Washington Post mischaracterized Bush NAACP visit

Wash. Post mischaracterized NAACP audience reaction as approval for Bush comments http://mediamatters.org/items/200607210003 In a July 21 article on President Bush's July 20 speech at the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Washington Post staff writer Darryl Fears noted that Bush received "thunderous applause" after he "acknowledged that his political party wrote off the black vote." But, in fact, while that comment drew scattered applause, the audience responded much more energetically -- with applause and yells of "Yeah" -- to a comment he made immediately before: that many African-Americans "distrust" the Republican Party. And, as with the "wrote off the black vote" comment, audience members were not necessarily applauding Bush -- they were apparently agreeing with Bush's assertion about African-Americans distrusting the Republican Party. Fears also uncritically reported that Bush included the repeal of the estate tax as one of the "programs that he said ha[s] the potential to help more black people gain economic success." In fact, repealing the estate tax will affect an infinitesimal percentage of African-Americans. Fears reported that Bush's speech "drew rounds of thunderous applause," and clearly set apart the "thunderous applause" from "other times" in which "the audience groaned." From Fear's July 21 Washington Post article: After shunning the NAACP for five years, President Bush made an effort yesterday to warm up their frosty relationship with a speech that mixed folksy humor, frank talk about political disagreements, and promises to build stronger ties between his administration and black America. The 33-minute speech at the group's annual convention drew rounds of thunderous applause, such as when the president acknowledged that his political party wrote off the black vote and when he vowed to sign a bill to renew the Voting Rights Act. At other times, the audience groaned, such as when Bush said his family is committed to civil rights. People booed sharply when he praised charter schools. Two men were quickly hustled out of the hall by Secret Service agents for heckling Bush about the Iraq war. Fears was referring to these comments by Bush: BUSH: Now, we'll work together, and as we do so, you must understand I understand that racism still lingers in America. (Applause.) It's a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart. And I understand that many African-Americans distrust my political party. AUDIENCE: Yeah! (Applause.) BUSH: I consider it a tragedy that the party of Abraham Lincoln let go of its historic ties with the African-American community. For too long, my party wrote off the African-American vote, and many American -- African-Americans wrote off the Republican Party.(Applause) As video of the speech demonstrates, it was Bush's claim: "I understand that many African-Americans distrust my political party," that drew the "thunderous applause" Fears referred to, as well as yells of "Yeah!" Moreover, on the July 20 broadcast of NBC's Nightly News, NBC News chief White House correspondent David Gregory suggested the response did not reflect approval for Bush's acknowledgement, but an affirmation from audience members that they agreed that "African-Americans distrust" the Republican Party. Gregory said that the reaction Bush received "highlights the problem for this president and his party": GREGORY: Making his first-ever speech to the NAACP as president, Mr. Bush didn't dare hide from political reality nor did his audience hide its feelings. [begin video clip] BUSH: And I understand that many African-Americans distrust my political party. AUDIENCE: Yeah! [end video clip] GREGORY: That reaction highlights the problem for this president and his party. In its July 21 article, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution similarly reported: "An audience member screamed 'Yes!' when Bush said, 'I understand that many African-Americans distrust my political party.'" Fears also reported: "Bush touted programs that he said have the potential to help more black people gain economic success, including those that promote home ownership, faith-based community service, repeal of the estate tax and education reform. But much of the speech focused on glorifying achievements and framing goals." Fears failed to note, however, that the estate tax will affect a miniscule fraction of African-Americans. Referring to the estate tax as the "death tax," Bush said: BUSH: You know, one of my friends is Bob Johnson, founder of BET [Black Entertainment Television]. He's an interesting man. He believes strongly in ownership. He has been a successful owner. He believes strongly, for example, that the death tax will prevent future African-American entrepreneurs from being able to pass their assets from one generation to the next. As the weblog Think Progress noted, according to economist John Irons, the director of Tax and Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress, an estimated 59 of the roughly 38 million African-Americans in the country will be affected by the estate tax in 2006 (using estimates derived from The State of the Estate Tax as of 2006) -- approximately 0.00015 percent. Think Progress also noted that, in contrast to the tiny fraction of African-Americans affected by the estate tax, nearly 25 percent of African-Americans live under the poverty line, and that number has increased in recent years. Bush, however, made no mention of poverty in his speech to the NAACP.