After five years of invitations, President Bush gave his first speech to the NAACP during his presidency. In the midst of his pandering and condescencion, Bush attempted to garner support for permanently repealing the estate (i.e. death) tax, which forces wealthy people to pay taxes on the property that they bequeath. Currently, the estate tax gets smaller and smaller until 2010, when it disappears for one year. The tax, Bush’s first as president, reappears in 2011.

Many commentators have rightly pointed out the absurdity of Bush’s reference to his “friend,” BET founder Bob Johnson, as a means of justifying the tax’s value for Black people. During the speech, Bush said:

“He’s an interesting man. He believes strongly in ownership. He has been a successful owner. He believes strongly, for example, that the death tax will prevent future African-American entrepreneurs from being able to pass their assets from one generation to the next.”

As economist John Irons notes, out of 38 million Black people in America, only 59 will pay the estate tax this year. That number will drop to 33 by the year 2009. Perhaps, instead of talking about an issue that effects fewer than 200 Black people this decade, Bush should have talked about the near 25 percent of Black American who currently live below the poverty line.

Still, although it doesn’t directly affect most Black people, the death tax is still a critical issue for all Americans. The most recently proposed estate tax cuts would cost 760 billion dollars during their first full decade. The government would have to borrow 600 billion dollars in order to make up for the cuts, which would primarly benefit the heirs of America’s wealthiest families. The remaining 160 billion dollars would be covered through moves like increasing payroll taxes. Such a move, ironically, would create economic burden for the 99 percent of Americans who dont benefit from the death tax.

Although it is easy to dismiss the death tax debate as a non-issue, given the infinitesimal number of wealthy (not rich!) Black Americans, the opposite is actually true. Estate tax repeals don’t just make the rich richer. Poor people also become considerably more burdened economically. Since Black Americans are disproportionately poor, this issue needs to be at the front and center of any conversations about Black prosperity.