Posted on 10/20/2002 3:32:48 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Oct. 20 — Former president Bill Clinton returned to his home state Saturday night to become an honorary inductee Saturday night to the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame,
Once described by author Toni Morrison as "our first black president," the former Arkansas governor and two-term president was the first non-black recognized in the hall's 10-year history.
"I owe you way more than you owe me," Clinton told the audience of 850 people, who gave him a thunderous, standing ovation.
"You have looked beyond the color of my skin to the truth of my heart."
Rodney Slater, a fellow Arkansan who served as Clinton's transportation secretary and was one of many blacks Clinton appointed to higher office, said some have wondered if Clinton was just a white politician trying to get the black vote.
"President Clinton is here tonight not because he needs your vote but because he has always wanted our love and wanted to share his love with us," Slater said. "It is not about the skin. It is about the spirit and the soul of this soul brother."
Charles Stewart, the hall of fame's chairman and founder, said Clinton and black Arkansans have long had a relationship of mutual admiration.
"This honor makes a lot of sense. It is this community's way of saying thank you to him for the work that he has done," Stewart said.
The group's selection committee chose Clinton for his efforts to appoint blacks to high levels of state and federal government, and for his work after the presidency to fight AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean.
They have.................Bill Clinktoon, sharpton, jacka$$, Marxine Waters, Farrakhan, C. McDimmie.
Sounds about right to me.
If that were true we would have noticed a spike in cross and garlic sales in Arkansas.
I've looked beyond the color of his skin, too - to the truth of his heart. The truth? He is blackhearted.
Blackhearted: Having a wicked, malignant disposition; morally bad.
Lest Americans ever forget why the clintons, and all their enablers need to be hectored, hounded, and harried into silence, until "clintonese is only spoken in Hell," look here:
The Holiday *Best* of Bill Clinton & his Friends!
-Some old strange clinton "stuff"--
| Liars-- and Sleaze, Incorporated... ( my files on the clintons and friends ) |
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Yes..an absolute disgrace to the race.
You see, these first-class people are not really black in the eyes of the black community.
They are just lackys for the Republican party.
They are calm, collected and speak in perfect diction.
They don't rant and rave or use eubonics... therefore they are not of us.
Sad but true.
No, he is as black as Biggie Smalls (and with worse morals).
Really? Then why is it called the Black hall of fame??? Until people quit making distinctions, we won't completely knock down the walls of racial prejudice.
Former President Bill Clinton is introduced during the 10th Anniversary of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame dinner, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2002, in Little Rock, Ark. Clinton, along with five other individuals with Arkansas ties were inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Saturday night. Clinton, the first white person inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame was honored for his efforts on behalf of the black community both nationally and internationally.
(AP Photo/Mike Wintroath)
The Rev. Al Green, the great R%B Gospel singer who had been expected to attend the event and be inducted, had a scheduling conflict that prevented him from being in Little Rock, organizers said.
"We do not induct honorees who aren't able to attend, so the committee will consider his induction at a later date,"..said Sericia Rouse, a spokesman with the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.
Though several people expessed disappointment over Green's abscence, many said Clinton's presence more than made up for it.
Clinton's wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y, did not attend.
She hates Arkansas and it's people..IMO.
sw
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