He also thinks we'd pay MORE if the income tax was removed.
Posted on 11/20/2002 10:05:47 AM PST by Temple Owl
A lesson from Condoleezza Rice
By Derrick Z. Jackson, 11/20/2002
WASHINGTON
CONDOLEEZZA RICE was reminded of her decision to become a Republican after the 1984 Democratic National Convention. She said the Democratic Party's speeches to ''women, minorities, and the poor'' really meant ''helpless people and the poor.'' In a profile in The Washington Post, Rice said, ''I decided I'd rather be ignored than patronized.''
The national security adviser to President Bush was asked if she thinks the Democratic Party still patronizes ''women, minorities, and the poor.'' Laughing, she declined to answer the specific question last week before the Trotter Group, an organization of African-American columnists. But her answer was as riveting as if she had actually gone on to trash the Democrats.
''The fact of the matter is, race matters in America,'' Rice said. ''It has, it always has ... It is not that I mind being associated with the group. I am African-American and proud of it. I wouldn't have it any other way. And it has shaped who I am and it will continue to shape who I am.
''I do not believe it has limited who I am or what I can become. And that's because I had parents who, while telling me what it meant to be African-American and exposing me to that, also allowed me to develop as an individual to be who I wanted to be.''
Rice said the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham that killed four girls, including friend Denise McNair, shaped her views on the war on terrorism. ''If you've been through home-grown terrorism,'' Rice said, ''you recognize there isn't any cause that can be served by it ... Because what it's meant to do is end the conversation.''
In profiles, Rice talks about being hollered at as a child by a white store clerk for touching a hat. Rice's mother told the clerk ''Don't you talk to my daughter that way!'' Her mother then said, ''Now, Condoleezza, you go and touch every hat in this store.''
That reminded me of around 1965 when I was about 10. I bought comic books and ice cream in a drug store in DeKalb, Miss. Later, my grandfather informed me that was the ''white folks'' drug store. He could have berated me for breaking white folks' rules. Instead, he smiled and said, ''Good.''
For me, not accepting racial barriers would mean going on to little things like being on the first integrated child championship bowling team at a particular alley in Milwaukee, then bigger things like sportswriting when there were few African-Americans covering pro teams for major newspapers.
For Rice, it meant parents who ''didn't say to me, `You know, it's really weird for a black girl from Birmingham, Ala., to want to be a Soviet specialist.''' Rice said that she liked Motown, the blues, and funk music like most of her friends, but her parents drove her to learn Brahms. Rice has often said bluntly that she had to master the white world better than a whole lot of white people to succeed.
''Sometimes when we say to our kids, `You are a minority,' we don't say it in a way that says it is part of who you are, we say it as if it's an impediment that cannot be overcome by hard work and access to education and all of those things,'' Rice said. ''And I just think the messages are wrong when there is only focus on what group you happen to belong to, rather than the group is part of who you are, but also, who you are is who you are as an individual.
''We don't talk about it very much, but, yes ... it is a very good thing for the rest of the world that when Colin Powell and I walk in with the president of the United States, we are there as secretary of state and national security adviser, because I think it says to people that there aren't boundaries in which black Americans are not supposed to play ... I think it's an extremely important message to our kids. That's why I talk so much about the individual. It's not to deny the group, but I really think it's important that we appeal to each individual's worth and capability.''
Such reflections do not make Rice's political views and America's global arrogance any more appealing to me. But those who dismiss her as a hotheaded cold war queen miss a chance to dwell on her focus and drive. Unlike many black conservatives who shout louder than white ''color-blind'' conservatives that race no longer matters, Rice has no problem saying race matters, and since it is so, black folks had better work to get the most out of their individual talents.
In a Newsweek interview last year, Rice said, ''It wasn't as if someone said, `You have to be twice as good' and `isn't that a pity' or `isn't that wrong.' It was just, `You have to be twice as good.''' One does not have to like Rice's politics to appreciate how being twice as good has made her the most powerful woman in the world.
So, the Village Idiot is up to his old tricks. Tuco-ugly, you tried the same tactics through 250 posts on another thread and succeeded in proving nothing. 250 posts without making one point. You are a waste of all of our time. Why don't you do us all a favor (yourself included) and go jump in a wood chipper. 250 there + 250 here=500 unsuccessful posts. Boy that's depressing.
What has Rice done to merit a VP slot?
Well, that's close, but I have to give that accolade to Rose Friedman, Milton's wife. Milt, BTW, is the smartest guy alive.
Stop trying to change the subject. What have you done to justify the worst defamation charge in history. Provide some proof for your accusation or get off this thread you sleaze.
Wow! - I knew I was good (actually BAD), but this good (actually BAD) is a WOW!
"worst defamation charge in HISTORY" - WOW - what a charge!
Heed your own words!
BTW - Who in our government should be held responsible for the 3000+ people dying?
If no one, then why should 9/11 events keep occurring?
Rice as National Security Advisor had the reponsibility to assess all threats to our country, and the horrific events of 9/11 makes her a total failure.
Rice should be sacked!!!!
For what? Sleeping at the switch and allowing 9/11 to happen?
Rice should be sacked!!!
When you make accusations like that you need to be prepared to back them up. Otherwise you are guilty of libel. Through 500 posts, you have failed to do so. It is you who should be sacked.
Are you saying there was NO way 9/11 could have been prevented?
I am saying the burden is on YOU to justify your accusation. You have failed to do so.
Okay - what you are saying is "NO one is responsible".
So let's give "CRYBABY" Rice a pass, because it wasn't her job.
Shame on Rice, shame on you for protecting Rice.
Rice should be sacked!!!
That's right. No one is responsible. That is the fundamental nature of guerilla attacks. By their very nature, they are virtually impossible to anticipate and prepare for. Show how Rice could have done so, and you've won your argument. You can't. Therefore, it is you who is the whining craybaby.
By your logic then, there is no way to protect against future terrorist attacks - some logic.
Rice should be sacked!!!!
He also thinks we'd pay MORE if the income tax was removed.
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