for the group, Wall Street financier Francisco L. Borges, who will spend the next few days reviewing the NAACP's books. One hopeful sign is some $60,000 in donations that came in after Ms. Evers-Williams' election. Also the Chrysler Corp. reportedly has committed to a separate $100,000 donation. But until a full accounting is completed, many donors will remain reluctant to offer support.
Another priority will be finding someone to replace Mr. Chavis, who was fired as executive director last summer for commiting more than $320,000 of the organization's funds to pay off a sexual harassment complaint against him. The executive director is the most visible face of the NAACP. Filling the post is vital to the NAACP's mission. But it would be a mistake to rush into a new appointment before an audit is completed. Any new executive director will want a clear picture of the financial health of the organization and of personnel records before coming on board.
Finally, Ms. Evers-Williams vowed to restore the NAACP to its position as the nation's leading voice on civil rights. That pledge will soon be put to the test: The day after her election, three GOP presidential hopefuls -- Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kans., and former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander -- announced they would make affirmative action a campaign issue. Ms. Evers-Williams responded by saying the NAACP must take on "the attitudes and positions" in the new Republican Congress that could harm civil rights advances made over the past three decades. So the battle is joined. Stakes are high. But in Ms. Evers-Williams the NAACP may have found a leader capable of meeting the enormous challenges of the post-civil rights era.