Gore 2000
Press Release – 31 August 2000
To: National Desk, Political Reporter
Contact: Douglas Hattaway or Chris Lehane, 615-340-3251
both of Gore-Lieberman 2000;
Web site: http://www.algore2000.com
NASHVILLE, Aug. 31 /U.S. Newswire/ — To mark the occasion of George W. Bush’s 100th photo-op at a school, the Gore campaign would like to ask one question: Does this number include Bush’s visit to Bob Jones University? After promising to be a “different kind of Republican,” Bush visited Bob Jones University on the day after his loss in the New Hampshire primary, striking a “more conservative” tone.
— Bob Jones Called Catholicism a “Cult.” In 1994, Jones III protested an agreement between evangelicals and Catholics in the south, saying that “The Christian Church has as much reason to separate from Catholicism as it does from Islam, Mormonism, or any other of the world’s religious deceptions.” The university’s website referred to Catholicism as “a cult which calls itself Christian.” Former university president and founder Bob Jones Jr. called the Pope the antichrist and referred to the University’s collection of Catholic art as false, saying that “There is not a lot of good Protestant Christian painting. I had to buy Catholic pictures, despite the falsehoods in them.” (Associated Press, 4/8/94, 9/11/87; Christian Century, 5/5/93; Atlanta Journal Constitution, 6/30/91; Arizona Star, 3/7/00)
— Bob Jones University Lost Tax-Exempt Status Because of Racial Discrimination. Bob Jones University lost its tax-exempt status in 1970 for refusing to admit African-Americans. The school then changed its policy but still prohibited any interracial dating or marriage. In 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court supported an IRS decision to remove tax-exempt status from the school for its dating policy, which included rules such as “students who date outside their own race will be expelled.” (The Tax Lawyer, Winter 1984; World News Digest, 5/27/83)
— Bob Jones University Still Banned Interracial Dating in 1998. In 1998, James Landrith, who is white, tried to apply to the school even though he is married to an African American woman. According to NPR, Landrith received this response to his application: “I noticed on your application that you are interracially married. Bob Jones University does not endorse this. It would be no problem for you to be a student here as long as your wife was not or vice versa.” (NPR, 4/15/99)
— Bob Jones University Said It Discriminates “Against All Races.” In 1983, Bob Jones University defended its ban on interracial dating and said it discriminated against everyone. “We believe that the Lord God created races with distinctions and that the races are meant to be separate from one another,” a 1983 university statement said. “We basically accept that there are three races — Caucasians, Negroes and Orientals. Caucasians can’t date Orientals. Orientals can’t date Caucasians and neither of them can date Negroes. We discriminate against all races, if you want to put it that way.” (United Press International, 8/10/83)