Reaction to Civil Rights Speech

Representatives of the Black Leadership Forum held a press conference on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol to respond to President Bush’s commencement speech at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, on June 1. In the commencement address, President Bush lauded the military as an equal opportunity employer for all races, and criticized H.R. 1, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, for advocating quotas for minorities in employment. The black leaders supported H.R. 1 to prevent “further erosion of safeguards” against discrimination against minorities and women. They claimed the Supreme Court “mangled” anti-discrimination laws in a series of Supreme Court decisions in 1989 that made it harder for minorities and women to support claims of discrimination in court. Mr. Jacob called quotas “a phony issue,” and said congressional leaders were turning a civil rights issue into a political issue by bringing up quotas. close