A lesson from Condoleezza Rice

Boston Globe | 11-20-02 | By Derrick Z. Jackson,

[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.

[Tuco-bad]

He also thinks we'd pay MORE if the income tax was removed.

When you start paying a National Tax on your government housing you'll realize that I'm correct.

Besides you don't seem to be able to make it in the private sector.

Batchelor (sic) of Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Air Science

BTW - How many terrorists do you think Embry-Riddle trained to fly commerical planes?

[Long Cut]

He's so predictable. Every time I encounter him, he throws mud at my alma mater. Mud which was proven false on many different occaisions, not that it matters to him. And I love the shot at my "government housing"! As if I live in any...

Oh, and we must include the gratuitous slam at the military:

"Besides you don't seem to be able to make it in the private sector"

Kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it?

[WaveThatFlag]

By your logic then, there is no way to protect against future terrorist attacks - some logic.

Thanks for the batting pratice pitch, geek. Of course there is a way to protect against future terrorist attacks:

Go after the terrorists. Which is exactly what George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice et al are doing as we speak. And exactly what Bill Clinton failed to do for eight years.

[WaveThatFlag]

His biggest problem is his stubborness. He can't bear the thought of being wrong, so he just keeps coming back with the same tired nonsense. Of course, after a while rubuttals are just formulam so he ends up getting spanked over and over again. Pathetic, really. Sort of reminds me of Charlie Brown thinking "This time I'm gonna kick that football." Except of course, Charlie Brown had a lot more going for him. What kind of a life is it where you log on to the internet for 12 hours a day to get ridiculed?

[Long Cut]

He's trolling...his big "kick" is to try to tee people off here. Notice, he only posts stuff he KNOWS get people mad, without of course any documentation except...his old posts.

He knows exactly what he's doing...he gets YOU to talk to him, doesn't he?

It's as much of a social life as he is capable of maintaining.

[SamAdams76]

There weren't ''white folks'' drug store in 1965 because they were outlawed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

BTW - I like fairy tales also.

I read up to about post #85 and by then I had had enough. Doesn't anybody in this thread have any reading comprehension whatsoever? Everybody is arguing back and forth about whether Condi Rice is a liar or not because this here Taco-Bad says that there was no segregated drug stores in Mississippi in 1965.

Well if you read the article more carefully, you will see that Condi Rice never said any such thing about going into a "white folks" drug store in Mississippi. Instead, it is the author of this article, Derrick Jackson, who tells the story of going into an all-white drug store in 1965.

So Taco-Bad is calling Derrick Jackson a liar, not Condi Rice.

BTW, is this the same Taco-Bad who was saying all during the run-up to election 2000 that it was impossible to win the presidency without carrying California?

[SamAdams76]

How could you possibly know Rice did NOT make up the story?

Because it isn't even Condi Rice's story you dimwit! If you read the article, you will see that it is the author, Derrick Jackson, who tells of walking into an all-white drugstore in Mississippi in 1965. Condi Rice was over in Alabama. So it is Derrick Jackson who you are accusing of being a liar.

[section9]

Why are you feeding the Troll?

Tuco is not here to argue about Rice. He's here to take up bandwidth by posting nonsense about Condi so you will all, lemminglike, attack him.

The more outrageous the post, the more transparent the lie, the more he goads you into attacking him.

IGNORE the Troll. Do not answer his posts. Shun him. Do not initiate any posting with him on any subject. Do not be tempted by his taunts that you are "running away" from the "argument", when there is none to be had! It is not the role of the Troll to argue.

Troll boy is doing this simply to get a rise out of us, period! I have watched a good Condi Rice thread degenerate into a shoving match simply because you all got suckered into a Troll trap. Troll Meat is very good at this.

Let him be, and go back to discussing serious issues. The Troll is not here to do that.

Remember, shun the boy. Period.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[SamAdams76]

I wouldn't normally have gotten involved but I thought it was amusing that Taco-Bad thought he was challenging Condi Rice's story about the Mississippi drug store when in fact, it was a story related by his hero Derrick Jackson.

[section9]

Ah, but you don't understand. Tuco knew it was Derrick Jackson's story, and not Condi's. He was playing games and, figuring a lot of the posters on this thread to be emotional easy marks, he decided to create a contrived controversy about it to see if he could have some fun.

That's not only the sign of a good Troll, but it's also the sign of a smart Troll.

One thing Tuco is not is stupid.

He lied to get people to yammer back at him and become trapped in his personal briar patch.

Your motives, as always, were honorable.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Tuco-bad]

Go after the terrorists. Which is exactly what George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice et al are doing as we speak.

Which they failed to do prior to 9/11.

[Tuco-bad]

What kind of a life is it where you (Tuco-bad) log on to the internet for 12 hours a day

That's the most ridiculous I ever saw posted.

There is NO life outside of the FReeRepublic!

[Tuco-bad]

Well if you read the article more carefully, you will see that Condi Rice never said any such thing about going into a "white folks" drug store in Mississippi. Instead, it is the author of this article, Derrick Jackson, who tells the story of going into an all-white drug store in 1965

So Taco-Bad is calling Derrick Jackson a liar, not Condi Rice.

And where did Derrick get the story from?

BTW, is this the same Taco-Bad who was saying all during the run-up to election 2000 that it was impossible to win the presidency without carrying California?

I thought Gore was elected president and Bush was SELECTED president. I guess according to you I'm wrong about that.

[Tuco-bad]

Because it isn't even Condi Rice's story you dimwit! If you read the article, you will see that it is the author, Derrick Jackson, who tells of walking into an all-white drugstore in Mississippi in 1965. Condi Rice was over in Alabama. So it is Derrick Jackson who you are accusing of being a liar.

AGAIN - where did Jackson get the story from?

[WaveThatFlag]

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[steve-b]

They've brought a Cave Troll!