Bush Backs Away From NAACP

• Originally published by the Center for American Progress [*]

By declining to speak at the NAACP's annual convention for the fourth time this week, President Bush will earn the dishonorable distinction of becoming " the first sitting president since Warren G. Harding not to address the NAACP ." Bush's decision, which the LA Times calls " inexplicable as a matter of presidential leadership ," can only add to his legacy of insulting people of color while pursuing policies harmful to their interests. Civil rights pioneer and NAACP chairman Julian Bond expressed his frustration with the president's policies during Sunday night's keynote address: " They preach racial neutrality and practice racial division ," he said. "[more] Apparently they really do think we all look alike -- to hear them, Martin Luther King and Clarence Thomas are the same man."

TALKING BEHIND THEIR BACKS: In instead of attending the convention and confronting legitimate criticism of his policies, Bush deployed officials this week to blast [more] the nation's largest civil rights organization. Most notably, education secretary Rod Paige attacked[more] the NAACP in the Wall Street Journal, calling its criticism of Bush's policies "counterproductive, damaging and a betrayal of the organization's own origins." Paige said the NAACP attacked No Child Left Behind "merely because of its origins in the Bush administration." Left unmentioned was the fact Bush has not properly funded his education initiative [more], with judges in some states finding "hugely insufficient dollars" going to all districts, " particularly those with poor minority students ."[more]

BUSH'S BUSY SCHEDULE: The president's initial reason for missing the NAACP convention? "A White House spokeswoman said Bush had a scheduling conflict [more] , but would not specify the conflict with the six-day convention." So, what were some of the things cluttering the president's schedule? On Sunday, as Bond gave the convention's keynote address, Bush attended a White House tee ball game[more] ; on Monday, Bush found time to reiterate discredited claims [more] of a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda; and on Tuesday, the president " courted conservative[s] [more]" in Duluth, Minnesota ( 1.6 percent black, 1.1. percent Hispanic ) and Marquette, Michigan ( 0.8 percent black, 0.8 percent Hispanic ), some of the nation's least diverse areas. On Wednesday, the fourth day of the convention, Bush took a bus tour through lilly-white ( 90% ) Wisconsin.

SHAFTING LA RAZA: Bush declined a similar invitation to speak at last week's gathering of the National Council of La Raza, the largest national Hispanic organization, for the fourth time[more] . "He has not attended our conventions, as well as our sister organizations'," said Raul Yzaguirre, La Raza's president. "Apparently we're not enough of a priority to merit his time."

BUSH RECORD HOSTILE TO MINORITIES: McClellan said African Americans should judge the president based on " his record [more]and his vision for the country," but Bush's inclusive rhetoric has masked an agenda consistently hostile to minorities. He has taken a stand against affirmative action[more] , proposed massive funding cuts to the Section 8 housing program [more], and failed to adequately fund No Child Left Behind, including cuts to Head Start [more] and after-school programs [more] utilized disproportionately by minorities. According to a 6/7/03 Boston Globe article analyzing the president's minority record, "the gap in [home] ownership rates between whites and minorities has actually grown. Minority unemployment is up." And the president has pushed for tax cuts "that have done little for lower-income minorities."

BUSH DISRESPECTS ON HOLIDAYS: Last year, on what would have been Martin Luther King's 75th birthday, the president "took to the airwaves" to " condemn the University of Michigan's modest consideration of race in fostering diversity on the still-overwhelmingly white Michigan campus."[more] That same day, Bush punctuated a "brief visit" to Dr. King's grave with a $1.3 million campaign fundraiser [more] , referred to by Rev. Timothy McDonald as " the epitome of insult ." [more] On King's birthday this year, Bush used executive powers to "bypass Congress and grant a spot on the federal appeals bench to U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering [more] ," known for his " insensitivity and even hostility toward key principles...that now safeguard civil rights."

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