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Condoleezza Rice Partly at Odds with Bush on Race Case...
Reuters ^

Posted on 01/17/2003 2:50:33 PM PST by RCW2001

Jan. 17

— By Patricia Wilson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, the highest ranking African-American in the White House, said on Friday that race could play a role in college admission policies, putting her partly at odds with President Bush in a politically charged legal case.

Acting on orders from Bush, who consulted at length with Rice, a former provost at Stanford University, political adviser Karl Rove, White House counsel Al Gonzales and others, Justice Department lawyers have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a University of Michigan program that favors minorities.

Their brief took the side of three white students who are challenging the university's system of racial preferences as unconstitutional discrimination. It has sparked a storm of criticism from Democrats in Congress and civil rights leaders.

In an effort to strike a moderate balance, Bush tried to walk a fine line between his broad denunciation of "quotas" and his commitment to addressing racial prejudice. The legal brief applies only to the Michigan program.

"I agree with the president's position, which emphasizes the need for diversity and recognizes the continued legacy of racial prejudice and the need to fight it," Rice said in a written statement.

But, she added: "I believe that while race-neutral means are preferable, it is appropriate to use race as one factor among others in achieving a diverse student body."

In an interview later with American Urban Radio Networks, Rice sought to further clarify her personal view, saying there were circumstances "in which it is necessary to consider race as a factor among many factors" in diversifying colleges.

"And so, I have been a supporter of affirmative action that is not quota-based and that does not seek to make race the only factor but considers race one among many factors," she said.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer sidestepped the crucial question of whether Bush himself believed that race should ever be a factor at all in the college admissions process.

'A VISION AND A GOAL'

"What the president is saying is, he as president is setting a vision and a goal for the country, and that is that diversity on our college campuses is an important goal to achieve," Fleischer told reporters.

"He is saying the manner in which the University of Michigan, by giving students 20 points on the basis of the color of their skin and only 12 points, for example, on having a perfect SAT score, is the incorrect way to achieve the goal of diversity."

Bush did not mind Rice coming forward with her personal opinion.

"The president welcomes the views of his staff and appreciates her efforts to promote diversity and aggressively reach out to people from all walks of life," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

With his denunciation of two Michigan admission programs, Bush is appealing to his conservative supporters, who fiercely oppose race-based preferences. And, by backing the general principle of diversity, the president and his Republican party are hoping not to alienate the minority voters they have been courting in advance of Bush's re-election effort in 2004.

In the landmark 1978 "Bakke v. Board of Regents" decision, the Supreme Court allowed race to be used by public universities in deciding which students to accept. In another part of the Bakke decision the high court struck down racial quotas in school admissions.

The White House brief did not ask the court to overturn the Bakke ruling.

"The president's judgment was that because he wants to promote diversity as a goal without quotas, the president made the decision to file a narrowly tailored brief that would not test the outer edges of constitutionality," Fleischer said.

The University of Michigan said its law school's admission policy had drawn support from such Republican figures as Secretary of State Colin Powell and former President Gerald Ford as well as from more than 30 corporations, including General Motors Corp.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: drcondoleezzarice; reverseracism
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1 posted on 01/17/2003 2:50:33 PM PST by RCW2001
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To: All
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2 posted on 01/17/2003 2:52:38 PM PST by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: RCW2001
Just watch the "Civil Rights Leadership" start demanding that Ms. Rice resign or be an "Uncle Tom".

You see a continuing difference between the Republicans and the RATS. The RATS brook no differing opinions.

3 posted on 01/17/2003 2:52:56 PM PST by Redleg Duke (Stir the pot...don't let anything settle to the bottom where the lawyers can feed off of it!)
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To: *Reverse Racism; *Dr._Condoleezza_Rice
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list
4 posted on 01/17/2003 2:57:11 PM PST by Libertarianize the GOP
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To: RCW2001; Redleg Duke
How long does it take you to find all these article that bash Bush? Do you start looking when you first get up, or do you do it late at night?

Red, don't you think it's funny that the very people who sneeringly say that WE all march in lockstep with Bush are the very ones who LOVE to point out when anybody does disagree with him?

5 posted on 01/17/2003 3:00:54 PM PST by Howlin (It's yet ANOTHER good day to be a Republican!)
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To: Redleg Duke
Just watch the "Civil Rights Leadership" start demanding that Ms. Rice resign or be an "Uncle Tom".

But what she says in this article imunizes her from this.

In my opinion, Rice pretty much had to say what she did, given her loyalty to the President. If she endorsed pure racially-neutral policies, she would indeed then be target of a high-profile leftist campaign. And then she would take over news slots which should be given to the President's agenda.

To be clear, I do suspect that Rice, not so long ago a Stanford provost, must support some racial admissions preferences. But if she changed her mind, she would never announce it while working for Bush.

6 posted on 01/17/2003 3:02:44 PM PST by Steve Eisenberg
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Bit of a disconnect, Ms Rice.
7 posted on 01/17/2003 3:07:01 PM PST by CounterCounterCulture (Racism is wrong, no matter who the government discriminates against)
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To: All
I found it at around 5:00 PM ET today but did not post it. Does that count? I liked this part of it as it shows Bush is a real man!

Bush did not mind Rice coming forward with her personal opinion.

"The president welcomes the views of his staff and appreciates her efforts to promote diversity and aggressively reach out to people from all walks of life," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.


8 posted on 01/17/2003 3:10:16 PM PST by TLBSHOW
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To: RCW2001
What Rice said is exactly what the Military now uses. It's not a quota system but they don't send in lilly white recruiters to Harlem or black recruiters to Sand Point Idaho!

They get their numbers other ways and the people have to meet the standards !

9 posted on 01/17/2003 3:10:44 PM PST by Crossbow Eel
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To: Howlin
Hmmm...I don't think this article bashes Bush. In fact, it makes Bush look good, but makes Rice look bad. President Bush is right on this issue; it is Ms. Rice that is wrong.
10 posted on 01/17/2003 3:11:21 PM PST by B Knotts
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To: Howlin
Well, Howlin...there be lock-step...an...then there be lock-step.

Ah guess it jest depends on which lock-step you be steppin' wif! :-)

11 posted on 01/17/2003 3:11:31 PM PST by Redleg Duke (Stir the pot...don't let anything settle to the bottom where the lawyers can feed off of it!)
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To: RCW2001
As usual, Reuters is trying to exploit a hairline crack to try to divide the Republicans. What Rice says is perfectly reasonable.

Admissions people really can't absolutely rule out race, or sex, or SAT scores, or a reasonable balance between bright students, hard-working students, and athletic students. The problem with Affirmative Action as universities use it is that they go way overboard, to the point where white and Asian applicants are severely disadvantaged.

I have sat on admissions committees and seen it. I've also seen it work against some of my own children applying for college scholarships. If you have a chance to take a bright black student, you should take it. But you should only bend your rules so far, just as you should only bend them so far to take in a star athlete. The problem is that university faculty have lost most of their common sense to the dictates of political correctness.
12 posted on 01/17/2003 3:20:30 PM PST by Cicero
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To: RCW2001
Condoleeza Rice: "I think it is important to maintain an admissions process that uses race as one factor."

President Bush: "You mean that faculty position I hired you away from at Stanford University was filled based on an affirmative action program? You're fired -- We only want the best working here in this administration!"

Senator Byrd: "Good move, Mr. President! I'll find ya someone from West Virginia for her position. Race will not be a factor in my selection -- but I promise you I won't send ya a white n!gger or a black n!gger!"

13 posted on 01/17/2003 3:20:45 PM PST by Alberta's Child
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To: Cicero
I think they should be forbidden from even asking about race. In fact, I think they should have people who accept the application and assign a applicant code number and then pass only the code and relevant information on to the people who decide on admissions, so as to eliminate given name/surname bias.
14 posted on 01/17/2003 3:23:43 PM PST by B Knotts
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To: B Knotts
To: Ms Rice
I thought you were a nice person. Now you say its OK to discriminate against people just because they're Asian or white or whatever the politically in-correct skin color happens to be at the moment.

Condi, thats not nice. And its not constitutional. The 14th amendment says, no state shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."



15 posted on 01/17/2003 3:25:10 PM PST by MarkM
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To: RCW2001
What a crock. Either people are judged based on their merits or they aren't. Using skin color or ethnic bases to determine who plays or who doesn't is 100% unconstitutional. Powell and Rice, our affirmative action duo...
16 posted on 01/17/2003 3:25:40 PM PST by ApesForEvolution (Who wouldn't love free gas?)
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To: Howlin
"Red, don't you think it's funny that the very people who sneeringly say that WE all march in lockstep with Bush are the very ones who LOVE to point out when anybody does disagree with him?"

According to what is supposedly in the brief they agree. Sadly.
17 posted on 01/17/2003 3:27:24 PM PST by ApesForEvolution (Who wouldn't love free gas?)
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To: Cicero
The color of a person's skin nor their ethnicity should be entered into the equation. It's 100% unconstitutional. Everything but the pertinent criterion should be used. Period.
18 posted on 01/17/2003 3:30:22 PM PST by ApesForEvolution (Who wouldn't love free gas?)
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To: B Knotts
Yup, what you said. Beat me to it!
19 posted on 01/17/2003 3:30:56 PM PST by ApesForEvolution (Who wouldn't love free gas?)
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To: CounterCounterCulture
I don't support racial "quotas" of any sort. But do we not have "quotas" right now for sports---X number of slots go to athletes? And of those, X number go to females? And does the music program not have X number of scholarships?

What is the rationale for those scholarships/admission? Is is not that there is some greater "diversity" served by having a community of artists, athletes, etc. on campus rather than just 100% engineers? Or just the 5,000 smartest people based on SATs?

So I suggest that we have had "quotas" in place for years, only haven't called them that.

20 posted on 01/17/2003 3:33:19 PM PST by LS
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