Bush Defends Rights Record But Says He Fears Distortion
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President Bush today defended his civil rights record, from the 1988 Presidential campaign to his nomination of Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, but conceded that he was concerned that “pounding” criticism of that record might misinform blacks about him. “I’m going to take my case every chance I get to black Americans,” Mr. Bush told a news conference, “and say, ‘Hey, listen, we got a good record on civil rights, and we’re going to continue it, and you ought to be rejoicing that we have a very able judge to be elevated to the Supreme Court.’ And similarly on civil rights — we got a good civil rights bill. Don’t listen to all these people out there that say it’s bad.” His defense was provoked by reporters’ questions at the White House, and by a speech on the Senate floor by Bill Bradley of New Jersey. The Democratic lawmaker said that in 1988 Mr. Bush “used the Willie Horton ad to divide white and black voters and appeal to fear,” and said his remarks about pending civil rights legislation suggested he meant to do it again, with “code words and a grasping after an early advantage in the 1992 campaign.” Mr. Bush’s campaign television commercials did not mention the name nor show the face of Mr. Horton, a black Massachusetts murderer on furlough who raped a white Maryland woman. Mr. Bush did mention him in speeches, and another organization, Americans for Bush, used Mr. Horton’s face and story in a campaign commercial. Responding to Bradley The President called Mr. Bradley’s attack “grossly unfair.” He said, “The point on Willie Horton was not Willie Horton himself; the point was, do you believe in a furlough program that releases people from jail so they can go out and rape, pillage and plunder again?” On another contentious issue, Mr. Bush said he would be amenable to an “acceptable” compromise with Congress over regulations that bar federally financed family-planning clinics from discussing abortion. But, he said “I’m not going to change my fundamental position.” He did not elaborate, but he opposes abortion, Federal financing of abortion and Federal financing of advice about abortions. In his Senate speech, Mr. Bradley demanded Presidential leadership on race relations and said Mr. Bush’s commitment was legitimately in doubt. Mr. Bradley said the first reason for doubt was Mr. Bush’s opposition to the 1964 civil rights bill, when as a candidate for the Senate from Texas he said the bill “violates the constitutional rights of all people.” More : query.nytimes.com |