Posted on 02/27/2004 6:53:31 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Can you imagine the nationwide media uproar if a Republican congressman said Hispanics and whites "all look alike to me"? But this comment came from a Democrat, so it's probably news to you. U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., apologized Thursday for her racist remarks. Her outburst came Wednesday during a briefing on Haiti with Florida's congressional delegation and Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, a Mexican-American. The congresswoman, who is black, sat across from Noriega and launched a diatribe against President Bush. She claimed it was Republican leaders who were "racist" in their policies toward the failed black Caribbean nation, and she called the president's representatives "a bunch of white men." After her rant, Noriega responded that he would relay her comments to Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. 'Branded a White Man' Fox News reported today that participants in the meeting said Noriega later told Brown, "As a Mexican-American, I deeply resent being called a racist and branded a white man." Brown said in a pseudo-apology Thursday: "I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room. Rather, my comments, as they relate to 'white men,' were aimed at the policies of the Bush administration as they pertain to Haiti, which I do consider to be racist." U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican who organized the meeting, called Brown's comments "disappointing." "To sit there and browbeat this man who is a Mexican-American and call him names, it was inappropriate," he said.
Nice...
Yikes...
Careful now, you are insulting the whole state of Texas. We have Shela Jackson Lee (D-Mars) and when you challenge her dumbness, well thems fighting words.
Rep. Brown Apologizes for 'White Men' Comment
MIAMI — U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown (search) apologized Thursday for remarks she made a day earlier when she said Hispanics and whites "all look alike to me."
Brown made the statement during a Wednesday briefing on Haiti with Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega (search), a Mexican-American, and the Florida congressional delegation. During the meeting, attended by about 30 people, Brown sat across the table from Noriega and launched an attack on President Bush's policy on Haiti (search).
She said Republican leaders were "racist" in their policies toward the Caribbean nation, which is almost entirely black, and called the president's representatives "a bunch of white men."
"I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room. Rather, my comments, as they relate to 'white men,' were aimed at the policies of the Bush administration as they pertain to Haiti, which I do consider to be racist," Brown said in a statement on Thursday.
Brown added that she was offended that the meeting on the crisis in Haiti, led by administration officials, "turned into a diatribe rebuking the Haitian government and the Haitian people. I was personally insulted by the anti-Haiti sentiment brought to the table by the State Department and by Republican members of Congress in attendance," she said.
Brown also wrote a letter to Noriega, in which she apologized again "if what I said was construed as a personal affront."
"The State Department delegation that came to meet with us did not include any females or people of color. Given the racial makeup of the people of Haiti, who are 95 percent of African descent, I felt the delegation and the delegation's position were callous and out of touch with the needs (cultural and otherwise) of the Haitian people," she wrote.
After the dressing down, which sent a hush over the hour-long meeting, Noriega responded that he would relay her comments to Secretary of State Colin Powell (search) and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (search), both high-level African-American members of the Bush administration.
Participants in the meeting said Noriega later told Brown: "As a Mexican-American, I deeply resent being called a racist and branded a white man."
Noriega also pointed to Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (search), a Republican member of the delegation who was born in Cuba, and asked whether he appeared to be a white man. Diaz-Balart's brother, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (search), is also a congressional member from the state.
Brown's response, according to witnesses, was: "You all look alike to me."
U.S. Rep. Mark Foley (search), a Florida Republican who organized the meeting, called the comments "disappointing."
"To sit there and browbeat this man who is a Mexican-American and call him names, it was inappropriate," Foley said.
As Brown criticized the political response to Haiti, which she said amounted to the detention of Haitian migrants fleeing their country and the freezing of millions of dollars in aid over flawed 2000 legislative elections in the impoverished nation, others said Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (search) had created the crisis on his own and should step down.
"Haitians need true, decent, democratic leadership elected fairly and freely by the people. Not surprisingly, they have finally said enough is enough," said House Intelligence Committee chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla.
In an apparent switch in the U.S. stance on Aristide, Powell said late Thursday that the Haitian president should "make a careful examination of how best to serve the Haitian people" and should consider "whether or not he'll continue this presidency."
Powell said that the United States has not yet decided what assistance it might provide to an international force that would support a "transitional government or a political settlement."
It is the first time the secretary has mentioned publicly any alternative to Aristide's settling the issue politically with his opposition.
In a statement Wednesday, Brown tried to draw a parallel between the administration's response and the 2000 election in Florida.
"It simply mystifies me how President Bush, a president who was selected by the Supreme Court under more than questionable circumstances — in my district alone 27,000 votes were thrown out — is telling another country that their elections were not fair and that they are therefore undeserving of aid or international recognition," Brown said.
Aside from the Florida delegation, several other members and officials attended Wednesday's meeting with Noriega. U.S. Reps. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif.; John Maisto, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States (search), and Adolfo Franco, an assistant administrator with the U.S. Agency for International Development (search), all were in attendance.
Fox News' Teri Schultz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Nice "apology".
"The State Department delegation that came to meet with us did not include any females or people of color. Given the racial makeup of the people of Haiti, who are 95 percent of African descent, I felt the delegation and the delegation's position were callous and out of touch with the needs (cultural and otherwise) of the Haitian people," she wrote.
Translation: A bunch of white guys can't objectively look at an issue and do what's right. Since they're not black, they're mean and callous and will screw them over.
"I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room. Rather, my comments, as they relate to 'white men,' were aimed at the policies of the Bush administration as they pertain to Haiti, which I do consider to be racist," Brown said in a statement on Thursday.
Translation: "The only thing I'm sorry for is offending a few 'hispanics' and having my tirade wind up on the front page."
So who's the racist here? You make the call.
Yea, verily and forsooth! I am sure that "Mr. Noriega" is far more white than otherwise.
Yea, verily and forsooth! I am sure that "Mr. Noriega" is far more white than otherwise.
...just don't say so in front of he & his homies:)
Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX), a founding member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, is demanding Brown resign her seat in Congress after her remarks were reported in Roll Call.
"Congresswoman Brown's comments demonstrate a complete lack of ethnic sensitivity," Bonilla said. "This irresponsible statement represents a step backward for race relations. I will not stand by and allow these comments to be made without repercussions."
Brown later issued a statement that said, "I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room. Rather, my comments, as they relate to 'white men,' were aimed at the policies of the Bush administration as they pertain to Haiti, which I do consider to be racist."
Bonilla commented to Roll Call, "An apology without a retraction is an effort to take the political heat off herself without an admission that she was wrong. Representative Brown must recognize that racism is wrong and must retract her racist statement."
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