Mr. Bush was strongly criticized during last week's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People conference in Miami Beach for his refusal to attend the group's annual event for the third straight year.
NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said in a highly charged keynote speech that "Republicans appeal to the dark underside of American culture, to that minority of Americans who reject democracy and equality."
The president appears to be seizing on polls in recent years, including a 2001 Urban League survey, that have found many black Americans believe economic opportunity, rather than political leadership, should be the focus of major black organizations.
Mr. Bush has been stressing economic opportunity in his bid to court black voters, focusing his outreach efforts on the black business community rather than the special interest groups that have long criticized Republicans.
The National Urban League is seen as the least political of the major national civil rights groups, most of which are staunchly liberal and outspokenly Democratic.
With affiliates in 34 states, the Urban League concerns itself more with economics and self-sufficiency than with political activism.
Steve Miller writes in the Washington Times that "Bush takes message to Urban League"
posted in articles on July 20, 2003 6:53 PM | t (0)
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