Jeff Koopersmith

Bush Snubs Black Americans Yet Again
Veiled bigotry is alive and well at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
By Jeff Koopersmith

July 28, 2003 -- NEW YORK (apj.us)

"Since the days of Warren G. Harding, presidents have met at the White House with leaders of the NAACP. Not President Bush -- at least not yet."

This was the Associated Press lead on July 27th when the President of United States made it known he was just too busy to speak to the nation's oldest and most respected group of black political leaders.

As a matter of fact, President George W. Bush has never met or received officially the country's oldest civil rights group leaders -- or with representatives of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

What's his message?

Simple: "The majority of black Americans did not vote for me -- why should I waste my time?"

This repellent sentiment was underscored by the President's scheduled appearance today at the National Urban League's annual conference in Pittsburgh. The Urban League is a far more conservative and affluent group of black Americans. The Urban League is the nation's oldest (1910) and largest community-based movement that claims it is "empowering African-Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream."

In other words, it's more of a "Bush" kind of group. Why address TWO black organizations when one will do?

At least he must think this.

I wonder if President Bush read the Urban League President's letter to him of December 3rd, 2002:

I am writing to implore you to stand with those of us who fervently believe in opportunity and inclusion. More specifically, I urge you to instruct the Justice Department and the Solicitor General to stand by the US Supreme Court's Bakke decision, which has been the law of the land for a quarter century. The admissions procedures crafted by the University of Michigan and the law school are carefully crafted to advance society's compelling interest in inclusion without offending the U.S. Constitution.

Hugh B. Price
President

The President, of course, ignored Price's plea and instead instructed his old pal, Solicitor General Ted Olson -- of "Get Clinton-Gore at All Costs" fame -- to urge the court to kill affirmative action. [For some historical perspective, Ken Starr was also Solicitor General between 1989 and 1993, before he went on his neoconservative-sponsored but professionally suicidal attack against then-President Clinton's rights.]

George W. Bush, in fact, had never invited the NAACP leadership to the White House and has only hosted the Congressional Black Caucus once in nearly three years as president -- and for less than an hour, closing his eyes to several requests since for further meetings.

It's obvious: President Bush doesn't give a damn.

He's cool. He has placed Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice in high cabinet level positions. He's also added Education Secretary Rod Paige. To him, that's adequate. The fact that Powell, Rice and Paige cannot be thought of as spokespersons for average American families -- white, Hispanic, or black -- seems not to bother our president. That he is the President serving ALL Americans -- not just the Greenwich, Connecticut crowd --seems to have escaped him as well.

And why should he be concerned?

To Mr. Bush, the only thing that counts is pay offs to loyal constituents and backers -- or so it seems. In the 2000 presidential election he received just 9 percent of the total black vote. Instead of doing what he might to reacquaint himself with black American concerns, he instead shuns minority audiences and clings to phony civil rights advocates who pretend that affirmative action is racist.

So be it.

Like father -- not like son. The former president, George Herbert Walker Bush, took plenty of time to listen to NAACP concerns about domestic and international policy. His son has fallen far from the tree -- remaining "aloof," as NAACP president Kwesi Mfume labeled George W. recently.

The White House has no answer to criticism leveled by the more liberal black community. According to the Associated Press, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said last week, "The president... talks to a variety of groups from across the political spectrum and reaches out to people from all walks of life" when pressed on why Bush nixed the recent NAACP convention in Miami.

Gee, that's illuminating.

And the media seems to be buying this White House dismal pose, claiming that his reelection strategy does not target "liberal" blacks, but wealthier, conservative, churchgoing blacks.

The last time I checked, the wealthiest black businessmen, athletes, musicians, and lawyers were not in Mr. Bush's corner -- far from it, in fact. Fewer than 26% of all black Americans approve of Bush's presidential performance and less than 10% would vote for him today.

Oddly enough, President Bush did address the 2000 NAACP convention where he swore he would fight for strong civil rights enforcement. He got his 9 percent, and now that's he's President, why bother?

Well, unless he's planning to lose, he had better take a second look. He lost the national vote -- by more than a million votes last time out. He can't afford to anger any voting bloc, and yet he seems to be doing just this.

Could this be the tip-off that Bush came into the White House as a single termer -- to do the job his father left unfinished -- and then leave himself?

Or is it proof positive that Karl Rove is not the mastermind of politics that he claims he is?

Time will tell.

President Bush continues to irk most black Americans -- with determination. He pledged $15 billion to help fight HIV-AIDS in Africa, but then left the budget allocation unfunded with little protest to the Republican-controlled Congress. He has sent troops to Liberia, but has not allowed them to land and stem the river of African bodies littering the streets in Monrovia despite their plaintive cries for help. He has continued to nominate a seemingly endless stream of narrow-minded bigots to federal judgeships. He has continued to cut taxes which substantially cripple only domestic programs -- especially programs aimed at education, health, and welfare that black Americans need and support.

Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP, has called the Bush tax cuts "a death warrant for social programs for decades to come."

By refusing to take an hour to speak the NAACP, Bush breaks a near-100-year-old tradition. One imagines that he thinks of meeting with the nations minority leaders as part of the "Old America" almost as Secretary Rumsfeld thinks of France as part of the "Old Europe."

Eleven consecutive presidents from both parties, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Jack Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, former President Bush and Bill Clinton, have all taken great pains and spent quantities of time with NAACP leaders.

Just this month, House Black Caucus Chairman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) boycotted a meeting President Bush held with lawmakers to discuss his Africa trip over these issues.

However, it is not what this President does that is most important -- it is its impact on American society and world opinion.

How brainless and asinine must his advisors be? Are they blind to the fact that his actions telegraph an invisible approval of bigotry and ignorance to the rest of us?

If the President of the United States can ignore those who have worked for civil rights for 100 years, why can't we all?

If the President is opposed to affirmative action for college admissions, why shouldn't the rest of us join him?

Here's the reason: most Americans will not be party to the subdued and covert racism of which Mr. Bush seems to be a master.

JEFF KOOPERSMITH is a political consultant, opinion research authority, policy analyst, and self-described "renegade lobbyist."