Bush to Propose Funds for Black, Hispanic Education

Jan. 19 — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will propose funding increases for Hispanic-serving institutions and historically black colleges and universities in his 2004 budget, the White House said in a statement on Sunday, on the eve of the Martin Luther King Day holiday. Asked about the timing of the announcement and whether it was in response to criticism of the president's legal challenge to the University of Michigan's policy of using racial preferences in admissions, a White House spokesman declined direct comment.

As a poster over on Table Talk (Julius Civitatus) commented:

Notice the subtlety of Bush stance on race and education: legally fighting affirmative action while supporting minority-only institutions. This is nothing but a push to resegregate education, back to the times of separated but equal, while at the same time looking like he's supporting education for minorities.

I don't know if this is the real intent of this aciton, but I think it is clear that they are doing this partly in response to the heat they are taking over the Michigan case. But, whether they are doing it intentionally or not, Julius is right that it effectively encourages a "separate but equal" form of education.