Rep. Mfume Gets Top NAACP Post : Civil rights: Five-term congressman, called a man of integrity and leadership, comes to organization at a time of turmoil. He plans to resign House seat in February.

In a move to heal and revitalize the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, leaders of the often-divided NAACP on Saturday unanimously chose a prominent Democratic congressman from Baltimore as their new president and chief executive officer.

By selecting Rep. Kweisi Mfume, regarded as a polished and forceful advocate, NAACP leaders hope to restore the organization’s stature as the preeminent voice for civil rights.

The selection of the 47-year-old lawmaker comes at a time when many African American activists believe that their hard-won gains are under assault in Washington. It is also a time when the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People has been eclipsed on issues of race by the ascendance of controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Mfume and the NAACP leaders who announced his selection stressed their hope that he can draw from the organization’s proud 86-year history and win the support of a new generation of African Americans.

“We must without equivocation or timidity reclaim our rightful place as the voice of African Americans and others who believe in the power and the premise that all persons are, in fact, created equal,” Mfume said at a news conference attended by many of the 64 NAACP directors who voted to hire him. “. . . We’re not going to sit by and watch the world. We’re going to change the world.”

Mfume is a former talk show host who served seven years on Baltimore’s City Council before winning election to the House in 1986. He gained national prominence in 1993 and 1994 as head of the Congressional Black Caucus--at times challenging President Clinton’s social-spending proposals and his commitment to affirmative action.

Mfume and those who recruited him to lead the NAACP said that relinquishing his seniority in Congress was a difficult decision. He becomes the 17th Democrat to announce he will not seek reelection to the House in November.

“The real question was whether he would give up five terms of seniority to deal with a group that has a history of, it’s safe to say, some fragmentation,” said NAACP board member A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., a retired federal appeals court justice. “. . . There’s a possibility that he could have become speaker of the House in 10 years.”

Higginbotham said Mfume is “a person who has total integrity, superb managerial skills, proven leadership and the acuteness required for political effectiveness.”

Another board member who voted for Mfume, former Georgia state Sen. Julian Bond, said Mfume was selected, after deliberations on Friday evening and Saturday, because of his “superior leadership, integrity and vision.”

The fragmentation cited by Higginbotham includes the ouster 15 months ago of Executive Director Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., who drew fire for using NAACP funds to pay $330,000 to an employee who had accused him of sexual discrimination.

Early this year, Myrlie Evers-Williams narrowly won election over an ally of Chavis’ to become the unpaid chairwoman of the organization. And the organization still faces a sizable debt, which crested at $4 million under Chavis.

By hiring Mfume, NAACP leaders passed over two candidates from within the organization, including the director of its Washington office. And in a unanimous decision to reach outside, the leaders were able to at least temporarily overcome the differences within the organization.

“I hope that the organization can now come together and unite its efforts,” William F. Gibson, the former board chairman who was replaced by Evers-Williams, told The Times after he voted for Mfume. An audit the NAACP released this summer questioned more than $112,000 in expenses Gibson charged to the organization.

Allegations of financial impropriety have prompted several major donors to withdraw support, worsening the NAACP’s financial situation and forcing the temporary layoff of most of the national staff.

At the news conference, Mfume pledged to “restore the financial, spiritual and political health of this historic American institution. . . . There will be change. It will be swift. . . . Efficiency and fiscal integrity within the organization will not be just a concept.”

Details of Mfume’s contract, including his compensation, will be negotiated over the next several weeks, according to Evers-Williams. Mfume, who makes $133,600 annually as a congressman, said he plans to resign his House seat in February and will take up his role at the NAACP then.

Unlike some stalwarts of the modern civil rights movement, such as Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Mfume attended and spoke at the recent “Million Man March,” an event organized by Farrakhan that drew hundreds of thousands of black men and their sons to Washington.

But unlike Farrakhan, who has demonized Jews and homosexuals in his speeches, Mfume has spoken unambiguously against oppression of all forms. And on Saturday, whether he was quoting an 1848 speech by Abraham Lincoln or invoking the vocabulary of a colorblind ideal, Mfume underscored his inclusive views.

“Racism, sexism, anti-Semitism cannot, and will not, be allowed to enjoy a comfortable and quiet existence,” Mfume said. “The damaging divisions brought about by xenophobia cannot be allowed to color our thinking about those who come to our shores in search of a better life. Fear, which often finds its incubator in our refusal to stand up for what is right, will forever be challenged by a new NAACP--reunited and reinvigorated.”

Still, Mfume said Farrakhan was on a “long list” of people he intended to call soon after the announcement of his hiring.

“I expect that he will listen and will probably wish me well,” Mfume said. Responding to another question regarding Farrakhan, Mfume said: “Our doors are open, our tent is large and our hearts are filled with compassion.”

Without identifying officials or political parties, Mfume’s only criticism was directed at those who seek to soften or undo spending aimed at helping the disadvantaged. “The extreme ultraconservative policies of the far-right wing in our nation are draconian and punitive,” Mfume said.

“They are policies that punish the elderly, restrict the poor and deny opportunity to our children. Those policies must be countered with effective and realistic responses. . . . We can only do that by reinvigorating the age-old concept of coalitions, where people work together for the common good.”

Mfume said that on Friday he discussed at length his decision to leave Congress with Clinton, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.).

“I am convinced without reservation,” he said, “that I can best effect social, economic and political change in the broader capacity that the NAACP represents.”