Bush and the NAACP
It was good to see President Bush speak to the NAACP Thursday.
It was even more encouraging to hear him sound some hopeful, seemingly earnest notes.
"I understand that many African-Americans distrust my political party," the president said.
"I consider it a tragedy that the party of Lincoln let go of its historic ties with the African American community. For too long, my party wrote off the African American vote, and many African Americans wrote off the Republican Party."
Good start. The president needs to talk to the NAACP and the NAACP needs to talk to the president.
But Mr. Bush has spoken such words before,in the wake of Katrina and even before that, and his actions haven't always matched them.
Comments (1)
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I think the promises of every president, past and present, have somewhat exceeded their ability to deliver them.
I also believe that President Bush has been unfairly demonized by many people with influence in the black community (Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Farrakhan for example) to futher their own Democratic political careers.
When you have the president saying one thing, even if it's the truth, and many black leaders telling you something else, even if it's a lie, sometimes it's easier to go with the crowd than to impartially look at something and make up your own mind.
Posted on July 23, 2006 10:56 AM