NAACP slams president’s plan for Social Security

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NAACP leaders called President George W. Bush’s Social Security reform plan dangerous for Blacks and requested a meeting with the president to address the issue. At the organization’s annual meeting in New York last week, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said the association sent a letter to the White House specifying their apprehension towards Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security. “Privatization is another effort to reward wealthy Americans at the expense of working Americans, particularly Black working Americans, asking them to play the lottery with their future,” said Bond. “Privatization would convert their support from a guarantee to a gamble, from a right into a risk.” The NAACP also expressed concerns about education and unemployment, said Bond, who was unanimously re-elected as chairman of the 95-year-old civil rights group. Hilary O. Shelton, the NAACP’s Washington bureau chief, labeled the president’s plan “extremely dangerous to us,” stating that twice as many Blacks than whites, among married couples, depend on Social Security for their full retirement income. Shelton also said Blacks in their 50s are two times more likely than whites to become disabled.  Some Black leaders are claiming that Bush, rather than solving the crisis of life expectancy in the Black community, is attempting to exploit the issue, which they said is attributed to health discrepancies and urban violence.  “The Black-white disparity in life expectancies practically disappears at retirement age. If they really cared about Black life expectancy, they’d find ways to end the numerous threats to long life and to extend our lives. Instead, they want to turn Social Security into a broker security,” Bond said. [more] With regard to the 10 Commandments Jesse Jackson added - "Gay Marriage didn't even make the top ten. In fact Jesus never even spoke about it."

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