It didn't take long after the levees in New Orleans broke before charges of racism were leveled against George W. Bush. It is true that the aftermath of the storm that was one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit the United States was not the President's finest hour. and the nature of politics is such that if Bush manages to capture Osama bin Laden, rid the world of al Qaeda and bring full employment to the United States before he leaves office, he will probably go down in history as the president who lost New Orleans.
Yet the charges that he is a racist because the victims of the hurricane were, for the most part, black and poor, are nothing more than political propaganda by the Bush-haters on the left. You only have to look at where these comments are coming from to see that they are nothing more than political rhetoric. One group that is promulgating the "Bush as racist" mantra is comprised of those who are in the race business; the al Sharptons and the Jesse Jacksons. The other group that was quick off the mark to go after Bush was, unsurprisingly, the political sophisticates of Hollywood.
The latter was led off by rapper Kanye West who said that "George Bush doesn't care about black people" and then added, "They've given them permission to shoot us." West, of course, gave no examples or facts to back up his statements, that there were people in New Orleans who were being shot by, presumably, federal troops solely because they were black. West offered no facts to establish what has Bush done to show that he doesn't care about blacks. Facts, of course, are never important to the Bush-hating Hollywood elites.
West was followed by the usual sources such as Sean Penn and the guy who probably did more to ensure Bush's re-election than anyone else in america--Michael Moore. Considering the sources of these comments, if they prove anything, it's that George W. Bush is not a racist.
Suppose Bill Clinton had been president when Hurricane Katrina came ashore on the Gulf Coast. Even if Clinton had done exactly what Bush did in the hours and days after the storm hit, he would have been praised. Clinton would have gone before the nation and spoke about how he felt the pain of all those who had lost everything. His lower lip would have quivered, he would have a tear in his eye, and when it was all over he would have been praised by Jesse Jackson, Michael Moore and the rest because he cares.
Bush was called a racist, not just because he is so personally despised by some, but because he's a conservative. There are plenty of examples where the race card is played when conservatives are in power where it would never arise if the object of derision was a good liberal.
Currently, the city of Toronto has been experiencing an escalation of gun violence. Most of these shootings and murders take place in areas that are populated by poor blacks. The vast majority of both the shooters and victims are young black males. The liberals, who are in power or decision-making positions, from the mayor to the police chief to the premier of Ontario and the federal government can all be characterized as being soft on crime. They sit around discussing how to take guns away from law-abiding citizens and bemoan the fact that there aren't enough basketball courts and community centres to keep the murderers otherwise occupied. It is difficult to imagine that if upper middle class white teenagers who live where the mayor lives, were being shot to death while on their way to their elite private schools, that anyone would be sitting around discussing basketball courts or the root causes of crime. Yet no one ever accuses them of being racists simply because the victims of the gunfire are predominantly black. This is because those in power are good liberals. They care. If conservatives were in power and Toronto had a real law and order police chief, the allegations of racism would have quickly arisen. But they're liberals and are praised for discussing root causes while the killings go on and on and on.
Those on the left will take advantage of any situation in order to label George W. Bush a racist. That's all you can ever expect from these people.