DURBAN, South Africa (FinalCall.com)�Immediately after Colin Powell announced that he would not lead the American delegation to the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, the Black Leadership Forum, a U.S. ; based organization, had a press conference in the Durban Hilton and called him out. This announcement gave the panel of leaders who spoke the ammunition to blast away at Bush, calling him a racist for not having the courage to lead�especially in a situation where many countries in the world had come to Durban to enhance the fight against racism.

The point is that many delegations came, both non-governmental and governmental, that were not satisfied with the neither the full cast of characters nor the agenda. But they were able at least to put the priority where it should have been�on the necessity of fighting racism.

By preparing to send a low level delegation or no delegation at all, Bush has not only perpetrated a monstrous affront to Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and anti-racist whites, but now showed he was lying when he said that he wanted to be president for all people.

Still, the media will raise the question along with Bush�s right wing Black friends: What will it take for Blacks to approve of Bush, or what does he have to do right?

Well, this is a biggie.

In effect, he is telling us where to go and how fast to get there with everyone in the world watching.

He is saying flat-out by this decision that he has a choice. He will not send a delegation if the context in which the meeting is being held appears to alienate Israel. If in making this choice he alienates Blacks, well, too bad.

What this does is to play off Blacks against Jews. If anyone else had done it, there would be such a hue and cry. Why is the media silent about the implication of this crude Bush choice and why won�t they make the case that this proves Republicans are not serious about fighting racism?

Well, that will not wash either, since recent polls reveal that a majority of whites routinely feel that racism in America is not as bad as Blacks think. And not all of those polled are Republicans.

On the one hand, that this was a crass bit of political strategy on the part of the Bush administration to try to cover up for the fact that he has virtually stood on the sidelines of the recent bloody Arab-Israeli violence with his arms folded, saying that we will not try to make peace unless there is peace when we start. (An Egyptian delegate stood up in the African and African Descendant Caucus meeting in Durban and wondered aloud how could the U.S. now be an honest broker when it has so blatantly taken sides with Israel again.)

But there is another thought that perhaps this is not about Israel at all. Perhaps Bush and his cronies are so afraid of the reparations issue�i.e., the payment to Blacks as restitution for the horrors of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade�that they took advantage of the presence of some lines in the Declaration and Program of Action to hide behind.

It has been amazing to witness the force with which the reparations issue has come to the fore. I am staying at a hotel that is host to the Youth Summit and it is a wondrous thing in itself to see so many (about 800) young people, including many Black Americans, debating many of the great issues of the day. Listening to them debate the issue of reparations and others, it gave the feeling that certainly this group of young people is not just something called "Generation X" but serious young brothers and sisters who were searching for answers and finding them.

Nevertheless, the issue of reparations not only captured the attention of the youth, but panels on slavery and the link between slavery and modern realities were commonplace discussions. And it is surprising how wide the consensus is among the whites that came about the correctness of this issue.

George Bush�s behavior on this score is also symbolic because the non-governmental part of the WCAR is closing and the vast majority of the delegates are people of color. Standing inside the Meade Cricket stadium waiting for President Thabo Mbeki to give the speech for the official opening of the NGO conference, I noticed that the vast assembly of people in the stadium seats were mostly Black and brown, and noticed that the people who could change things�white people�were mostly missing. Where are they? Are they also hiding from the necessity to confront racism, to tear down the entire mystique of white supremacy? Does the thought of that make them so uncomfortable that they, like Bush, choose to hide behind a set of convenient excuses and not show up? I ran into this sentiment on a radio show out of Baltimore, when the host opened the program by asking me why should the United States attend a conference where they are only going to get beat up on? I said that perhaps the United States had deserved it, on the strength of the record.

Well, the World Conference Against Racism is laying out a record, against all of those who have had a hand in the oppression of various groups. But the demand of the oppressors is that the agenda must be so antiseptic that it can mention the names of no country, tie them to no acts of brutality or depravity, follow a courteous etiquette and absolve them of any reckoning that they should receive.

This is indeed a curious demand�one that you can expect will happen if you have the power to make it work. But if you cannot make it work�and the delegates here are devoted to see that it can�t�then you better just stay home.