Forward together,
not one step back!

There are some troubling allegations that have surfaced in the media against Rev. Curtis Gatewood from events alleged to have taken place in 2017. We would like to emphasize that these are allegations only, and there has been no legal investigation nor legal charges filed. The National Office took action to suspend Rev. Gatewood’s membership pending a hearing into these allegations. This suspension means that Rev. Gatewood is currently ineligible to run for NC NAACP office or hold any NAACP position until such time as the hearing is complete.

We at the Alamance NAACP ask that the National Office of the NAACP intervene in this matter. Reverend Gatewood's suspension was issued in response to a pending Article X petition for removal. Due to the fact that Rev. T. Anthony Spearman has two pending Article Xs against him, we ask that he also be removed from office and that First Vice President Carolyn Q. Coleman be put into his place until this is resolved. It is unfair to have one person removed and not the other.

In addition, we also call on the National Office to perform an audit of the NC NAACP Conference's finances, something which has not been done in over four years. We find it suspicious that these two-year-old allegations surfaced just two weeks before the NC NAACP state election. Rev. Gatewood, as part of his campaign platform, promised a full audit of the state finances. The charge against Rev. Gatewood has been led by none other than the state treasurer, who unsuccessfully attempted to have Rev. Gatewood removed from the ballot and is now seen directly at the side of Rev. Gatewood's accuser in all the media coverage.

The Burlington-Alamance Branch of the NAACP is dedicated to the fair treatment of all people, and that includes the safety and protection of women. That said, justice for all means protecting the rights of both the accused and the accusers. Some fifty years after the lynching of Emmett Till, it is disconcerting that a black man in America can still be condemned based only on unsubstantiated accusations and hearsay. Rev. Curtis Gatewood was denied due process from both within the NAACP itself and according to the law. And even in a post-Trump America, people are still presumed innocent until proven guilty. The Executive Committee of the Burlington-Alamance Branch of the NAACP calls into question the process, or lack thereof, that led to the public allegations leveled at Rev. Curtis Gatewood. There are a few concerns that we find suspicious.

First, there was no police report, nor any legal charges filed. There exists no written reprimands or personnel records to support these accusations. Supporting documentary evidence has not been released. The so-called independent investigator was hired by Rev. Gatewood’s campaign opponent to replace the existing personnel committee and is now serving has Ms. Childs’ legal counsel. This matter was considered as a matter of whether or not personnel policy was violated, yet the personnel committee was circumvented from taking any role in the investigation. Finally, the cease-and-desist letter was signed by Rev. Gatewood’s campaign opponent, T. Anthony Spearman,  as well as William Barber, who, as a past president, did not have the authority to enact such an order.  

This alleged harassment is based on a two-year-old allegation. These so-called elder women leaders have only now, two weeks before the NAACP NC State Conference of Branches election, decided to find their voices. The fact that Rev. Gatewood was running against T. Anthony Spearman, William Barber’s hand-picked successor, makes the timing of this urgent campaign to take action against Rev Gatewood all the more suspicious. It is also suspicious that three senior elected officers (all women), two vice presidents, and the duly elected secretary were not present at the press conference. They were not even aware of the press conference prior to the airing of the event. At least one of these women was removed from the state personnel committee right after this allegation was made in 2017; but retains her seat on the national board's human resources committee. In effect, the ranking women officers of the NAACP NC State Executive Committee were systematically and purposely excluded from the press conference and the alleged investigation of the complaint.

The self-appointed spokespeople at the press conference did not call for any action that could not have been addressed internally or through legal action. They seem to be trying to usurp the authority and force action on the part of the National President & CEO Derrick Johnson, Board Chairperson Leon Russell, Chief Operating Officer Denese Carroll and the National Board members by trying Rev. Gatewood in the court of public opinion. “Women elders” is not a recognized group within the NAACP. These are rogue members acting independently and counter to the legitimate organizational structure, who have taken it upon themselves to attack the national NAACP and falsely accuse the national body of a lack of policy. Such a policy does exist. This group has circumvented every reasonable course of action in favor of creating a media spectacle of unsubstantiated allegations in a not-so-veiled attempt to discredit T. Anthony Spearman's opponent in the upcoming elections.

We of the Burlington-Alamance NAACP stand with women and for the safety of women in all arenas. What we question is how these horrific allegations could have gone unvetted and unresolved for two long years. We question why William Barber stands with women now but did not resolve this swiftly during his term as president of the NAACP NC State Conference of Branches, when he served as Rev. Gatewood's direct superior. We question how these elder women leaders have gone unsupported and undefended by President T. Anthony Spearman for his full two-year term as president. We question why, if these allegations had even the slightest hint of merit, it only became an issue in the waning days of T. Anthony Spearman’s utterly unremarkable term as president. We question why Spearman did not act upon taking office, when he inherited this alleged harassment case from Barber, who also did not see it resolved.

What seems clear is that as long as we are talking about unsubstantiated allegations, we are not discussing the fiscal solvency of the NAACP NC State Conference of Branches. We are suspicious because Rev. Gatewood had pledged, if elected, to authorize an audit of the state accounts, something that has not happened in over four years, yet that is something that is required by the NAACP Constitution to happen on an annual basis. We suspect that the trail of financial deficits would lead right back to the present and previous administrations. Finally, we find it suspicious that while both of these administrations failed to stand up for the alleged victim for two full years, they are now standing by her side, joined by none other than the state treasurer.