NAACP Calls Critique Of Kasim Reed 'Unacceptable,' Orders Atlanta President To Cease

ATLANTA, GA — The national branch of the NAACP sent a cease and desist order to Atlanta Chapter President Richard Rose after he pilloried a mayoral candidate last week.

Rose, who has led the Atlanta chapter for six years, released a letter last week repudiating former Atlanta mayor and current mayoral frontrunner Kasim Reed for Reed’s previous administration that ended with several members of his inner circle facing federal corruption indictments.

Monday, after the NAACP’s national branch shared its Oct. 21 cease and desist letter to Rose with the media, calling his actions “unacceptable,” Rose took ownership.

“I owe an apology to the National (Branch),” Rose told Patch on Monday afternoon. “I thought as long as I didn’t endorse a candidate I was OK. They see this as an endorsement of the other 13 candidates. And I have to accept responsibility for that.”

Specifically, the memo from NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson posted last week on the organization’s website said “the recent remarks of Atlanta NAACP Branch President Richard Rose regarding the Atlanta Mayoral Race are unacceptable and will be addressed internally,” and ordered Rose to immediately stop any “endorsements or condemnations.”

Rose’s seven-point memo criticized, among other things, Reed’s handling of the affordable housing plan initiated by his predecessor Mayor Shirley Franklin, the tax deal negotiated to bring Mercedes-Benz Stadium to the city, and a development plan established for land that Morris Brown College had used before the historically Black private college lost its accreditation — land that was deeded to fellow Atlanta University Center HBCU Clark Atlanta University.

Reed was Atlanta Mayor from 2010 to 2018 and is in a statistical deadlock with City Council President Felicia Moore atop 12 other candidates for the Nov. 2 race. He announced his candidacy along with many others running for City Hall, save Moore, shortly after Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced in May that she would not seek a second term in office.

Reed’s campaign responded Thursday, calling Rose’s comments “false and totally without merit,” according to the tweet from Atlanta reporter Wilborn P. Nobles III.

Rose acknowledged in his letter that the NAACP did not typically endorse political parties and avoided “speaking out about a specific candidate.” But on Oct. 20, he took a different approach.

“Thirteen other candidates are running, some with proven leadership ability and political experience and none with a record of administrative corruption,” he wrote.

Monday he said that, while he stands by his beliefs, perhaps he should not have voiced his opinions from the platform of the leader of Atlanta’s NAACP branch.

“If I had shared the same information under my own personal name, it would have been OK,” Rose said. “Since they see that as a violation, I will acquiesce.”

It is unclear what is meant by national leadership addressing the matter “internally,” given that the response was made public, or what Rose's fate will be.