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[[image - logo of NAACP]]

NAACP

[[image - Benjamin L. Hooks, Executive Director

instincts. We beseech our President to heal and bring us together, not to divide and polarize us. To the extent that he can find it in his heart to follow the spirit of Lincoln and the resolve of Johnson, he will have earned our undying support.

Meanwhile, the role of the NAACP remains clear: as always, we must articulate the grievances of the least among us while leading those Americans, black and white, who still stand for decency in the vanguard of the civil rights struggle. We have been set back but we are not defeated. The NAACP was born before Ronald Reagan and long after he departs from the White House, there will be an NAACP. And it will continue - with your help - to serve as America's conscience until that day when there is freedom and justice for all. Please help us by contributing as generously as you can to our tax deductible Special Contribution Fund; we need your support as never before.

Sincerely,
B L Hooks
Benjamin L. Hooks
Secretary

BLH:yw

P.S. Despite the grim record which I have summarized above, we shall continue to seek to meet face to face with President - as we have with every occupant of the White House since 1909 - in order to convey to him the tragic plight of black America. We shall make every effort to work with him and his Administration in the fundamental belief that he is the President of all Americans. BLH.

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