Bush finally addresses NAACP

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Um, yeah, he does that.

It's no surprise that he got a lukewarm reception from the audience, given that in the last few years he hasn't addressed them once (as opposed to other presidents). But what makes him look especially cynical is the context of Katrina -- as you may know, people have said the government's slow response to the disaster was partially due to the race and socioeconomic status of the victims. That is, poor blacks.

Somewhere Kanye West is saying again, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Thoughts and remarks?

 

Better late than never? Hrm, I don't think so. Bush is trying to make up for the fact that no black person will vote for his successor because of him.


It won't work. He got a lukewarm reception either out of respect (not for him, for his position and the US) or because he said what they wanted to hear. But it was only lukewarm because nothing he can say can make up for the fact that it is apparent he doesn't consider black people to be "equally loved, equally cherished, equally entitled to the rights He grants us all."

 

I was very disapointed in the speech. I was actually hoping he was going to use it as a platform to denounce all the "haters" who criticize Condi and the other minority Republicans. I would have loved him to call out the "race baiters" and I would have howled in glee if he had just said "You know, y'all should really listen to Bill Cosby. The man is making a lot of sense."

As Saber mentions black people don't support Republican candidates so I'm not quite sure why people are so surprised that the President hasn't put himself up to the ridicule in the past. I was surprised he volunteered to go at all. Lets face it; the Democratic party bought the black vote generations ago. I keep on wondering when the black vote will realize how little it has really gotten them.

 

Isn't it odd that the NAACP is considered champions of civil rights, but if there was a group called the NAAWP (for whites), they'd be branded racists? Was it a poor move to ignore this lobby group? Yes it was, but he still beat John Kerry.

Was the luke warm reception personal or was it because the President didn't say what they really wanted him to say? Forgive my naive nature, but doesn't advancing coloured people imply that this would come at the expense of the white people? I thought equal rights were just that--equal.

 

Can someone tell what an NAACP is please?

 

[tongue in cheek]******* All Around Crying Prejudice?[/tongue in cheek]Sorry, couldn't resist and I'll probably be disciplined for it. Just the NAACP comment got me started and for me it's a touchy subject considering how segregated New Zealand is becoming with Maori this, Maori that and no special government funded Pakeha only policies.

 

Groups like that exsit because of the treatment minorities have received in the past. Remember that old black man being punched by 2 white police officers in New Orlenes? As if the man hadn't suffered enough...

There is still some racism here, but people are not Black-Irish, or Arab-Irish or that nonsence, but we are simply all Irish, no matter what race or religion we are.

 

NAACP = National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

 

I'm actually surprsied that the NAACP hasn't changed its name yet. The "Colored" part is a very dated term, and calling a black person "Colored" is now considered to be politically incorrect.

 

The NAACP is nothing more than a branch of the democratic party now. Just like the unions, they are there for no other reason than to support the dems. I don't think that Bush should have gone there.

 

Aldeth: From what I understand, the people of the NAACP themselves understand the connotations of the word "colored", and there is at least some movement to have the name changed. You are right, though -- I would have expected it to have changed at least after the sixties.

Traditionally, the NAACP invites a new president to address it, but Bush declined early during his incumbency, so that he has finally done so (and as I have said, only after Katrina) is at least fitting. Before this, he was the first president since Hoover not to speak. (!)

Of course things like affirmative action stir up controversy, but the US has in any case rather painful and shameful history concerning its blacks (centuries of slavery, of course). That alone has caused blacks to be set back economically, socially, etc., etc.. But perhaps NZ has had better (speaking comparatively) relations with the Maori throughout history?

 

NZ has pretty good race relations in the last 100 years, comparatively speaking. The stuff that Abomination mentions is a bit annoying, but it doesn't really impact daily life too much.

 

Why would he wanna give that club of attention whores extra attention ? Are they more important than other people ?

 

Yes but the amount of money being spent on affirmative action could easily be spent elsewhere such as on healthcare to remove those massive waiting lists, education or law enforcement to name a few.

Many of these organisations have gone past their anti-discrimination roots into special-treatment for members of their ethnic minorities.

 

He's ignored them for 5 years and it looks bad because everyone already thinks he is a racist.

 

Legitimacy of the NAACP or not, you are going to look bad when you don't do something for minorities that presidents have been doing before the Great Depression. As for (general) black opinion towards the Bush administration, I'd definitely think Katrina was one of the accelerants for negative opinion.

(Incidentally, this thread makes we want to wonder how many posters at SP are actually black, Hispanic, etc.)

 

Actually, they wouldn't, unless the hypothetical NAAWP was just a facelift for the KKK or their agenda was clearly racist. Such an organization would be completely unnecessary, though, since the NAACP frequently defends white people, anyway. The mission of the NAACP has changed quite a bit over the years. They intervene in situations that involve any type of discrimination....and not all discrimination is based on race. Frankly, the name "NAACP" does not even come close to encompassing its mission.