Atlanta NAACP slams Kasim Reed's candidacy for mayor

In an unprecedented announcement from the head of the civil rights organization, the president of the Atlanta branch of the NAACP strongly criticized former mayor Kasim Reed late Wednesday.

Richard Rose told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution there was agreement among the organization’s leadership for him to release “a rare repudiation” of a political candidate on behalf of the chapter.

“The NAACP typically refrains from endorsing a political party or speaking out about a specific candidate. Today, I am breaking that tacit protocol,” Rose said in a written statement. “To do anything less would be an abdication of my mission to help move Atlanta forward, not backward.”

The NAACP was previously a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and the Internal Revenue Service bans such groups from participating in political campaigns.

However, the organization’s national CEO in 2017 changed the NAACP into a 501(c)(4), which allows them to “engage in political campaigns, provided that such activities are not the organization’s primary activity,” according to the IRS.

Read more: https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/breaking-atlanta-naacp-slams-kasim-reeds-candidacy-for-mayor/5VD764SKZJCFBLPN2USCL5YE7A/