Cynthia Tucker is editor of The Atlanta Constitution's editorial page. Her column appears Sunday and Wednesday.Posted on 11/03/2001 2:51:40 AM PST by sarcasm
To the Honorable Cynthia McKinney:
Your Oct. 29 commentary in The Washington Post -- a defense of your controversial Oct. 12 letter to Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal -- started out so well. It was reasoned and well-written, explaining why you thought New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had been wrong to reject the prince's $10 million donation to the Sept. 11 relief fund.
Challenging critics who thought you should be silenced, you also defended your right to free speech; rebuffing those who called you unpatriotic, you noted your support for overtime pay for servicemen; answering those who called you anti-Semitic, you reiterated your long-standing support of Israel.
You even quoted from the lyrics of the patriotic song made popular by country singer Lee Greenwood -- a clever and unexpected rhetorical device given the cultural divide separating his fans from yours.
Then you ruined your argument by gratuitously brandishing the race card.
"Why such a negative reaction to my letter?" you asked. "I believe that when it comes to major foreign policy issues, many prefer to have black people seen and not heard."
How incredibly stupid. What exactly do you think Colin Powell does for a living? What do you think Condoleezza Rice is doing in all those White House briefings?
That was not the first time you blamed racism for the criticism you received over your apology to the Saudi prince. You also whipped out the race card in interviews on urban-market radio stations.
Indeed, your original letter recited a litany of facts highlighting the continuing racial gap in American social well-being. Listing everything from homelessness among black Americans to the high rate of incarceration of black men, you asked the prince to donate the $10 million to African-American causes instead.
Such a letter would have been controversial even without your plea for the prince's money. After all, you seemed to endorse his suggestion that the atrocities were provoked by U.S. foreign policy.
But your focus on America's racial divide was ill-timed in the aftermath of the attacks, which have united the nation across lines of race, class and religion. The terrorists murdered blacks, whites, and browns, the young, the middle-aged and the elderly, Muslim, Christian and Jew.
More to the point, your litany of statistics was startlingly out of context. While black Americans still lag behind whites in several social indicators, we enjoy, as a group, more prosperity than blacks in almost any other country. After all, your letter gained attention because you are a member of the U.S. Congress, one of a growing group of African-American elected and appointed officials holding positions of power across the country.
Including the White House. With a black man serving as secretary of state, the most prominent post in the Cabinet and the chief architect of U.S. foreign policy, it was just ludicrous of you to suggest that blacks are not allowed to speak on that topic. Powell has crisscrossed the globe cementing a worldwide coalition against terrorism.
And then there's Rice, the national security adviser. Long included in President Bush's inner circle, she clearly has the president's ear. During the campaign, she was entrusted with tutoring Bush, who acknowledged that his grasp of foreign policy issues was tenuous at the time.
Whatever you think of Bush, you should give him credit where it's due: He has appointed African-Americans to more powerful positions than any other president. And you should not disrespect the accomplishments of Rice and Powell by failing to acknowledge their influence on American foreign policy.
You should also give up your reflexive tendency to blame racism every time you encounter difficulty. Your indiscriminate use of the word only cheapens the struggles of those who must still labor to overcome genuine racism. Cynthia Tucker is editor of The Atlanta Constitution's editorial page. Her column appears Sunday and Wednesday.
Except for the McKinneys of the world, there really has been a change since 9/11. Good can come out of evil.
About damn time someone in the media blasted McKinney for her stupidity.
This is the most amazing paragraph of this entire editorial by Cynthia Tucker.
Think about what this says about her beloved Clinton, the "first Black President".
And notice: she actual admits that Rice and Powell are Black, something most Black leaders would disagree with on principle (black is not just a skin color, it is also a political ideology to them).
'Tis a new world, after all.
"How incredibly stupid. What exactly do you think Colin Powell does for a living? What do you think Condoleezza Rice is doing in all those White House briefings?"
Absolutely delicious for one soul sistah to give another such a well-deserved bitchslap. But for any of you non-Georgia residents who think Cynthia McKinney might have blundered her way into a 2002 defeat.... fuhgetaboutit!
I tell you, I find myself agreeing with the woman about 10-15% of the time - which is a lot. I think she's very intelligent, and logic is starting to overcome the liberal socialism with which she was indoctrinated. Logic and reason, of course, being the mortal enemy of liberal socialism.
You go girl, keep on FReepin on!
I'm calling the FBI on you.
5.56mm
You go girl!
She used to give me fits everytime I heard her on one of the usual talking-head shows. She must be reading Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams. Who'd a thunk?
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