Civil Rights and the Bush Presidency

Abstract

One area of continuing tension in public policy under President Bush has been the field of civil rights. Initially Bush sent out mixed signals about his attitude towards minorities and the extent to which the federal government should attempt to prevent discrimination against them. Thus he balanced a changed tone in the handling of civil rights issues and support for legislation to protect the disabled (which resulted in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) with a veto of the Civil Rights Act of 1990 and equivocation over its successor — the Civil Rights and Women’s Equity in Employment Act of 1991. In the heated debate about the merits of these legislative measures passed by an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress, Democrats and Republicans accused each other of playing electoral politics rather than addressing the substantive issues. In fact the Bush Administration, although extremely sensitive to electoral concerns, was also pressured by a range of factors including the attitudes of business on affirmative action, internal divisions and a powerful legacy from the previous Administration.