Jackson says NAACP must help save auto industry

bailouts to banks that in turn have given million-dollar bonuses to executives while urban neighborhoods continue to suffer and jobs are being lost.

His message came at the right time, said 27-year-old Jonathan Guest of Detroit.

"We need to stand behind them and fight for them," Guest said of the auto industry and its workers.

The industry's crisis has affected others outside the car companies, said Doris Jordan-Smith of Detroit. The 65-year-old works in marketing for an insurance company.

"We fought to get those jobs. We've got to fight to keep them," she said.

Detroit NAACP president Wendell Anthony attributed the rise of the black middle class to the auto industry, which was honored at the dinner.

"Detroit is still the motor city capitol of the world," Anthony said. "Standards have been set and innovations have been met."

The United Auto Workers union and its president Ron Gettelfinger also were honored. Gettelfinger thanked the NAACP for its support for America's auto workers.

GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson spoke on behalf of GM, Ford and Chrysler.

"We recognize that most of us derived our livelihood from the auto industry, directly or indirectly," Henderson said. "We're all in this together."

Singer Aretha Franklin, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Detroit pastor the Rev. Edwin Rowe also were honored for contributions to the civil rights movement.

The Detroit chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said Sunday night's event is its largest annual fundraiser and draws 10,000 people each year.

Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., gave the keynote speech last year. Ex-President Bill Clinton spoke in 2007. Obama also gave the keynote as an Illinois U.S. senator.

A videotaped message from Obama thanking the NAACP was played.