By William Douglas and Amy Worden
Knight Ridder/Tribune news
July 10, 2004
YORK, Pa. -- President Bush, who this week declined an invitation to speak at the NAACP convention, said Friday he did so because of harsh statements about him by leaders of the venerable civil rights group.
"I would describe my relationship with the current leadership as basically non-existent," Bush told reporters. "You've heard the rhetoric and the names they've called me."
Bush added that he "admired some" NAACP leaders and said he would seek members' support "in other ways."
This is the fourth straight year Bush has declined an invitation to attend the NAACP convention, which opens Saturday in Philadelphia and runs through Thursday. He is the first sitting president since Herbert Hoover not to address the group. As a presidential candidate in 2000, Bush spoke to the convention.
White House officials initially said scheduling conflicts prevented Bush from making the journey to Philadelphia or addressing the conference via satellite, as he did Thursday to the League of United Latin American Citizens convention San Antonio.
But on Friday, with Bush campaigning in Pennsylvania, administration officials signaled that White House annoyance with the NAACP was the major factor.
"The current leadership of the NAACP has certainly made some rather hostile political comments about the president over the past few years," White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Allentown, Pa.
NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, speaking to lawmakers and business leaders in Indiana last month, said Bush and other Republicans appeal to a racist "dark underside of American culture."
"They preach racial equality but practice racial division," Bond said. "Their idea of equal rights is the American flag and Confederate swastika flying side by side."
On Thursday, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume accused the Bush administration of treating the black community cynically by courting the black vote while stiffing black organizations like the NAACP.
"We're not fools," he said. "If you're going to court us, court us in the daytime, but not like we're a prostitute where you run around at night or behind closed doors and want to deal with us, but not want to deal with us in the light of day."
Knight Ridder/Tribune news
July 10, 2004
YORK, Pa. -- President Bush, who this week declined an invitation to speak at the NAACP convention, said Friday he did so because of harsh statements about him by leaders of the venerable civil rights group.
"I would describe my relationship with the current leadership as basically non-existent," Bush told reporters. "You've heard the rhetoric and the names they've called me."
Bush added that he "admired some" NAACP leaders and said he would seek members' support "in other ways."
This is the fourth straight year Bush has declined an invitation to attend the NAACP convention, which opens Saturday in Philadelphia and runs through Thursday. He is the first sitting president since Herbert Hoover not to address the group. As a presidential candidate in 2000, Bush spoke to the convention.
White House officials initially said scheduling conflicts prevented Bush from making the journey to Philadelphia or addressing the conference via satellite, as he did Thursday to the League of United Latin American Citizens convention San Antonio.
But on Friday, with Bush campaigning in Pennsylvania, administration officials signaled that White House annoyance with the NAACP was the major factor.
"The current leadership of the NAACP has certainly made some rather hostile political comments about the president over the past few years," White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Allentown, Pa.
NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, speaking to lawmakers and business leaders in Indiana last month, said Bush and other Republicans appeal to a racist "dark underside of American culture."
"They preach racial equality but practice racial division," Bond said. "Their idea of equal rights is the American flag and Confederate swastika flying side by side."
On Thursday, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume accused the Bush administration of treating the black community cynically by courting the black vote while stiffing black organizations like the NAACP.
"We're not fools," he said. "If you're going to court us, court us in the daytime, but not like we're a prostitute where you run around at night or behind closed doors and want to deal with us, but not want to deal with us in the light of day."
