Bush touts accomplishments to UNITY audience

By Tarana Burke and Dana Arellano
Diversity Institute Fellows

08.10.04

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President George W. Bush used a speech to a group of minority journalists Friday to outline accomplishments of his administration that he said had advanced causes affecting people of color.

During a question-and-answer period afterward, Bush said he opposed racial quotas and legacy policies that granted students admission to college based on factors other than merit.

Participants at UNITY 2004 gave the president a standing ovation once his presentation ended. But at least one heckler was escorted from the room during the speech.

Bush told journalists that his policies had resulted in higher achievement among minority school children, tax reform and more home ownership among minorities.

“I think it’s more important to be a doer than a talker,” he said.

The president’s speech ended a series of plenary sessions planned for the conference. Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to journalists Thursday.

The 5,300-seat ballroom was more than a third full as Bush spoke, although some journalists were seated in an overflow area because they arrived after doors had been closed. Kerry spoke to a crowded room.

 Bush said his policies had moved the nation forward.

 “We’ve increased Pell grants by millions since I’ve been president,” he said.

Citing the school-voucher program and increased funding for black colleges, Bush said his administration had narrowed the achievement gap between whites and minorities.

 “I told people we’d focus on schools, and we are,” he said.

Bush concluded his visit by answering questions from four UNITY representatives.

Mark Trahant, editorial-page editor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Freedom Forum and Diversity Institute trustee, asked the president what he thought tribal sovereignty meant in the 21st century. Bush replied, “First of all sovereignty is just that – sovereignty. It means sovereignty in the city, sovereignty in the community.”

He also fielded questions from Joie Chen, a CBS correspondent; Rafael Suarez, a producer for “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer;” and Roland Martin, a syndicated columnist and editorial consultant for the Chicago Defender.

Martin asked Bush if he would support a constitutional amendment to guarantee Americans the right to vote. Bush said he would consider it.

Martin later asked the president if he thought that legacy policies used by colleges to admit relatives of their alumni were fair. Bush said that he thought the policies should be discontinued.

Convention participants offered mixed reactions to the president’s speech.

Suarez said he thought the question-and-answer session was useful for journalists who don’t cover Washington.

He said it was struggle for him to ask broad questions that he wouldn’t ask under normal circumstances. “You don’t want to tear his head off,” said Suarez. “But you don’t want to play patty cake either.”

Other attendees had less than favorable reactions.

Brenda Box, a producer for National Public Radio, said she wished that Bush had been more prepared. “He didn’t address journalism issues; his speech was not right for this audience,” she said.

Related

UNITY 2004 coverage by Diversity Institute reporters
Summer fellows file dispatches from Washington, D.C., where more than 7,000 journalists of color are attending convention workshops, speeches, receptions.  08.05.04