At the present moment, the issue of reparations is at the lowest interest level it's been in years. Sharpton running for president is about the only thing I can see making it a major policy debate again any time soon. This doesn't mean the issue is dying, but just that right now it's not on people's radars.
Bush is taking this opportunity to take the issue and turn it into something else: on that is uniquely pro-American, but putting it in terms of error and redemption. Because Jesse and the like really don't have people's ears much these days, there is no one around to spin this any other way. The net effect of this would be to create a meme that would propagate and eventually block the next wave of reparations advocacy.
Looking at it more broadly, Bush could very well be doing that to race issues on the whole. It's not going to be long before the primaries start up, and the race drum will be beat hard. This won't stop it, but if he is successful, it could very well blunt its effectiveness.
This could very well be just my absurd theory. But I was wondering exactly why Bush would choose to bring this up now, and this is the best explanation I can come up with. Submitted for your approval.