Black Leaders Say Bush Is Forced To Take A Hard Look At Race, Poverty -TheDay.com, New London, CT

TheDay.com, New London, CT: "Washington— Hurricane Katrina has forced President Bush to confront the issues of race and poverty in a way that has shaken his presidency and altered his priorities, African-American leaders of both parties said last week.

One of the most striking developments, they said, was that while Bush still calls himself a “compassionate conservative” who sees the problems of blacks as largely economic, in the last three days he embraced civil rights language from the 1960s about “the legacy of inequality” and pledged billions of dollars to rebuild one of the poorest urban areas in America.

Many black leaders, who have newfound political leverage at the White House in the wake of the storm, cautiously applauded. But they said Bush's promises of help on housing, education, taxes and job training in two speeches — a prime-time address in New Orleans on Thursday night and remarks at a day of remembrance for storm victims at Washington's National Cathedral on Friday — were only the beginning."