NAACP Accuses Bush of Dividing Nation

President Bush came under heavy attack Saturday as leaders of the NAACP accused him of sharply dividing the nation instead of uniting it as he has vowed to do.

Julian Bond, chairman of the group’s board of directors, and President Kweisi Mfume criticized Bush during the civil rights organization’s annual meeting, saying he has talked a good game but done little else.

“Instead of uniting us, the new administration almost daily separates and divides,” Bond told about 350 people gathered in a ballroom at the Capital Hilton. “They selected nominees from the Taliban wing of American politics, appeased the wretched appetites of the extreme right wing and chose Cabinet officials whose devotion to the Confederacy is nearly canine in its uncritical affection.”

Bond pulled no punches, saying Bush “had his picture taken with more black people than voted for him in last year’s election.” He said it’s doubtful progress will continue under Bush, who many blacks say was given the election by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mfume said he would request a meeting with Bush soon on behalf of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

“I will reach out to this president” in an effort to “try to broker some sense of real progress,” Mfume said.

White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said the statements by Mfume and Bond lack merit.

“The president has made an unprecedented effort to reach out to many segments of the American population,” Lisaius said Saturday. “During his first weeks in office he has had a record-setting number of meetings with members of Congress, outside groups and others. He had an early meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus that went very well. The president will continue to meet with different groups during his tenure as president.”

Lisaius said Bush “will cross bridges” as they come with respect to scheduling appointments.

Mfume also said that he would try to meet with House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) to discuss the NAACP’s agenda. In an interview, he said he also would request a meeting with Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, the former Missouri senator whose nomination the NAACP and other civil rights groups strongly opposed.

“We’re concerned but not shocked,” Mfume said of Bush’s actions since he took office last month. “I think it’s important that this association, in its nonpartisanship nature, take the first step. Although it may not have set well with some people, I think it’s important that I make the first step.”

Mfume said he wants to talk with Bush about “issues of urgency that we can agree on.” Among critical issues for the NAACP are education, economics, hate crime and racial profiling, he said.