The NAACP and Bush...
 

NAACP Still Seeking Meeting With Bush
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By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Since the days of Warren G. Harding, presidents have met at the White House with leaders of the NAACP. Not President Bush (news - web sites) — at least not yet.


More than halfway through his presidency, Bush has yet to receive the nation's oldest civil rights group or the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights, an umbrella organization.


The president met with the Congressional Black Caucus (news - web sites) for just an hour or so during his first month in office, but has not responded to a half-dozen subsequent requests to meet again.


While Bush, who got only 9 percent of the black vote in 2000, has shunned sit-downs with established black groups, he has reached out to carefully chosen minority audiences and to civil rights advocates less critical of his policies. One example is the National Urban League, whose annual conference in Pittsburgh Bush is addressing on Monday.


NAACP president Kweisi Mfume said he requested meetings with Bush in 2001 and 2002, and "was told politely, in writing, that he'd love to meet, but his schedule just didn't allow it."


"That may be the difference between Bush and his father," Mfume said. "While we certainly did not agree on many issues, you can never accuse George H.W. Bush of not taking time to reach out and to listen. He wasn't aloof like this president."


The White House disagrees.


"The president ... talks to a variety of groups from across the political spectrum and reaches out to people from all walks of life," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said last week when pressed on why Bush decided to speak to the Urban League but skipped the recent NAACP convention in Miami.


It was Florida's contested recount that put Bush over the top in the 2000 race. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights later found that the ballots of black voters in the state were disproportionately tossed out and the election was plagued by faulty machinery, among other problems.


Political analysts say the president's re-election effort is not targeting liberal blacks, but wealthy, conservative churchgoing blacks as a way to increase Bush's share of the black vote this time around. Recent Gallup polls find that fewer than three in 10 blacks approve of Bush's performance as president.


Bush did reach out to the NAACP as a candidate.


In a July 2000 speech at the NAACP convention in Baltimore, he promised strong civil rights enforcement. He also said, "I am here because I believe there is so much that we can do together to advance racial harmony and economic opportunity."


Civil rights leaders are pleased with the diversity of Bush's team. It includes three blacks — Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), Education Secretary Rod Paige and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites).


They praise Bush's $15 billion global AIDS (news - web sites) initiative, but note that Congress has failed to fully fund it. They are happy that Bush toured Africa, but say the five-day, five-nation trip lacked substance.


They back Bush's decision to position U.S. troops off the coast of Liberia (news - web sites), but wish he would order them ashore to quell bloody unrest in the West African nation.


They are unqualified in their opposition to Bush's nomination of conservatives to federal judgeships. They also opposed his tax cuts and the soaring federal deficit that Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (news - web sites), has called "a death warrant for social programs for decades to come."


Bond strongly criticized some of Bush's choices from the beginning, such as John Ashcroft (news - web sites) for attorney general. "This confirms the correctness of blacks voting 9-to-1 against Governor Bush," Bond said at the time.


Bush's decision to avoid the NAACP breaks a tradition that dates almost as far back as 1909, when the organization was founded. The first White House meetings were cursory.

"It's outrageous and insulting that he's not met with the NAACP and it's certainly contrary to decades of history," said Ralph Neas, who was president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights for 15 years and met with Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton.

President Harding barely did more than meet with the NAACP's James Weldon Johnson and other black leaders for "five minutes here or there," Kenneth O'Reilly wrote in his book, "Nixon's Piano," about presidents and racial politics.

Former NAACP heads have met with 11 consecutive presidents from both parties — Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, the first President Bush and Clinton.

"I thought it was a little hypocritical that the president would travel across the ocean to meet with African leaders, but could not find the time to meet with myself or with any other black leaders of any consequence in this country," Mfume said.

During his early session with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Bush said, "I hope you come back, and I'll certainly be inviting." But there have been no other invitations.

In protest, caucus chairman, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., boycotted a meeting Bush had this month with lawmakers to discuss his Africa trip.

"He talks to leaders all the time and meets with people all the time on a variety of those (civil rights) issues," McClellan said in defense of the president. "And he certainly meets with congressional leaders on a regular basis on a variety of different issues."

As this relationship has suffered, civil rights advocates say, so have civil rights laws. They note that Bush announced his opposition to the University of Michigan affirmative action admissions programs on Jan. 15 — the actual birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.

"These policy decisions illustrate a pattern of hostility toward core civil rights values, and signal a diminished commitment to the ideal of nondiscrimination," according to a report issued by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

Honestly, I'm not surprised by this at all! I never believed that Bush cared two cents about African-American interests. I hope that his actions help alot of people get to the polls the next time and actually do something about him instead of just talk. The fact that he avoids the NAACP means that he is trying to steer clear of the heat. He has said and done alot of things against African American's and he dosen't want to own up to it but everyone has their day! JMO

Bush campaign policy is to avoid "liberal Blacks" and go for more "wealthy, conservative, churchgoing Blacks"- that's from CNN.com

Well I always have to question his motives. I'm willing to bet he'll be running around the country come election time trying to talk to every black person of voting age. But not until then, for now he's just giving people money hoping that that keeps them from asking important questions like where are the weapons of mass destruction?

things that make you go hummmmmmmm :confused:

Just to note, Bush DID speak at the National Urban League convention today, keeping in line with his campaign policy towards Black voters

Yeah, but...nevermind. :rolleyes:

I don't belive he is avoiding the NAACP. The NAACP, bashed bush when he was elected ( for whatever reason). He could care less. So, why should he talk with them now? Bush does not need the black vote, liberal or conservative. IMO

Actually Bush is avoiding the NAACP as according to his 2004 campaign. He is not interested in "liberal" Black voters but is going for more "wealthy, conservative, churchgoing" Blacks.

And also according to some political analysts Bush does need a good portion of the Black vote since his electoral majority in 2000 was so slim.

I heard about this on the TJMS from Dwayne Wickam (sp). He elluding to the fact that there could be some kind of bad blood between Kweisi Mfume and Julian Bond, and this is the real reason as to why he is stepping down. This is bad either way.

More info....
 

Human Events OnLine


NAACP Head Mfume Didn't Retire, He Was Booted Out

by Armstrong Williams
Posted Dec 6, 2004

Don't believe the well scripted press conference where former
President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People, Kweisi Mfume, announced his
resignation. Mfume did not resign from the nation's oldest and most
prestigious civil rights organization. He was kicked out, following a
long simmering feud with NAACP Chairman Julian Bond.

The two began feuding after Mfume nominated National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice for his 2003 NAACP Image Award. Furious that Mfume
was reaching out to the Bush administration, Bond responded by
nominating "Boondocks" cartoonist Aaron McGruder for his Image Award.
McGruder had ridiculed Rice in his comic strip and later called her a
"murderer" for her role in the war in Iraq.

The rift grew as Mfume continued to reach out to the Republican Party.
Mfume realized that by reflexively voting Democrat in every election,
the black voting populace has given away most of their political
bartering power. After all, what incentive is there for either party
to go out on a limb for blacks, if it is taken for granted that blacks
will automatically vote Democrat? In effect, the black voting populace
has created conditions that make it very easy for both parties to take
them for granted. Mfume rightly reasoned that by reaching out to the
Republican Party on issues that they already agree with -- like
empowering faith based charities, supporting school vouchers, etc. --
the black voting populace can send the message that they're no longer
willing to blindly support the Democrats. Faced with the prospect of
fleeing voters, the Democrats would be forced to make new overtures.
This competition, in turn, would instill both parties with a sense of
urgency for addressing those issues that black Americans routinely
rate as their chief concerns. This competitive pressure would provide
the black voting populace with increased political options -- and
increased bartering power. Somehow this point was lost on Bond, who
dug in his heels with mind numbing intransigence. Over the next year
and a half, the rift became unmendable.

Ironically, it was Bond who handpicked Mfume to lead the organization
in 1995. At the time, the NAACP was foundering amidst charges of
sexual harassment and economic improprieties. "We were four and a half
million dollars in debt. We had scandal in the organization. Our very
existence was threatened," recalls NAACP chairman, Julian Bond.
"Kweisi Mfume was the last person we interviewed," continued Bond.
"When he walked in the room, you could just see people thinking, we've
got our man."

Mfume promptly set about cutting the organization's employee base,
raising money, and organizing overtly political coalitions. Within
five years, the debt was gone and the NAACP was widely regarded as the
most powerful political pressure group in the country. They alone had
the ability to galvanize fifty million black votes. Members of the
press found it all dazzling. "Mfume not only has righted the ship, he
also has set it on a new course," fawned USA Today columnist DeWayne
Wickam.

Bond and Mfume essentially partnered with the Democratic Party to
revitalize the organization. Not surprisingly, the rhetoric coming out
of the NAACP became increasingly partisan. During a speech before
2,000 attendees at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New
Orleans, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond proclaimed that President George
W. Bush has "selected [political] nominees from the Taliban wing of
American politics, appeased the wretched appetites of the extreme
right wing and chosen cabinet officials whose devotion to confederacy
is nearly canine in its uncritical affection." During a 2003
appearance at the National Press Club, Bond referred to the Republican
Party as "a crazed swarm of right wing locusts" that have sought to
"subvert, ignore, defy and destroy the laws that require an America
which is bias-free," Later that night Bond dubbed the Republicans,
"the white people's party."

Following the event, Mfume confronted Bond with his fear that the
organization had become too outwardly political. Soon thereafter, the
IRS launched investigation into whether Bond's remarks violated the
organization's tax exempt status.

The final tear came after the election. Mfume suggested sending a
letter to President Bush, mapping out ways that they could work
together to help the community. Bond rejected the idea. Mfume sent the
letter anyway. To Bond, this was an unforgivable. A few weeks later,
Bond had Mfume voted out. The message was clear: There is no room
within the NAACP for intellectual diversity. Just loyal servitude to
the Democratic Party.

This is a crime. This is a shame. This is the sad state of the
nation's most storied civil rights organization.

Was it a "higher-up" within the NAACP that was accussed of sexual harrassment? Anyone have any details on this?

And if it is true that Mfume was forced out, I guess we will watch and see how well the organization does in picking a successor. :(

This is a bunch of shit - sorry ladies - - -