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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2001

The ranking Democrat on a House International Relations subcommittee on Tuesday said President Bush's threat not to attend an upcoming United Nations conference is a smokescreen for not caring about racism.

A State Department official, however, said Bush supports the conference. But Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) said the threat to boycott the World Conference on Racism if two issues are discussed shows the new administration doesn't care.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States will not attend if slavery reparations for African nations and Zionism as racism are discussed. He said these regional issues could hurt the conference's goals.

Senator Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) told Alaska Native leaders in May that they should be wary of attending the South African conference, which starts at the end of this month. He said it could be a "sham" that serves only to embarras the United States.

In an editorial, Grand Forks Herald columnist and reporter Dorreen Yellow Bird says the government should be embarrasseed about not supporting issues affecting indigenous peoples.

Organizers of the conference say racism against indigenous peoples will be discussed.

Get the Story:
U.S. Pushes to Refocus Racism Conference (The New York Times 8/1)
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Relevant Links:
World Conference Against Racism, UN - http://www.un.org/WCAR

Related Stories:
Yellow Bird: US should be embarrassed (7/31)
Negotiations begin on racism conference (7/31)
US may skip out of racism conference (7/30)
Powell urged to attend racism conference (7/11)
Natives urged against approaching UN (5/11)