All the usual suspects have shown up at the NAACP Convention "Freedom under Fire" to play the race card. Julian Bond blamed it all on a right wing conspiracy. Texas Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson offered her analysis that ""If we're not careful, we will be back beyond the '60s" and cautioned the crowd to "be careful who you vote for when you go to the ballot (sic)." Jesse Jackson made his contribution by claiming President Bush is "unliterate".
Hidden amongst all the bluster about "diminished civil rights" was the awful possibility of restrictions in the cash flow to them and their chattels. Causing real consternation was school vouchers:
Addressing the issue of school vouchers, Bond also took Bush to task. Last month, the Supreme Court ruled school voucher programs are constitutional if they provide parents a choice among a range of religious and secular schools. The court endorsed a pilot program in Cleveland that provides parents a tax-supported education stipend.Cry me a river Julian. It must really kill you that black parents were some of the strongest advocates of vouchers in Cleveland.
Bond recalled a speech Bush made in Cleveland recently supporting vouchers. Bush said the school voucher ruling was as historic as the Brown v. Board of Education decision, which integrated the nation's schools.
"The difference, Mr. President, is that freedom loving people and the NAACP fought for Brown," Bond said. "Today, freedom loving people and the NAACP are fighting against transferring tax dollars to private schools."
