Madison radio personality John Sylvester is now drawing ire from City of Madison and White House officials after referring to recently nominated Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as an \Aunt Jemima"" and outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell as an ""Uncle Tom"" during a broadcast last week on WTDY.
After receiving publicity from the national media, as well as criticism from civil rights advocates, Sylvester issued a general apology to any blacks offended by his comments.
""I think [Rice and Powell], their point of action to the White House has been to capitulate to a dangerous right-wing vice president that I think is hell-bent on shaping the world in his own evil little mind,"" he told The Daily Cardinal, adding his comments were not supposed to be hateful but instead were intended to have a ""political effect.""
Sylvester explained Bush's administration is anything but benign when it comes to civil rights, citing its poor civil rights record. His goal, he said, was to show Bush's nomination of Rice and Powell does not make up for his shortcomings in regard to civil rights.
Although Sylvester said it was not his intent to create a public stir, many civil rights advocates claim his First Amendment rights to free speech do not excuse him from making what could be contrived as racially charged comments.
""Negative, insensitive, disparaging and offensive comments such as these when made by anyone, and especially a member of the media, do nothing to advance the cause of equal rights and civil rights,"" Madison's Equal Opportunities Commission said in a statement.
In addition, the Urban League of Greater Madison termed Sylvester's broadcast as ""public derision,"" and said it is evident he does not understand the ethnic stigmas associated with Aunt Jemima and Uncle Tom.
But second-year law student and president of the UW-Madison chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union William Turner said Sylvester had the right to make his comments and said it is important to understand his political intent.
""I think what people should do instead of trying to demand an apology from him and decide the extent to which his perspective is similar to that of the people he claims to represent,"" he said.
WTDY management has been very supportive, according to Sylvester, and said it remains to be seen whether this incident will cause radio personalities in the future to be more careful about what they say on the air.
""It wasn't my goal to stir up this controversy,"" he said.
