NAACP Honors Bruce Springsteen

Tuesday, December 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (AP) â€” Bruce Springsteen, who recently wrote a song about the 1999 police slaying of a West African immigrant in a hail of 41 bullets, has received a humanitarian award from the NAACP.

``Humanitarian is too big a word for what I do,'' the rocker said Sunday as he accepted the Humanitarian Community Service Award.

Springsteen, who told about 150 people that he felt ``empowered'' by music when he was a youth, was among a dozen people honored by the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for contributions to the community.

``I want my music to embody some of those same ideals,'' he said.

The 51-year-old New Jersey native has sold millions of records, often focusing on social issues such as AIDS, homelessness and racism. Over the summer, he was criticized by police when he performed a new song about the death of Amadou Diallo, gunned down by New York City police.