From the Washington Post.

Bush all but ignored many black civil rights and political leaders during his first four years in office. Instead, he focused on building inroads to African American leaders through the pastors of black evangelical churches and business leaders who were not identified with the traditional civil rights agenda.
Bush became the first president since Herbert Hoover to serve a full term without addressing the NAACP, which many acknowledge as the nation's leading civil rights organization. At the same time, Bush's relations with the Congressional Black Caucus were frosty, contributing to a growing gulf between the administration and black voters.

Given the way the NAACP trashed George W. Bush during the 2000 campaign, why would he want to meet with its leaders or address the group? Given the complicity of many black leaders with Al GoreÂ’s attempt to steal the Florida election with demonstrably false claims of black disenfranchisement, why wouldnÂ’t he choose to ignore the entire dishonorable lot of them? Given the implacable opposition of the CBC to the Bush agenda, what good could have come of reaching out to the group? In the case of each of the jilted parties, it was their own actions which resulted in the marginalization. Plus there have been other, more pressing matters to be dealt with during the Bush presidency, matters of greater import than reaching out to the self-important group of foes who would have never responded to his efforts with a spirit of openness. So instead he bypassed the establishment an went to the grassroots for support of policies that were aimed at dealing with real problems rather than historical grievances.

Posted by: Greg at 12:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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