Jeb Bush in his address Friday to the National Urban League will talk about a “listening and learning” phase following his 1994 campaign in which he made comments that were offensive to African-Americans, play up charter schools, criticize a "losing" war on poverty and discuss his decision as governor to take down the Confederate flag.

“I know that there are unjust barriers to opportunity and upward mobility in this country. Some we can see, others are unseen but just as real,” reads Bush’s speech, obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. “So many lives can come to nothing, or come to grief, when we ignore problems, or fail to meet our own responsibilities. And so many people could do so much better in life if we could come together and get even a few big things right in government. I acted on that belief as governor of Florida. It’s a record I’ll gladly compare with that of anyone else in the field.

“Just for starters, leaders know that there are plenty of tough calls we have to make, and therefore we should not be wasting time agonizing over the easy calls. So, 13 years ago, when the question was whether to keep the Confederate flag on the grounds of the Florida State Capitol, I said no, and put it in a museum where it belongs.

“Another easy call was reaching out for talent wherever I found it – for my cabinet and staff, state agencies, and the courts. You’re not going to get good judgment in government when everybody comes from the same life experience. You can’t serve all the people unless you represent all the people and we did, with the most diverse appointments this state ever saw. We increased the number of black Floridians serving in the judiciary by 43 percent. And I was particularly proud that during my governorship, the state’s use of minority owned businesses tripled.”

Bush’s appearance before the civil rights group in Fort Lauderdale fits his campaign goal of reaching beyond traditional GOP quarters. But his appeal faces challenges.

The former governor will discuss his failed 1994 campaign -- “Probably nothing,” he bluntly said when asked what he would do for blacks -– and attempt afterward to build relationships. He refers to a "listening and learning" process that took him on a tour of 250 schools, many of them low-income.

He will play up charter schools, and calls the War on Poverty “well-intentioned” but an expensive and “losing one."

"When President Obama says that, quote, “for too long we’ve been blind to the way past injustices continue to shape the present,” he is speaking the truth. But we should be just as candid about our failures in addressing the injustices of today. In our cities, we’ve got so many people who have never known anything but poverty. So many young adults with no vision of a life beyond the life they know. It is a tragedy for them, and such a loss to our country, because every one of them has a God-given purpose to live out, and God-given talents that this world needs. Every one of them was also promised at least one big break in life, in the form of a public school to help them learn who they are and what they can do. For millions, it’s a false promise."

He will also touch on the debate over criminal justice reform, calling attention to expanded drug courts and prevention programs in Florida.

“I took the view – as I would as president – that real justice in America has got to include restorative justice. I opened the first faith-based prison in the United States and signed an executive order to promote the hiring of ex-offenders. In this country, we shouldn’t be writing people off, denying them a second chance at a life of meaning. Many ask only for a chance to start again, to get back in the game and do it right – and as a country, we should say yes whenever we can.”