Conservatives. Real Black Power.
Posted on 09/09/2001 3:08:10 PM PDT by TLBSHOW
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, one of the most influential blacks in the Bush administration, said Sunday she did not think African-Americans should be compensated for the past wrongs of slavery.
Rice said the United Nations conference on racism, which ended in Durban, South Africa, Saturday without U.S. participation, looked too much at the past by focusing on the issue of reparations for slavery and on finding ways to condemn Israel.
Slavery ended in the United States 138 years ago with the stroke of Abraham Lincoln's pen and civil rights leaders such as Jesse Jackson have demanded that blacks be compensated for the injustices of slavery.
Pressed on whether she agreed with Jackson, Rice told NBC's ''Meet the Press'' television program it was more important to focus on current problems than dwell on the past.
``I would hope that we would spend our time thinking about how to deal with today. I would hope we would spend our time thinking about how to educate black children, particularly black children who are caught in poverty.
``I would hope that we would spend our time, as the president has said, turning back the soft bigotry of low expectations against our children,'' she said.
SLAVERY IS ``AMERICA'S BIRTH DEFECT''
Calling slavery ``America's birth defect,'' Rice said she hoped all leaders -- blacks, whites and immigrants -- would try to grapple with the problems ahead.
``I think reparations, given the fact that there is plenty of blame to go around for slavery, plenty of blame to go around among African and Arab states and plenty of blame to go around among Western states, we are better to look forward and not point fingers backward,'' she said.
Many African nations at the Durban race conference wanted reparations for nearly four centuries of the slave trade but the final conference declaration fell far short of this demand, instead agreeing to fight racism ``wherever it can be found.''
Rich nations strongly resisted African demands for an apology for the slave trade and other past injustices because of fears this could trigger a wave of lawsuits.
Rice said slavery still existed in the world, such as in Sudan, and that the conference should have roundly condemned this rather than focusing on the past.
``I think a lot of time was wasted on issues that were extraneous to the questions that should have been preeminent in the conference and that is how to acknowledge the past, but especially how to move on in the future,'' she said.
Rice reiterated Washington's view that the United States had made the right decision to walk out of the Durban conference and said the meeting was ``hijacked'' by those bent on criticizing Israel.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, the first African American to hold this key post, boycotted the conference altogether over the Israeli issue and ordered a low-level delegation to leave the meeting last Monday.
``This conference spent far too much time in trying to condemn Israel and single it out. I think the United States made the right decision to leave,'' Rice said.''
Arab and Islamic countries had demanded Israel should be branded as racist, language that did not find its way into the final statement when the conference ended Saturday.
Now....as to Rice, her comments are a wonderful dose of fresh air. I wonder if the Rish bashers here have any comments. In my view, she should be at the top of Dubya's short list for veep should Cheney step aside.
I'm with you. That woman has some major b*llz too, tells it like it is, reminds me of the Iron Lady, and Jeane Kirkpatrick.
Which is a non issue to the AP.
This is just a "black payment." It has nothing to do with what any living person has suffered at the hands of any other living person.
Ridiculous? Yes, but no more than reparations to the descendants of slaves.
They're plucked by a professional, probably. They are rather svelte, but they give her face an edge when she gets her point across. You go, girl!
Actually, her eyebrows are made from imported mink, slaughtered with a chainsaw. The fur is cleaved from the skin, soaked in disinfectant to kill the bacteria. The mink meat is a Canadian delicacy. Estee Lauder has a whole line of mink paste-on eyebrows, you should check out their inventory. Ha! A little late-night humor, Sungirl. I mean no harm.
It certainly would be wrong to force payment from the descendant of any soldier who fought for the North in the Civil War....absolutely wrong to exact blood money from those who paid with their lives and their blood.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.