Singer Harry Belafonte took to the AM radiowaves on Tuesday morning to slam Secretary of State Colin Powell as a sellout to the black race!
Belafonte, appearing on San Diego's 760 KFMB, told host Ted Leitner that Powell was like a plantation slave who moves into the slave owner's house and only says what his master wants him to say.
"There's an old saying," Belafonte began. "In the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and were those slaves that lived in the house. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master... exactly the way the master intended to have you serve him.
"Colin Powell's committed to come into the house of the master. When Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture."
For close to twenty minutes, Belafonte ripped the entire Bush administration, including an attack on Attorney General John Ashcroft.
"There's something wrong with men who think the way Ashcroft does and who manipulate the justice system the way he does."
Belafonte likened Ashcroft's tactics to the McCarthy era:
"Families were destroyed, neighbors spied on neighbors. Now we find Ashcroft cutting in under the guise of catching terrorists, suspending liberties and rights. To deny those rights, to any citizen, to any people, is to cast a great shame on us and lead us back to another dark period."
Belafonte also sang the praises of the United Nations as a pillar of global democracy, and decried President Bush for failing to attend the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa earlier this year.
From a CNN story:
[The United States and Israel walked out of the World Conference Against Racism on Monday to protest a draft of the conference's final declaration that denounced "practices of racial discrimination against the Palestinians as well as other inhabitants of the Arab occupied territories" by Israel and said Zionism "is based on racial superiority."
Negotiations to soften those statements failed, U.S. delegates said, and Secretary of State Colin Powell -- who did not attend the conference -- assailed its "hateful language" as he announced the U.S. withdrawal Monday. LINK ]
"There were tens of thousands of peoples and leaders from all over the world gathered to discuss the issue of race. It was an honorable arena... But by not showing up, by sticking it to the government of Nelson Mandela... It was a dark page on our foreign policy."
Belafonte is best known for the international hit "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)".
-- Filed By Matt Drudge
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My letter to Belafonte:
Dear Ted,
Since I found no way to email Mr. Bellefonte personally I would please ask that you forward this to him.
Mr. Bellefonte,
I'm sadden that you would disparage Secretary Powell in such a manner on the Ted Leitner show.
Sure we all have freedom of speech but to use it in such a manner to defame a good hard working man Like Gen. Powell confuses me.
But I guess that's what differentiates you intolerant liberals from conservatives who would like the people of this county/world to be judged on content of their character not the color of their skin.
I don't always agree with Gen. Powell's policies but I respect him for the man that he is. Not because he's black, but because he's a man who fought the odds and became the man is today.
If you've been paying attention to what's been going on the Bush Administration, you'd know he hasn't always towed the party line. This turn around in his idea that Iraq is indeed a threat that must be dealt with swiftly was not his first outlook on the subject. He was for inspections, until it became clear to him the Saddam has no intention of keeping any promises he makes.
Our Secretary of State in a wise man. He's been around a long time. Has vast education in all types of military and government work.
To reduce him to a plantation slave doing the masters bidding is an insult to a fine man. A man who if he didn't believe in what President Bush was doing was the right thing, he would step down.
You sir do a disservice to yourself and all Black men who are of Gen. Powell's caliber. I always figured you for a smart man, thanks for setting me straight.
Sincerely,
Me. (real name used in correspondence)