President Bush 'Playing' Black America

This is not a new question...it is one that has resonated in some circles since the second President Bush took office, however because of some recent events in the last week, I thought it might be worth bringing it up again. For those of you who do not know, the President once again declined an invitation to speak at the NAACP national convention which was held last week. Now, there are many camps on the NAACP even within the black community, but we all can admit that the NAACP is the dominant civil rights and anti-discriminatory organization in the country. The interesting thing here is not that the president snubbed the NAACP for a second time, but that while snubbing them, he re-arranged his schedule 3 times to accommodate the Boy Scouts of America's annual Jamboree, which is their annual national gathering. Of course the Boy Scouts have made it very clear that they are a discriminatory organization that refuses to allow homosexuals within their ranks, and the courts have determined that they have the right to do so. However, it is very interesting to me that the President of the United States, who is supposed to be representing the interests of all citizens would go to such lengths to accommodate the Boy Scouts, while seemingly making every effort not to attend the NAACP convention.

In addition to his snubs towards the NAACP, the president has also raised some concern by holding meetings with carefully selected "Black Leaders", and not including members of the Congressional Black Caucus. He is known for not being very accessible to the members of congress who are the best representatives of our interests. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Mexican President Vincente Fox and his highly inappropriate comments concerning blacks...but I am concerned that our very own president , although in a more politically correct manor, continually sends the message that our interests are not important. When will we stop allowing the President of this country to play us?