Bush was appearing in Indianapolis at the Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration, which promotes jobs, health care, education and other opportunities for blacks. About 250 miles away, GOP chairman Ken Mehlman was addressing the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Milwaukee.
For the fifth consecutive year, Bush declined an invitation to the NAACP's annual convention, attended by more than 8,000 blacks from across the country. The White House said it couldn't fit the event onto his schedule.
NAACP Chairman Julian Bond accused Bush of snubbing the group and said national leaders were rolling back past civil rights gains.
In Bush's speech in Indiana, he was touting how black small business and home ownership have reached an all-time high on his watch. He also was talking about his efforts to improve education, health care and Social Security and to increase aid to Africa and religious organizations that provide social services.
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