Top Black Republicans Praise Bush As Protestors Demonstrate

At the podium inside Madison Square Garden, speakers at the Republican National Convention glorified President Bush as "compassionate." At various points around Manhattan, police arrested almost 900 demonstrators who denounced Bush as a "liar." So it goes in an election year marked by stark political polarization and views of Bush that could not be more different. Without doubt, African-Americans agree with these demonstrators, even though very few Black people are marching with them. Few Black people are inside the Garden, either, even though there are more Black GOP delegates here this year than ever before. In fact, the president has left most African-Americans angry and calling for his defeat. [more ]

• "The Republicans should stop trying to fool the American public" that they are welcoming to blacks, said William Marshall Jr., Democratic National Committee director of African American media. "Until they begin to truly represent the interests and aspirations of African Americans, they will never be seen   as a political party that celebrates diversity." [more ]