NAACP says administration failing to address civil rights
Posted on 07/09/2002 7:29:06 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
NAACP says administration failing to address civil rights
Bush, Justice Department say track records prove otherwise
07/09/2002
HOUSTON - Civil rights have faltered during the Bush administration, speakers appearing before the NAACP told delegates to the organization's national convention in Houston.
President Bush fired back Monday afternoon, arguing that the administration's record shows otherwise.
NAACP Chairman Julian Bond opened the convention Sunday, charging that Mr. Bush has failed to keep a promise made to the NAACP convention in 2000 to enforce civil rights laws.
"We knew he was in the oil business," Mr. Bond said. "We just didn't know it was snake oil."
Mr. Bond said that since Mr. Bush's election, groups opposed to civil rights have "ascended to unprecedented positions of power within the federal government."
Mr. Bush, at a White House news conference Monday, dismissed criticism.
"Let's see," he said, answering a reporter's question. "There I was, sitting around ... the table with foreign leaders, looking at Colin Powell and Condi Rice. Yeah." Mr. Bush then moved on to another question.
AP "You can't be president of all the people when you only want to deal with some of the people," said NAACP president Kweisi Mfume at the national convention in Houston. |
Mr. Powell, secretary of state, and Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser, are black.
Later, deputy White House press secretary Scott McClellan defended the administration on civil rights.
"The president believes in bringing people together, uniting America around our common goals," he said. "The administration has a proven record of vigorously enforcing our civil rights laws."
Mr. Bond singled out for criticism Attorney General John Ashcroft, describing him as a cross between former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and the Rev. Jerry Falwell, neither regarded by blacks as a friend.
Justice Department spokeswoman Barbara Comstock said the remarks at the NAACP convention "ignore the record."
She said the department has conducted more than 300 investigations into alleged hate crimes since Sept. 11, initiating about 70 prosecutions. She also cited school desegregation, excessive use of force by police and voting rights violations as areas the department has pursued.
Appearing at the convention, the Rev. Jesse Jackson on Monday characterized Mr. Bush, leaders in Congress and judges on the courts as "the most threatening combination to civil rights in 50 years."
NAACP President Kweisi Mfume criticized Mr. Bush for not meeting with the group to discuss policy since he took office.
"You can't be president of all the people when you only want to deal with some of the people," he said.
Mr. Mfume said Democrats also have work to do. He accused the party of "taking our votes for granted."
He also addressed bigotry by some blacks, saying: "Black bigotry is just as cruel and evil as white bigotry."
The biggest applause Monday went to the line in Mr. Mfume's speech in which he criticized hip-hop music for denigrating black culture.
In other action Monday, the NAACP complained that it's taking too long to enact election reforms to ensure that minority voters can cast ballots and get their votes counted without the problems that occurred in Florida in 2000, where Mr. Bush won by fewer than 600 votes.
A report released at the news conference evaluated progress in all 50 states, giving 24 grades of D or F.
Texas was one of the states receiving a failing grade, along with an "incomplete" because some efforts were under way, Mr. Mfume said.
Spokeswomen for Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Secretary of State Gwyn Shea responded that the NAACP report did not take into account 14 laws enacted during the 2001 Legislature and signed into law.
Staff writers G. Robert Hillman and Michelle Mittelstadt in Washington contributed to this report.
E-mail bnichols@dallasnews.com
"The NAACP has become nothing more than a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party". - Fred Barnes, Editor-The Weekly Standard, 07/09/02.
I have seen organizations - even churches - whose tax-exempt status has been revoked, or at least threatened, for activities FAR less political than this overt (demo)CRAP that the NAACP routinely spews.
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