Posted on 02/23/2005 10:23:47 AM PST by Rebelbase
I am still amazed to write these words: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
But, that is the reality, 386 years since the first Africans landed at Jamestown, Va.; 142 years since the Emancipation Proclamation; 135 years since the 15th Amendment granting citizenship to blacks; 85 years since the 19th Amendment granting women’s suffrage; 41 years since the Civil Rights Act; and 40 years since the Voting Rights Act.
In the month designated for honoring black history, Rice placed an impressive new entry in the record books.
No sooner was she in office than the nation’s top diplomat – the first black woman to hold the post – sped off on Air Force Two for a coming out tour that took her to the Middle East, Turkey, Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Her mission was to set a new conciliatory tone, particularly with what Defense Secretary once called “old Europe,” his disdainful reference to nations that had opposed George W. Bush’s specious Iraq war.
Rice’s substance in the various capitals was, as usual, on the light side. For the most part, it amounted to talking points and bromides, the one exception being her ominous warning to Iran regarding its nuclear program.
But even those of us who find Rice rather annoying and are ashamed of her allegiance to such an arrogant administration – even we have to admit that, when it came to style, Rice represented.
The world treated Rice like a real find. They beheld a highly educated academic, classically trained pianist, ice skater, well-dressed, fit, disciplined, composed, articulate woman in black skin, holding the proxy of the most powerful man in the most powerful nation on the planet. As the German president quipped, “now that’s real woman power.”
As she charmed the assorted heads of state from Jerusalem to Ankara to Paris to Rome to Berlin to Brussels, I found myself thinking of all the able, tough, classy, confident, smart black women who crossed my childhood, my young adulthood, my yesterday and today, and those who will be there tomorrow.
There are thousands of them that I know; millions more that I know are out there. In those whirlwind days, they all danced on the head of Condoleezza Rice – the world’s first glimpse of the kind of women the black community has been routinely producing, though the world was unaware.
Sad that the world hadn’t realized that a black woman who is “elegant, smooth and very tough” – another leader’s summation of Rice -- is not a rarity or an anomaly but in ample supply. Not to diminish Rice’s accomplishments, but can-do black women are a dime a dozen.
In that way, Rice owes some of her appeal to the black women whose achievements are unsung. I have a feeling she knows that.
Perhaps the next black woman secretary of state will take it a step further. Maybe she will upgrade the current occupant’s “package” (Rice’s term) by aligning herself with an administration that does not believe it is the world’s strict daddy. She will lend her talents to an administration that understands the world is not really its oyster and does not mistake warm receptions and rapt admirers for conciliation or accord.
If Condoleezza Rice can rise to that occasion, she will have helped repay the steel magnolias of the black community who will never be toasted in Paris.
sour grapes
"There are thousands of them that I know"
Must have an active social life to personally know thousands of people!
Ummm, how about some kudos to President Bush for recognizing that talent and giving it it's rightful place?
I good response would be something like:
neener neener neener
A regular wine fest.
This is the same author who wrote an article titled "Beyonce Knowles, role model? You better believe it".
I guess Condi just is not in the same league as Beyonce!!
Translation: "You go, girl! But, ummm, not too far from the plantation, okay?"
Typical envy-driven BS.
Envy, envy, envy... if they are a dime a dozen... why isn't the author of this article one?
Just a question.
"Not to diminish Rice’s accomplishments..."
BS. That is precisely the whole point of the article.
It would be very interesting to see this writer's comments if and when Dr. Rice would be nominated for President or Vice President. My belief is that, like Donna Brazile, it will be very hard for these folks to avoid saying "You go, girl!"
Deborah Mathis is a whiner and a naysayer.
If she's so dadgummed smart, how come she isn't secretary of state?
Waaahhhh, why isn't she a liberal?! Because Condi has sense and intelligence, not just activism.
It's most amusing to see that in conservative and moderate circles racism is diminishing, while in liberal circles racism is increasing. It's because the US is smart enough now to not be racist - unfortunately it's due to that same smartness that the US is not liberal.
Ooops.
As usual, the successful black's worst enemy is other blacks.
What a load of trash, it took this ignorant administration "package" to appoint Mrs. Rice.
All those enlightened, nuanced and educated administrations have never come close to putting a Black person in such a powerful position, much less replacing the first black SOS with a black woman SOS.
This article is just a condecending load of trash.
Such an Administration would never appoint her, because the Other Party thinks blacks are helpless victims, dependent on the Other Party's largesse for their very survival.
And the writer is confused if she thinks Condi Rice-types are a "dime a dozen". What the writer is speaking of are lot of pseudo-Condis like herself - liberal middle managers in government, corporate HR departments, or the editorial staffs of magazines, whose mouths and attitudes are a lot bigger than their resumes.
No wine could come from that. Just vinegar.
I'm sure there have been a number of Phlegmocrat administrations that, in the opinion, of the writer fit the description above. Perhaps the question that should be asked, then, is why these more palatable administrations did not see fit as to place qualified "can-do sisters" in positions of authority as the Bush administration has done. Surely, its not that these superior administrations only pay lip service to the can-do sisters of the world?
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