African Americans Seek Estate Tax’s End

Opening a new front in the battle over the estate tax, more than three dozen African American business leaders this week plan to publicly support repeal of the tax because they say it helps widen the wealth gap between whites and blacks.

President Bush, who fared poorly among African American voters in the election, has made repeal of the tax levied on the assets of wealthy Americans when they die a key part of his $1.6-trillion, 10-year tax cut plan. The House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that would slowly repeal the estate tax by 2011, and that same day the group will run full-page ads in major newspapers supporting the repeal.

Robert Johnson, chief executive of Black Entertainment Television and organizer of the campaign, said Sunday that the group was influenced by recent efforts by “very wealthy white Americans,” such as Bill Gates, to actively fight repeal with similar ads. Johnson, who said he is worth more than $1.5 billion, added that this first generation of significant black wealth is threatened by the tax.