Show m'ii 'iiiaiOit aiiGO&’CBn Voices from the survey: Pros and cons on Bush A divided man in the White House “The president is a very smart man I thought he’d just plain be smarter on this issue He has to stop looking behind him at the troops and lead” It was a moment that defined the politician: President Bush on stage at Hampton University’s commencement this spring in Virginia receiving an honorary doctorate for his distinguished record of assistance to historically black colleges ' S ? I i He took no public notice of the hundreds of Hampton graduates who refused to applaud who instead held their fists aloft in a protest gesture from the Black Power era of the ’60s Indeed Bush remains a paradox on civil rights — and a lightning rod for criticism judging by USA WEEKEND’S survey results at right Consider: Bush is only the third president to — Anne Bryant executive director American Association of University Women white 41 “The president has been a very negative force While his voice sounds from a high place it also sounds frightfully in harmony with voices from the bayou like that of David Duke an K leader now a Louisiana legislator While Republicans on the one hand Who Is doing effective job of protecting civil rights? NEWSMAKERS veto major civil rights legislation (after Ronald Reagan and Reconstruction- era Andrew Johnson) But he gives half the profits from his book Looking Fonvard to the Unit-- I I I 6 I 1 ed Negro College Fund the only charity he does commercials for In 1968 the Texan risked his seat in Congress by voting for the Fair Housing Act As vice president he unfailingly kept home and office open to civil rights leaders in distinct con- trast to I I i £ f J ” Reagan But in 1988 he acceded to a tactic that his own campaign manager Lee Atwater renounced on his deathbed as sounding racist Bush justified clob- then-preside- nt bering Michael Dukakis with Willie Horton a black inmate who robbed and raped while on furlough as simply “the rough and tumble” of campaigning Then in 1989 he appointed the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and named a black woman as his senior national security assistant on Soviet affairs — hardly tokens Perplexed? It may help to remem- ber that Bush is described by friends and foes as a decent man whose com- -j petitive zeal powers an instinct to strike at the political jugular to do whatever it takes to win for his team Opponents charge that with the J Civil Rights Bill of 1991 Bush is once again playing politics with race using the public distaste for quotas to fright-- 5 en white voters away from the Dcmo- - the MOST Who Is doing the LEAST effective Job of protecting civil rights? READERS NEWSMAKERS READERS disavow David Duke on the other they embrace him and are singing the same songs using the same lyrics and maybe to a more symphonic tune” — Joseph Lowery president Southern Christian Leadership Conference black 67 “I perceive George Bush as a compassionate and sympathetic president to all people He recognizes problems beyond gender or racial issues I see him as a long-ter-m strategic thinker with regard to social problems” — USA WEEKEND reader Roger Rohtert accountant Madison Term white 27 As president George Bush is getting a strong dose of blame for the state of civil rights in 1991 Bush who received only 10 of the black vote in 1988 gets equally low grades in USA WEEKEND’S survey of readers and opinion leaders Of six choices Bush was rated lowest His poor showing cut across all categories: Whites and minorities readers and leaders all called Bush least effective (Only American Indians picked another choice: business ) Among those pointing fingers at the president: Roman Catholic ArchFaith bishop Patrick Flores "The Civil War" filmmaker Ken Burns former chairman of the foint Chiefs of Staff Popcorn andAdm William Crowe trend-spott- er fr vdOTtary responses from 230 Mnsnlwt and ISSOO feeders cratic Party Bush staunchly defends his record on race relations pushes his own civil rights bill and advocates converting bigots by appealing “to the better angels of their nature” He points to the military’s success at improving race relations without quotas as his aim: “We must think of ourselves not as colors or numbers but as Americans” he told graduates at West Point this month Yet he’s running so hard with the “Q word” that moderate Republicans have distanced themselves and searched for a compromise that melds Bush’s proposal with the Democrats’ The White House has been defensive Bush’s office agreed that the president would answer questions about USA WEEKEND’S findings but then refused “The issue” spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said “is just too sensitive” And too uncertain Will Bush temper his rhetoric while finding a way to laws? Or reinforce will he continue to inteiject quotas in the 1992 campaign as those with raised fists expect? By Jessica Lee White House reporter for USA TODAY “Bush has said a lot but the one thing he did was veto the 1990 civil rights bill By action or what he says he sends out the national message that Sve don’t care a bit about civil rights’ ” — JoAhn Brown-Nas- h senior VP Jostens Learning Corp black 55 “Bush uses code words to inflame antiminority passions If the civil rights bill is a ‘quota bill’ I’m an Eskimo” — Michael White mayor of Cleveland Democrat black 40 “Even though I’m a believer in affirmative action I’m not a believer in reverse discrimination and I sec the two as being different I think George Bush has stood up to say he’s not going to impose racial quotas” — Reader Eric Beck Comdisco Disaster Recovery Service Dayton NJ white 32 “Since about 1980 the president and the Justice Department have failed to do much enforcement at all Every Continued on Page 8 ! USA WEEKEND Junt 28-3- 0 1991 7 |