|
As Ashcroft Grilled American Blacks See Little To Celebrate In Bush Inauguration
WASHINGTON (News Agencies) - American blacks for the most part see little to celebrate in George W. Bush's three-day inauguration party that opened Thursday.
Though Republican Bush has impressed some of his critics by appointing a diverse cabinet, many blacks that closely identify with his White House predecessor Bill Clinton view him with distrust or even hostility.
African Americans voted massively for Democratic candidate Al Gore in November 7th elections, narrowly won by Bush following a five-week dispute over the outcome of the vote in Florida.
Bush's slender victory in the state led to charges that a significant number of Florida blacks had been disenfranchised by serious voting irregularities.
The feeling among blacks that their interests may be at risk has been brought into focus by Bush's nomination of former senator John Ashcroft as U.S. attorney general.
"Policywise, John Ashcroft represents the extreme wing in American politics" (that defended) "racial discrimination," said David Bositis, an expert on African American issues at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
"He is as repugnant to the Blacks as Kurt Waldheim to the Jews," he added, referring to the former secretary general of the United Nations and one-time president of Austria who served Germany's Nazi cause during World War II.
Ashcroft, the former attorney general and governor of the state of Missouri who is undergoing a grilling during his confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate, is opposed by a number of groups for his stand against abortion, gun control and affirmative action as well as his support for the death penalty.
He is specifically criticized for blocking the appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court of Missouri federal judge Ronnie White, who is black, and for his ties to the Christian fundamentalist Bob Jones University, which until recently banned interracial dating.
Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, during Ashrcoft's Senate hearing, also alleged that Ashcroft had put obstacles in the path of integration of schools in St. Louis, Missouri.
Ashcroft has maintained that as top U.S. law officer heading the Justice Department, he will "uphold the law of the land."
For his part, Bush has pledged his support for his nominee and at the same time has pledged to promote racial equality.
"Many Americans still face prejudice," said the president-elect in Houston, Texas, on Monday, during ceremonies to mark Martin Luther King Day, in memory of the black civil rights leader assassinated in 1968.
"The hopes of too many children are frustrated by deep poverty and unequal schools," he said.
He promised to work hard "to bring a spirit of reform and result" to America's troubled public schools.
Bush has appointed several members of national minorities to his cabinet, including three black, one of which is former general Colin Powell, nominated to become secretary of state.
"Someone like John Ashcroft as attorney general is tantamount to canceling three good appointments," said black civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who will lead a demonstration against Bush during Saturday's inauguration.
|
