If I could be a fly on the wall…
JC
…I would have wanted to be at the NAACP annual convention where Bush recognized that racism still exists.
President Bush acknowledged persistent racism in America and lamented the Republican Party’s bumpy relations with black voters as he addressed the NAACP’s annual convention Thursday for the first time in his presidency. “I understand that racism still lingers in America,” Bush told the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Now read that again….clearly the most important part of this is that he “lamented the Republican Party’s bumpy relations with black voters.” Basically, yes, y’all are still discriminated against, and that sucks. But how can we get you to the voting booths to back us up? 
Smooth, Dubya, real smooth…especially for your first interaction with the NAACP. Some people just get smarter by the day…. 
mtevc wrote:
the bumpy relations occurred because our president refused to speak before the naacp when he candidacy was still an issue…he is only speaking to the naacp now, since he’s a lame duck…ah…go throw the black folks a bone and maybe everyone will forget that we are in the midst of inflation…that’s why he’s gotten on the against gay marriage bandwagon and so many other deflecting things…
Posted 25 Jul 2006 at 9:11 am ¶
dcase wrote:
Bush now panders to NAACP in order to increase appeal with moderate whites because Republican candidates are in trouble. The problem with the Republican party in regards to many fiscally conservative but moderate whites is that in order to build a strong base, they often are willing to align themselves with extremist groups and adopt sanitized versions of their ideas. To read about this further, visit freelance journalist David Neiwert’s blog at dneiwrt.blogspot.com where he provides well sourced and thoughtful discussions of political issues such as the mainstreaming of hate groups and such.
Nevertheless,this association scares these moderates because they do not want to vote for a party which is openly hostile to blacks and other minorities. However, presenting a facade of inclusiveness allows these people to be more comfortable with voting that way.
Posted 25 Jul 2006 at 9:38 am ¶
brad wrote:
GOP = Southern Strategy: Why would any African-descended American vote for a party that used hatred against them for 40 years as a vote getter?
Recent news reports have shown that in the 2004 election the GOP organized a voter suppression plan against African-American soldiers who served overseas. The plan involved sending letters labeled “Do not forward” to the soldiers’ US address knowing the letters would not be forwarded. When the letters were returned to them, the GOP used the letters to challenge the soldiers’ registration.
Truly, diabolical and disgusting…
Posted 25 Jul 2006 at 12:15 pm ¶
Gandalph Mantooth wrote:
He looks a lot like Stan Laurel in that picture. A LOT.
Posted 25 Jul 2006 at 5:31 pm ¶
Ben wrote:
(Maybe this formatting is better?)
Much as it pains me to say it, I actually think the speech was fine. He did touch on the rocky relationship between the GOP and black voters, but as the full transcript reveals (link) he acknowledged a lot of other important points about slavery and racism that are ignored, trivialized, or even denied by his fellow right-wingers. Sure there was the usual disingenuous pandering and hyperbolic self-promotion and unfortunate reinforcement of the oversimplified notion that black=poor and white=rich, but your beef, Jen, seems not to be with the 4000-word speech but with the Albuquerque Tribune’s 50-word summary of it…
Posted 25 Jul 2006 at 8:38 pm ¶
site admin wrote:
thanks for that extra info, ben… i will check out the full speech. i think that knowing it was his first effort to speak with the naacp put me on the defensive… and that’s just added on to how i already feel about mr. president.
so i admit i was probably biased in my post…. point taken. 
~JC
Posted 25 Jul 2006 at 10:31 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:
From John Dickerson at Slate, “After the speech, Bush met briefly with Jackson and promised future meetings with his staff. ” http://www.slate.com/id/2146263
ALLEGEDLY, JJ approached Dubya regarding issues pertinent to the Black community and Dubya told him to talk to Karl.
Now I realize Karl is Dep Chief of Staff & wields tremendous amounts of power, but let’s get real. Karl will filter the information into a strategy that will “work” in November. I think the slavery bit was pathetic. Yes, we need to acknowledge that. HOWEVER, we need to look at Bush’s fiscal and social policies to see what is really going on.
I’m with Brad on this one. Let’s not forget the resurgence of English only requirements (Texas w/re to Vietnamese speakers), elections officials separating English speakers from those-who-don’t-look-like-they-speak-English (California), at-large elections/redistricting (any major city), prohibiting Black college students in ATL from voting in the district of their college residence while not placing the same restriction on Emory students (Georgia at its finest), a law that would mandate that voters buy a Voter ID card (poll tax, Georgia again).
Dub said many Blacks don’t trust the Republican Party. Not true. MOST Blacks don’t trust the Republican Party because they don’t trust the Dixiecrats (So. Dems of the Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, George Wallace type). This is the sort of once-upon-a-time crap that whites want to forget. OUR PARENTS lived this era. The games these folks are playing to disenfranchise Black & Latin voters is the same game that they have ALWAYS played - no matter what the party label.
Dub can say what he pleases, but his actions and those of his ilk SHOW a deliberate, well-planned effort to destroy the opportunities of minorities to participate in our 41-year old democracy.
Posted 26 Jul 2006 at 7:58 am ¶
chuka wrote:
what i’d like to know is whats being done about it? the US hasnt had a black president, and i dont know the chances of that happening. now, i know that every black person out there wants to see the presidency go to sbd with their interests at heart, and thats why they go voting every election year. now to hear him say that he knows there’s discrimimation???? then what? i think i’m at a loss.
Posted 27 Jul 2006 at 2:20 am ¶