About those minority-owned businesses…

September 16, 2005

Perhaps aware that they have a political problem with the African-American community — a recent Gallup poll showed 72% of blacks believe Bush “doesn’t care about black people” — the president’s speechwriters seemed to go out of their way to emphasize their concern for minority-owned businesses in last night’s speech in New Orleans.

“When the streets are rebuilt, there should be many new businesses, including minority-owned businesses, along those streets. […]

“Within this [Gulf opportunity] zone, we should provide immediate incentives for job-creating investment; tax relief for small businesses; incentives to companies that create jobs; and loans and loan guarantees for small businesses, including minority-owned enterprises, to get them up and running again.” (emphasis added)

Sounds good, right? Like the kind of thing a president with a racial problem might want to do to start healing the rift?

But, as usual with the Bush gang, there’s rhetoric and there’s reality. On Wednesday, the Bush administration waived several federal affirmative-action rules for employers with new federal contracts dealing with Hurricane Katrina relief. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, which wasn’t pleased with the president’s response to the disaster anyway, found this particularly insulting.

“We recognize the importance of providing relief and rebuilding in the communities in the disaster area, but it is totally unnecessary to undermine the affirmative action requirements of new federal contracts that are designed to provide equal opportunity in accomplishing these vital tasks.

“This unprecedented and uncalled for ‘National Interest Exemption’ would be ironic if it weren’t so tragic,” [Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights] said. “Instead of addressing the barriers and inequities that minority and underrepresented communities face, this decision could exacerbate those barriers and could limit access to the employment opportunities that are being given in the very communities in which these underrepresented people live.”

Somehow, I have a hunch the president’s references to minority-owned businesses last night will be seen more as an attempt to placate than anything else.

Notice that he said “including minority-owned enterprises” and not “especially minority-owned enterprises”. It’s nice to know he’s going to include them in the program, but they will get no preference.

I think it’s the same as if he’d said we will be handing out huge tax breaks, including to some people who need them.

  • Ohmigosh! A disconnect between Bush’s rhetoric and his reality?! Who could imagine such a thing?

    Actually, if you want to know what Bush will do, listen to what he says and then bet on the opposite. I didn’t listen to the speech because I knew it was just a set piece of the theater of the absurd. But reading post-speech distillations, I can guess what will happen. If he says he’ll help minority businesses then people of color and women will get screwed. Either that or Halliburton will suddenly set up a lot of subsidiaries headed by token minorities. When he says he wants to help combat the endemic poverty of the region, he will rescind wage protections so contractors can hire workers (probably a lot of illegal immigrants) who will work for close to the minimum wage. Oops, he’s already done that. See what I mean.

  • Any guess why he uses the word “including?” Why differentiate between the minority-owned business and those not owned by minorities? I sense that there is some secret message in that makes me uncomfortable (and I am white) – maybe I am just too sensitive – but I can’t put my finger on though PWalker was getting close to articulating my discomfort.

  • “…loans and loan guarantees for small businesses, including minority-owned enterprises…”

    Bush does not actually say that he will do anything special for minority-owned businesses. All he is saying is that minority-owned businesses will be entitled to the same loans that everyone else will be getting.

    He didn’t say anything about doing his best to help the evacuees return to New Orleans if they want to. Nor did he mention what happens to people who can’t buy a home. Nor did he say anything about the elderly or the disabled.

    Off the topic but does anyone know who actually gets the $100 million in cash and the $400 million in oil products that Kuwait donated to hurricane relief? Ditto for the $100 million that Qatar is giving.

    The gifts are very generous and I would like to send a thank you to the Kuwait and Qatar embassies but first, I’d like to know how the gifts will be used.

  • Look, Bush said he wants to address poverty in the Gulf Coast. Not only that, but he told the United Nations that he wants to combat poverty globally!

    I’m not sure…but when he says ‘combat poverty’ is he saying what I think he’s saying?….he wants to wipe poverty off the face of the earth? I’m afraid this preznet only knows one way to do that…perhaps that’s what the ‘armies of compassion’ will be used for…

    This guy makes me sick. I especially applaud the way he has eliminated poverty in his home state of Texas and the way his admin has lifted the many working poor out of the depths of poverty in his first 4 years in office. Not to mention his concern ( he thinks about it every day, I’m sure) for the poor in sub-Saharan Africa and other countries.

  • as the poll noted and rove knows, he has no chance to win back minorities. but bush’s approval is so low, he’s starting to lose the “moderates” of his own base. the only political power he has comes from shoring up this part of the base. if he loses them, all he has left are the crazies. so he tells the part of his base that’s starting to lose faith, don’t worry, i’ll help the minorities; america as you see it really does exist. these people are not hateful like the extreme right. they really want to think bush’s america is a place where everyone helps out one another. the emperor’s clothes are gone, and rove is desperately trying to find him a towel.

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