Every once in a while, the words I use on my radio program seem to create a controversy that take on a life of their own. This time, the focus has been on my use of the term \Aunt Jemima,"" referring to Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's nominee for secretary of state.
I'm concerned I have offended many African Americans by using a crass term to describe an incompetent, dishonest, political appointee of the Bush administration, I apologize. I know the term ""Aunt Jemima"" is not complimentary to African-American women who have worked so hard, and yet receive so little from our great country. I will not, however, apologize for pointing out that while Condoleezza Rice has clearly enjoyed the American Dream, she has allowed herself to be used as a black trophy by an administration who is working so hard to deny that dream to other African-American women.
For your readers who were not listening to my radio program that day, the majority of my program was dedicated to Condoleezza Rice's poor performance in her duties as national security advisor. Toward the end of the show, I made reference to her as George Bush's ""Aunt Jemima."" I said this because most accounts of her tenure in her current position insinuate she has been a lackey for Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld.
Condoleezza Rice has been used as an example of racial inclusion by the Bush administration, but unfortunately Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld have done little to advance the cause of racial equality, with the possible exception of Condoleezza Rice.
When President Bush introduced Ms. Rice as his secretary of state designate last week, he stressed her roots as being a woman from the segregated south. Bush remarked that, ""human dignity is a gift from God and the ideals of America would overcome oppression."" Bush went on to say, ""that early wisdom guided her through life.""
Indeed, Ms. Rice has had a very successful career in academia, but unfortunately she has clearly forgotten many African-Americans are still paying the price for a country that promoted years of segregation, oppression and discrimination.
Rice has chosen to look the other way and work for an administration that has attempted to overturn affirmative action, appoint judges who refuse to enforce the civil rights laws that so many have died for, and I suspect she's never bothered to ask Dick Cheney about his countless votes against sanctions on apartheid when he was a congressman in the 1980s. I also suspect she knows he voted against creating a federal holiday for the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
The Bush administration has created what I call the ""illusion of inclusion."" They've appointed Colin Powell and now Condoleezza Rice to prominent positions, but in Powell's case, they ignored his advice, stabbed him in the back and ran him out of town. Rice's situation is more complicated. She appears to be close to the president personally, but takes her marching orders from Rumsfeld and Cheney.
Her tenure as national security advisor has been a disaster. While she stonewalled the 9/11 Commission, she made countless political speeches on the president's behalf. She ignored Richard Clark's memos and refused to ask tough questions during the march to war in Iraq. She is simply the most discredited national security advisor in recent history.
I have received thousands of e-mails from all over the country from people with a variety of views. Some compare my remarks to Mark Belling's comments referring to Hispanics as ""wetbacks."" Nothing could be further from the truth. While I support Mark Belling's right to say what he did, his remarks were meant to spread resentment against an entire group of people who happened to be Hispanics living on the south side of Milwaukee. Other e-mails I've received have accused me of attacking Rice because she's a black conservative; that's not true either. My criticism of her is based on her performance in her job and her ridiculous assertion that the Bush administration has an impeccable record on civil rights. I think the most troubling thing for me, about this whole episode, is that people think I'm just some kind of shock jock looking for some kind of attention. Of all the e-mails I've received, I think this one sums up my show the best:
""Sly,
I've listened to you show for year. I've found your shows to be thought provoking, intelligent, & entertaining.
""That said, there are times when I guess you can be seen as being adolescent, mean and offensive. I like that element. It is a fine spice to toss into the stew you dish up. Please keep it up, big guy!""
