THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 15, 1995 TAG: 9503150470
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The nation's long-established civil-rights groups must reclaim their relevancy, reinvigorate their messages and reach out to young people, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder told the Urban League of Hampton Roads Tuesday night.
``We need to be urgent in our message,'' Wilder said. ``Just go out and ask somebody in the street to name somebody they know in the Urban League, or in the NAACP, or ask them what those organizations stand for, or what they do or what can they do.''
Wilder, the nation's first African-American governor when he served Virginia from 1989 to 1993, recalled the civil-rights giants of the 1950s and 1960s.
He ticked off names such as Martin Luther King Jr., A. Phillip Randolph and Whitney M. Young.
But he told the gathering of 660 Urban League supporters, ``I don't want to live in the past. . . . We have an obligation to be relevant.''
That relevancy will come, Wilder said, when the civil-rights groups cease their infighting and stop taking their achievements for granted.
Wilder drew applause as he added: ``It's not good to get up here and say these things, but I don't give a damn.''
Wilder's remarks come at a time when many civil-rights policies and anti-poverty programs are under political attack, even though long-sought social and economic equality has not been achieved.
``Many people have to run fast just to stand still,'' he said.
``People need to know there's recourse.''
He noted the national debate over affirmative action job recruitment and hiring programs, and said society still needs to be reminded of the goal.
``We ought to change the name to equal access to opportunity,'' Wilder said.
``Call it anything you want to call it, but give right to wrong.''
Wilder received two standing ovations.
Also, James Koch, president of Old Dominion University, commended the former governor for keeping state finances in check ``without pitting one part of society against another.''
After his formal remarks, Wilder said many civil-rights groups are failing at public relations.
``Sometimes they get caught up in being insular rather than being more outreaching,'' he said. ``You've got to keep opening up these kinds of organizations to new people, to younger people.
``For a long time there was almost a shunning aside of new ideas. . . . People resented it.''
He suggested recruiting young African Americans from academic and social fraternities, churches and professional organizations.
Wilder was the keynote speaker at the Urban League's fifth annual awards banquet, held at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel and Convention Center.
Despite the serious tone of his remarks, Wilder drew laughs as he joked about his altercation with a security guard at Raleigh-Durham International Airport March 7.
Wilder apparently was throttled by the guard as the former governor tried to check the man's identity badge, according to news reports.
Wilder said he was attempting to explain that his trouser suspenders had set off a metal detector alarm.
``This time I took precautions,'' Wilder said of his flight to Norfolk Tuesday.
``I don't have on any suspenders. I don't think I'll ever put them on again, or I'll walk wherever I go.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder says, ``Just go out and ask somebody
in the street to name somebody they know in the Urban League, or in
the NAACP. . . ''
by CNB