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Members of the black leadership network Project 21 are appalled by comments NAACP chairman Julian Bond reportedly made during a recent speech in North Carolina. Members say the radical nature of Bond's comments are detrimental to the civil rights group's reputation and its ability to function within the non-partisan confines of its non-profit status.

As reported by WorldNetDaily, Bond's comments came during a February 1 speech at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Bond is said to have called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and predecessor Colin Powell "tokens." He also compared the Bush Administration's judicial nominees to the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan and said "The Republican Party would have the American flag and the [Nazi] swastika flying side by side."

"If Julian Bond's comments are indicative of the NAACP, the group has truly lost its way. I believe the NAACP has positioned itself on the far left of the political spectrum, and Mr. Bond's comments give me no reason to think otherwise," said Project 21 member Jimmie Hollis.

"What is most offensive to me is that Julian Bond denigrated Secretary Rice and Colin Powell as tokens at the beginning of Black History Month. President Bush's appointments are not based on skin color, but the content of peoples' character. This was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream. The fact that Rice and Powell became the face of U.S. foreign policy during President Bush's first term, as well as Rod Paige at the Department of Education and Alphonso Jackson at Housing and Urban Development, says a lot," said Project 21 member Geoffrey Moore. "And yet NAACP leaders still seem to wonder why President Bush refuses to address their annual conference."

"Julian Bond's tirades serve only to further reduce the once-great standing of the NAACP in our society," added Project 21 member Mychal Massie. "Bond's rank partisanship must call into question the legitimacy of the NAACP's political neutrality and its charitable tax status."

In October of 2005, the IRS reportedly informed NAACP leaders that anti-Bush comments made by Bond at the group's 2005 annual conference may have constituted political activity that violates the group's non-profit status.

Bond's February 1 speech was part of the Fayetteville State University's Distinguished Speaker Series. Announcements and media coverage of the speech described Bond as the chairman of the NAACP and did not indicate he was speaking as a private citizen.

"As Julian Bond wallows in the sunset of 1960s victimization, other blacks are moving onward and upward," said Project 21 member Deneen Moore. "People of all colors and creeds should stand up to those who continue to incite negative racial bigotry and name-calling as a vehicle to air their agenda."

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