An uneasy truce at NAACP

Factions of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have called an uneasy truce now that NAACP executive director Benjamin L. Hooks has been reinstated to office, staff writer Luix Overbea reports.

Fifty-one of 64 national board members attended a May 28 meeting here, and voted to reverse a decision by board chairman Margaret Bush Wilson to suspend Hooks. The board said Hooks will have full powers to direct the national headquarters staff.

But a new crisis remains to be resolved: the proper status of board chairman Wilson. The board also voted to sharply censure her for suspending Hooks. She has been relieved of many of her powers, including the traditional honor of delivering the keynote address to the NAACP national convention scheduled July 10-15 in New Orleans.

Mrs. Wilson suspended Hooks May 18 without a board vote. She reinstated him May 26 when it became apparent the national board would overrule her decision. Mrs. Wilson, Thomas I. Atkins (whom she named acting executive director), and 12 other board members did not attend the May 28 session. Mrs. Wilson branded that gathering illegal and has called a June 11 meeting in Chicago to resolve her dispute with Hooks.