NAACP Questions 'Compassion'

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, speaking at the group's annual convention, questioned whether President Bush has lived up to his promise of compassionate conservatism.

"For over a year we've heard about compassionate conservatism," said Mfume, a former Democratic congressman, referring to a favorite theme of Mr. Bush's campaign. "The NAACP says 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if every conservative was compassionate?'"

"Wouldn't it be great if they finally understood, in their pomp and circumstance and their power and position, that the Constitution does not belong solely to one party or one individual?" he asked.

Mfume's remarks came during his keynote address to some 4,800 people Monday attending the civil rights group's 92nd annual convention.

Though he raised points of contention with the president, Mfume was more subtle than NAACP board chairman Julian Bond, who a day earlier denounced Mr. Bush for appeasing "the wretched appetites of the extreme right wing."

In his first months in office, Mr. Bush has "appeased the wretched appetites of the extreme right wing, and he picked Cabinet officials whose devotion to the Confederacy is nearly canine in its uncritical affection," Bond said.

And for the nation's top law enforcement officer, Bond said Mr. Bush chose "a man who doesn't believe in many of the civil rights laws he's sworn to enforce — affirmative action, racial profiling, hate crimes, voting rights."

Neither Bond nor Mfume has met with Mr. Bush since he took office in January. Fleischer said no meeting was on the president's schedule as of Monday.

Mr. Bush addressed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People during the group's convention last year, when he was a Republican candidate for president.

The president turned down an invitation to appear before the NAACP convention in New Orleans, but sent a videotaped message instead.

In those remarks, the president said he had selected a diverse and well-qualified group of advisers including Secretary of State Colin Powell, Education Secretary Rod Paige, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson.

"We must continue our work to make sure that my party keeps faith with the memory of Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass," the president said.

Mr. Bush also promised to improve the nation's public schools and called for an end to racial profiling.

As the NAACP convention continues, a potential economic boycott of Mississippi is one issue that's likely to be considered. In April, 64 percent of the state's voters decided to kee the state's flag, which includes the Confederate symbol.

The paint industry is also likely to be a target of the NAACP's criticism Tuesday. Mfume has charged that it is responsible for health problems linked to lead in paint, and said the group plans to sue the paint industry.

NAACP spokesman John White declined to specify the companies that could be named in the suit, and said more details would be available Tuesday.

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