CurrentAffairs
Bush defendsdecision not to attend NAACP annual convention being held in Texas
(left toright) US President, George Bush, National Security Adviser CondoleezzaRice, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Civil rights leader, Rev. Jesse Jackson
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- President George W.Bush on Monday defended his decision not to attend the NAACP's93rd annual convention being held in Texas this week during anafternoon news conference with White House reporters.
The president was in the midst of answeringquestions, when Dallas Morning News reporter Bob Hillman askedthe president to respond to criticism that he has not attendeda NAACP convention since his election and that his administration'scivil rights record was not considered stellar.
Bush paused briefly and with a slight smile,answered Hillman's question.
"Let's see. There I was, sitting aroundthe table with foreign leaders, looking at Colin Powell and CondiRice. Yeah," Bush said.
Hillary Shelton, director of the NAACP'slegislative office in Washington, reacted with some surprise.
"He said that?" said Shelton fromthe group's convention in Houston.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell andnational security adviser Condoleezza Rice are two of the highest-rankingblacks in Bush's administration along with U.S. Department ofEducation Secretary Rod Paige.
Some of the criticism that hurled at Bushupon his decision to appoint Rice and Powell was that they wouldbe token minorities who would have no real power, but that assertionwas quickly discounted with intimate consultation with Bush onall aspects of foreign affairs, particularly that involving theescalating crisis in the Middle East.
Shelton told United Press Internationalthat while his organization celebrates Rice and Powell's rolein the administration, it recognizes that they have no impacton domestic policy important to blacks.
"They are both involved in internationalissues which means that at best they are involved in human rightsissues abroad. Civil rights issues are always handled quite differently.Civil rights issues are internal, domestic policy, and neitherCondoleezza Rice or Colin Powell helped author, construct or craftdomestic policy," Shelton said. "It misses the pointto point to your international policy people when you're talkingabout domestic policy concerns."
Shelton called it "outrageous"that Bush has refused to address the organization that has branchesin every state in the union and a European delegation representingblacks living in countries around the world.
"For him not to be willing to dialoguewith the NAACP is rather outrageous," said Shelton. "Whenyou have a system in place, a clear voice of the concerns of aparticular community that we know have disproportionate problemsin this country ... health care disparity, education, home ownershipthat he has a lot of control over. To be unwilling to come andaddress the NAACP is outrageous."
Bush's comments come as he has been tryingto shore up support in the black community where he netted lessthan 9 percent of the vote during the 2000 presidential election.Bush lost the popular vote to Democratic candidate Al Gore, butwon the Electoral College after an exhaustive 36-day electioncontest that landed before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Shelton also pointed to Bush's promisesto address the issue of racial profiling and hate crimes havealso fallen by the wayside, and that he has taken to appointing"right-wing extremist judges" to the bench.
"He does have a very troubling recordon civil rights," Shelton said of Bush.
Bush came under fire during the NAACP conventionwhere he was accused of ignoring the concerns of blacks and supportingthe right wing of the Republican Party. NAACP Board Chairman JulianBond criticized Bush during his speech before the convention onSunday.
"We have a president who owes his electionmore to a dynasty than to a democracy," Bond said. "Whenhe spoke to our convention in Baltimore in 2000, he promised toenforce the civil rights laws. We knew he was in the oil business-- we just didn't know it was snake oil."
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson alsovoiced his dismay with Bush.
"We have a government that is enfranchisedby miscounted or uncounted votes. Even though it lost the election,it operates as if it has a mandate to take our rights," Jacksonsaid during the convention on Monday.
In September, the NAACP is planning a "legislativemobilization" with members of the organization convergingon Capitol Hill and the White House to urge passage of legislationsuch has election reform that has been lingering in congressionalcommittees.