Politics of inclusion or division?
NAACP Head Asks Bush to Rethink Convention Snub
Sat Jul 10, 1:51 PM ET
By Jon Hurdle
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The head of the largest and oldest U.S. civil rights group criticized President Bush (news - web sites) on Saturday for once again refusing to speak at its convention this year and urged him to reconsider.
Kweisi Mfume, president of the NAACP, said it was "unbelievable" that Bush had declined an invitation to speak at the organization's annual meeting for the fourth consecutive year.
"When you are president, you are elected to be president of all the people," Mfume said at a news conference as the convention opened. "You won't do that if you refuse to talk."
He asked Bush to change his mind and promised that the Republican president would be treated with respect at the Philadelphia event this week even if many delegates oppose his politics.
A candidate who refuses to talk to any group risks losing votes in what is likely to be a tight presidential contest, Mfume said.
More than 12 million black people are registered to vote, according to the NAACP. Most are Democrats.
"I would ask the president to reconsider his unnecessarily harsh stance and to show America that he's bigger than that," he said.
Mfume, a former congressman from Maryland, said Bush was courteously received the last time he spoke to National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (news - web sites) at its 2000 meeting in Baltimore.
Bush, campaigning in Pennsylvania on Friday, said he would not attend this year's NAACP event. He said his relationship with its leadership was "basically nonexistent" and he referred to being called "names" by organization members.
NAACP Chairman Julian Bond last month said Bush and other Republicans were part of a "dark underside of American culture."
Founded in 1909, the NAACP says it has 500,000 adult and youth members. |
