Buford was disappointed that his bid for school board was unsuccessful. But he seemed even more shocked when asked about Harold Crumpton’s infamous “forgive and forget” press conference involving former KTRS radio morning host David Lenihan.
Lenihan called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a “coon” on the air two weeks ago. He called it a mistake. Crumpton said, “It’s cool.”
The outrage quickly followed.
“It’s an embarrassment for him to do that,” said Buford. “It goes against everything the NAACP stands for.”
The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus is calling on NAACP state president Mary Ratliff “to consider pursuing some form of reprimand towards Mr. Crumpton and recommending the national office to pursue the same course for Rev. Gil Ford.”
The members say in a letter to Ratliff they are “appalled” and “words cannot express the hurt, pain and shame” they are feeling.”
The Caucus also ripped Crumpton, Ford and others for the “backslappin’, huggin’ and grinnin’ ” with Linehan.
To relive the press conference of last week, Crumpton, NAACP Region 4 Director Gil Ford and several other members of the city chapter announced to Lenihan and the world that all is forgiven and that they would write a letter requesting that KTRS re-hire Lenihan.
This is not The Twilight Zone or X-Files, folks. This really happened.
As if the scenario were not strange enough, Lenihan announced that he and his wife had suddenly come to an understanding of what the NAACP stood for and had become members.
Really, this actually happened.
Former Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. said he was so bewildered “I still don’t know what to say.”
“And what was Sam Moore doing hugging that guy?” Bosley added in reference to a photo in last week’s American.
Activist attorney Eric Vickers called the press conference “a joke.”
What isn’t a joke is that Ford allegedly threatened to blackball the Rev. B.T. Rice and other members of the St. Louis County NAACP if they held a press conference denouncing the city chapter’s actions.
Rice and company turned tail and ran instead of holding the press conference.
The EYE has learned that Crumpton had originally planned an emergency meeting of his executive committee for Wednesday to explain why he went out on the limb without them. Most of the executive committee and membership are outraged at Crumpton.
That outrage spilled over to Illinois and into St. Louis County NAACP branch, where officials said that many members are demanding their money back. One official in the city office said the phones are jammed with callers demanding that Crumpton apologize or resign.
The EYE also has learned that venerable attorney Frankie Muse Freeman has given Crumpton counsel insisting that he make a statement that the actions taken by him were not official actions of the NAACP or its executive committee and to apology for not getting the approval of the authorizing body before taking such a controversial stand.
To date, Crumpton has refused to act. Some say he fears a retraction would harm his ability to be re-named as a Metropolitan Sewer District trustee or to any other board. He could be typecast as a guy who shoots from the hip without thinking issues through.
Ford is also under fire and may be attempting to distance himself from Crumpton to dodge the heat.
Many national board members of the NAACP have contacted former national NAACP board member Gentry Trotter expressing their outrage and encouraging Trotter and others to embark on an Article 10 crusade to have Crumpton removed from office by 20 paid members of the branch. Anyone interested in so doing can call 241-0001, ext. 15 and leave a message.