Bush declines NAACP for 4th consecutive time
 

Bush says no to NAACP convention
By Steve Miller
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

President Bush has declined for the fourth consecutive year to address the annual NAACP convention, which begins Sunday in Philadelphia.
The president's refusal to address the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has puzzled and angered leaders of the group, which has been critical of the president in the past.
"The truth of the matter is that he has turned us down four out of four times since he became president," said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington office.
"We have 500,000 members across the United States as well as membership units in the military," the director said. "It is a loud voice, and it seems to me that the president of an entire country would want to speak with that voice."
NAACP President Kweisi Mfume told the Wilmington (N.C.) Journal this week that "Mr. Bush has now distinguished himself as the first president since Warren Harding who has not met with the NAACP. So, we've got a 95-year history and a president that's prepared to take us back to the days of Jim Crow segregation and dominance, an era where dialogue is required, not distance."
An NAACP spokesman said the president was sent an invitation in December. In a letter received by the NAACP late last month, Mr. Bush declined the invitation, cited conflicting engagements. Sen. John Kerry is confirmed to speak at the convention on Thursday.
The president's only appearance before the group was at its 2000 convention in Baltimore, when he was the Republican presidential candidate.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said yesterday that "we had other scheduling commitments at the time" of the convention.
The president, though, has other reasons for dismissing the NAACP. Sources said yesterday that Mr. Bush reportedly was "personally hurt" by an ad run by a group loosely connected to the NAACP during the 2000 presidential contest, portraying him as unsympathetic to James Byrd, the black Texan who was dragged to his death by three white men.
Furthermore, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said last year at the group's convention that Republicans appeal "to the dark underside of American culture, to that minority of Americans who reject democracy and equality."
The NAACP has, over the years, been accused by conservatives of openly pursuing a liberal agenda.
Still, Mr. Bush, who received 8 percent of the nation's black vote in 2000, has little to lose by appearing at the convention.
"From our perspective, it is always good for the president to appear before all groups to articulate his continued vision for the country," said Alvin Williams, president of the conservative Black America's Political Action Committee. "But I think he does feel offended by the 2000 presidential campaign, when some very nasty things were alleged about him."
Also slated to appear at the convention is Bill Cosby, who has sparked debate with his recent public statements regarding irresponsibility in some segments of the black community. He is scheduled to perform at an event billed as a "comedy show" on Tuesday night.
"Those who want to hear the truth will come to see him," said James M. Kilby, former president of an NAACP chapter in Warren and Page counties in Virginia. "I think he will play well there."
In May, Mr. Cosby told people gathered at an NAACP event in Washington that "lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids — $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics?' "
Last week, appearing at the Rev. Jesse Jackson's annual Rainbow/PUSH conference in Chicago, Mr. Cosby told the audience that "you've got to stop beating up your women because you can't find a job because you didn't want to get an education and now you're [earning] minimum wage."

Re: Bush declines NAACP for 4th consecutive time
 

Not true....as a group, Black American are typically religious and conservative. Many of us are actively seeking a reason not to vote democratic in the fall. Bush obviously doesn't want or need my vote. **smh**

Does the NAACP really represent Conservative and Religious black folks?

I know that they say that they represent ALL of you, but how can they? How do they?

The NAACP has always been squarely behind the Democratic party. You won't see Bush speaking at a Teamsters rally either.

Whatever ktsnake. WHATEVER! I crave the day when that man is shown the way out of Washington D.C. If it isn't this November, then I thank the Good Lord that he will be gone in four years and hope that the next president is better.

-and the NAACP has not always been squarely behind the Democratic party. There you go again with your generalizations. Do you even know how old this organizations is?

You just said you disliked Bush and don't want him in the White House anymore.

You did nothing to address my questions. The questions are somewhat rhetorical. I just mean to show that Bush's reason for not addressing the NAACP is similar to the reason that he will not address the Teamsters.

We're talking about recent history.

That's not what you said.

You're absolutely right I did not respond to those so-called rhetorical questions you posed and I am not going to. If you know anything about American history, (which you actually may not, since you said it's always been squarely behind the Democratic party) then you should know how they represent and have helped ALL Black Americans and although I may not agree with every position they take on every issue, I will NEVER belittle their cause or what they have been able to make happen for me, my family, my community, my people or my country.

Since you have made it clear to me that you may not know as much about American history as I thought you did, then I may need to remind or inform you that his and your party is the same party who opened it's loving arms to the members and the children of the group in this country who fought and killed over the passage of civil rights laws in this country and that is his base. His refrain from addressing this group was because of THAT. He did not want that symbolism put before that base and that is not the same basis for his not addressing the teamsters. You need to either wake up or read a book.

The history of the last 50 years is irrelevant to this election cycle. What the NAACP was is not necessarily what it is today. How it used to accomplish things is not how it now accomplishes things. Its mission is the same (and is admirable), but who through and the methods used to reach its goals are very politically divisive.

And it what it comes down to is that none of us knows his true reason for declining their invite. You'll have your opinion and I'll have mine.

I think that's shameful, really. Even if the organization upset him at some point, it really looks like he's telling an entire segment of the population of the country that he doesn't give a rat's ass about them.

Exactly.

How many of the Democratic canditates spoke to the NAACP during the primary? As I remember most of the candidates blew off the NAACP invitation. If Kerry didn't go does that mean he doesn't give a rat's ass about them?

No, he's telling a specific organization that he doesn't give a rat's ass about them. The organization just claims to speak for an entire people.

Well then, maybe I missed it -- how is he reaching out to the black population?

In January, he asked the congress to authorize 15 Billion to fight AIDS.

He had a great ceremony at the White House to commemorate the anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

He DID appear and speak for the National Urban League last year.
There are other examples. I(link)

It's the simple fact that this is an election year, and he's allocating his limited time to speak in places where he'll win the most votes. That in mind, you can see why he would ignore the NAACP's overtures. They are currently (is that fair?) a very partisan group and they're not changing sides of the aisle any time soon.

Let me ask you this: Had he spoken there, would you have voted differently?