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Bush Acknowledges Racism Still Exists
President Addresses NAACP Convention After Five-Year Snub
By DEB RIECHMANN, AP

WASHINGTON (July 20) - President Bush acknowledged persistent racism in America and lamented the Republican Party's bumpy relations with black voters as he addressed the NAACP's annual convention Thursday for the first time in his presidency.

I understand that racism still lingers in America," Bush told the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "It's a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart. And I understand that many African-Americans distrust my political party."

That line generated boisterous applause and cheers from the thousands in the audience, which generally gave the president a polite, reserved reception.

"I consider it a tragedy that the party of Abraham Lincoln let go of its historical ties with the African-American community," Bush said. "For too long, my party wrote off the African-American vote, and many African-Americans wrote off the Republican Party."

Black support for Republicans in elections has hovered around 10 percent for more than a decade. In 2004, Bush drew 11 percent of the black vote against Democrat John Kerry.

Most of the president's remarks were greeted with smatterings of applause, but many in the convention center stood up to clap when he urged the Senate to renew a landmark civil rights law passed in the 1960s to stop racist voting practices in the South.

"President Johnson called the right to vote the lifeblood of our democracy. That was true then and it remains true today," Bush said.

Bush, joined by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and chief political adviser Karl Rove, spoke as the Senate debated a bill to approve a 25-year extension of expiring provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The House has passed the bill, and the Senate was expected to pass it quickly, propelled by a Republican push to increase the party's credibility with minorities.

For five years in a row, Bush has declined invitations to address the NAACP convention. This year, he said yes. He was introduced by NAACP head Bruce Gordon.

"Bruce was a polite guy," Bush said. "I thought what he was going to say, `It's about time you showed up.' And I'm glad I did."

He knew it would be a tough audience. According to AP-Ipsos polling conducted in June and July, 86 percent of blacks disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job as president, compared with 56 percent of whites who disapprove.

Bush said he saw his attendance at the convention as a moment of opportunity to celebrate the civil rights movement and the accomplishments of the NAACP.

"I come from a family committed to civil rights," Bush said. "My faith tells me that we are all children of God -- equally loved, equally cherished, equally entitled to the rights He grants us all.

"For nearly 200 years, our nation failed the test of extending the blessings of liberty to African-Americans. Slavery was legal for nearly 100 years, and discrimination legal in many places for nearly 100 years more."

The White House denied claims that Bush's appearance was a way of atoning for the government's slow response to Hurricane Katrina. The Rev. Jesse Jackson and some black elected officials alleged that indifference to black suffering and racial injustice was to blame for the sluggish reaction to the disaster.

Bush, noting that he has met several times with Gordon, and that they have discussed Katrina. "We've got a plan and we've got a commitment," Bush said. "It's commitment to the people of the Gulf Coast of the United States to see to it that their lives are brighter and better than before the storm."

Bush also recalled his visit in June to Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn., with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. While in Memphis, the two made an unscheduled stop at the National Civil Rights Museum at The Lorraine Motel, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Bush and Koizumi emerged from a tour to stand on the spot on the motel balcony where King was slain.

They were joined by former NAACP head Benjamin Hooks.

"It's a powerful reminder of hardships this nation has been through in a struggle for decency," Bush said. "I was honored that Dr. Hooks took time to visit with me. He talked about the hardships of the movement. With the gentle wisdom that comes from experience, he made it clear we must work as one. And that's why I have come today."

Toward the end of his remarks, two protesters interrupted the president, shouting inquiries about Vice President Dick Cheney and the situation in the Middle East. "Don't worry. I'm almost done," Bush whispered to NAACP board chairman Julian Bond, one of the dignitaries with him on the stage.

"I know you can handle it," Bond replied.


7/20/2006 12:25:57

__________________
To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

Anon

As long as there are people there will be racism.

gunnut

Notice how Bush "the racist" has had 2 black secretaries of state but the first "black president" Bill Clinton had an all white cabinet.

I mentioned this fact to some people who believe Bush to be racist and their reaction was "oh, they're just tokens."

WTF!!!

__________________
"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

TopHatter

Generally speaking, if you were a minority or a celebrity, then Bill Clinton could do no wrong.

EricTheRed

Yea plenty of Racism is still around. Against whites.

__________________
"Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved." - Saint Seraphim of Sarov

MIKEMUN

Matter of fact it is the liberals who are racist... They are the one who introduced abortion clinics(which ensures that minority populations decrease),affirmative action(which ensures that blacks get an inferior education)..


Doncha think I am right??

__________________
"They want to test our feelings.They want to know whether Muslims are extremists or not. Death to them and their newspapers."

Protester

Samovar

Racism is part of Americas foundation. Negros have advantages, but they hate whites. Whites dislike blacks, but they avoid to make a show of it. Threre are no balance.

mtnbiker

Incredibly simplistic(and wrong) statement by someone that has undoubtedly never set foot on US soil.

TopHatter

Samovar, you are probably not aware of this, but the term Negro is considered offensive. Please don't use it.

gunnut

Here's the interesting thing though. "Negro" was considered an appropriate term a few decades back. We had the "Negro League" of baseball. In fact, we still have the "United Negro College Fund" today. No one has tried to change that name.

Then we moved on to use the term "black." Now that's on the way out thanks to Jesse Jackson and his "African American" campaign.

Personally, I try not to use the term "African American" unless I'm describing someone who had just arrived from Africa or has immediate links to Africa. This is a deceiving term and I think a political term aimed at confusing the public.

I have a friend who's Jewish, looks completely white, with parents from Egypt. He's technically "African American." Last time I checked Egypt is still part of Africa. His parents were born in Egypt. That makes him a lot more "African American" than 99% of the blacks in this country.

I have no point in this diatribe. Thank you for not reading. I need to play more computer games, maybe some more exercise as well. I'm getting old and fat.

Samovar

To Mtnbiker: You are right, it is look from the direction of other country. And it was premediated simplification - I want to know other points of view. What is cause racism still exist in US?

To TopHatter: Thank you. I don't agree, but conform to the rules.

THL

And I am torn on this as well. I do so wish we had some black members that could help to clarify these matters.

I asked a black male friend of mine and he said it depends how it is used and the tone of the statement. So, according to him, Samovar you are off the hook. But then again, he is not a member, let alone a moderator on this board.

__________________
"To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are."-Sholem Asch

"I always turn to the sports page first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures."-Earl Warren

"I didn't intend for this to take on a political tone. I'm just here for the drugs."-Nancy Reagan, when asked a political question at a "Just Say No" rally

"He no play-a da game, he no make-a da rules."-Earl Butz, on the Pope's attitude toward birth control

RambozoTheClown

not to be racist or anything. as i am myself white...
but isnt this board generally white?

gunnut

Uh...no. I would say whites are actually in the minority, albeit a plurality. There are a lot of Indian, Chinese, Pakistani, and Middle Eastern members. Depends on your definition, you can include Russians, British, Australians, New Zealanders, and Canadians into "white" category. Of course they may not even be white.

Some (like Jesse Jackson) would attribute the lack of black members to the so called "digital divide." I don't believe so. They just don't wish to be either 1) on the internet, or 2) on a mostly conservative board.

Bluesman

I never really thought about it. And that's the way it ought to be.

__________________
"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell