"The departure of John DiIulio means George Bush officially becomes the president of white America," said the Rev. Eugene Rivers, an African American minister who appeared with Bush in Austin, Texas and Washington as a vigorous backer of the effort. "The message in Professor DiIulio's departure is that the black and the poor in the inner cities can go to hell. It sends a signal that the faith-based office will just be a financial watering hole for the right-wing white evangelists."