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TALLAHASSEE - About a dozen students walked out Monday before Gov. Jeb Bush gave a Martin Luther King Jr. Day address at historically black Florida A&M University.
The 150-seat auditorium classroom was filled to capacity when the group, identified only as "students of FAMU," handed out a one-page statement describing Bush's holiday visit as disrespectful to King's legacy and black students.
The statement contrasted Bush's and King's positions on affirmative action, racism and war and chastised the governor for not restoring voting rights to black voters who were erroneously purged from the rolls before the 2000 presidential election.
Bush, who said he was unaware of the walkout until later, said such demonstrations are "an important element of our free society."
"They have every right to do it. It doesn't bother me a bit," said Bush, who was invited by the school to speak. "I have great admiration for the students here and for their success. "I wanted to make the link that the success of this university could not have occurred without the struggles that Dr. King and many others a generation ago undertook."