George H.W. Bush: Race a non-issue post-Katrina

INDIANAPOLIS -- Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush told a crowd of 11,000 at Butler University that bringing race into the discussion of the government's response to Hurricane Katrina was disheartening.\n"In fact, I think race has nothing to do with what happened there, and I am saddened that this has come into the national dialogue," he said.\nBush said charges of racism like those levied on the government after Hurricane Katrina are counterproductive to a discussion of race relations and amount to a "race bating."\nBush, the 42nd president of the United States, visited Butler to speak about diversity in celebration of the university's sesquicentennial -- the 150th anniversary. In the fall, former President Bill Clinton took part in the celebration by speaking at Butler as well. \nGov. Mitch Daniels, Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and others introduced Bush, whom Daniels said "always had a noble civility that is sometimes in short supply in Washington."\nBush kept the majority of his speech light-hearted, making jokes about his son, current President George W. Bush, as well as his own presidency.\n"I can remember promising President Clinton that I would try very hard not to criticize him," he told the crowd. "I am now working very hard to extend the same courtesy to President Bush. I can tell you, though: All bets are off with Barbara."\nDespite starting the speech on a light note, Bush spent considerable time speaking about his time campaigning for aid for the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina with Clinton.\n"While I am encouraged by what we saw (in New Orleans), I also recognize that we have a lot of work to do," he said.\nBush also stressed the importance of public service to the audience, telling the attendants that if they could take one thing away from his address, "it would be to find some way to get involved in public service."\nIU senior and Social Director of the College Republicans Jeff Costas said Bush's speech was well worth the drive from Bloomington.\n"He talked to each one of us," Costas said, "not to the audience." \nCostas said Bush's candor and honesty in the address impressed him.\nDespite the time Bush spent on grave matters like the disasters in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf Coast, he ended the speech on an optimistic note. Nodding to the strength he saw in New Orleans' hurricane victims and the subsequent outpouring of charity, he said he believes the American future to be CAVU -- a reference to his days as a Navy pilot in World War II.\n"Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited," he said.