TNJ - September 2000 Editor's Note - Value in Differences

Editor's Note
September Y2K

A Question of Trust
by Njeru Waithaka

The Democrats and the Republicans have often reneged on their promises to safeguard Black interests but the question as to what party to vote for in the upcoming presidential elections is rhetorical; memories of past misdeeds and trust built on each party’s achievements will be the defining factors.

The Democrats, under President Clinton, have championed policies cutting across race, class and gender and rekindled hope where discord and anomie reigned. Clinton ascended to power at the nadir of Black disillusionment but he appointed more African Americans to key positions in his cabinet than any other president.

By entrusting African Americans with unprecedented clout in government, he demonstrated that Blacks could do their jobs, given the chance.

In contrast, the Republicans have trod on Black interests at whim since Reconstruction and have been largely bent on undoing every gain that Blacks have made starting with denying them the right to vote, refusing to acknowledge their call for equal rights as full citizens, sanctioning racial segregation and lynching and wantonly destroying affirmative action.

“We must understand the cynicism that exists in the Black community,” warned General Colin Powell, who spoke at the window-dressing Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. “Some in our party miss no opportunity to condemn affirmative action that helped a few thousand Black kids get an education....”

In recent years, the Republicans have done more than condemn affirmative action. They have defended the Confederate flag, held up the appointments of Black judges and ambassadors, spoken at Bob Jones University and opposed the release of Nelson Mandela from Victor Verster prison in South Africa.

Moreover, the Republicans filibustered a bill to expand trade between the U.S. and Africa for more than two years, thus extending their de facto malice against Blacks in the Diaspora to their provenance in Africa. Still, when the Group of Eight major industrial nations endorsed a $90 billion package for debt relief in poor nations, the Republicans released only a third of the $37 million that Clinton had requested for Africa.

Yet Candooleezza Rice, Bush’s would-be foreign policy advisor and one of the Black speakers at the circus-styled Republican Convention, said that her party intended to reach out to South Africa, among other places, without mentioning that had it not been for Bush’s running mate Dick Cheney, who voted against Nelson Mandela’s release from prison when he was senator from Wyoming, the lives of just a few more Black children might have been spared.

Even as a woman—a Black woman at that—Rice couldn’t disclose that Cheney opposed abortion even if a mother were in danger of losing her life and that he voted against the banning of cop-killer bullets at a time when Black neighborhoods reeled under gunfire.

For Blacks wishing to exercise their voting rights, therefore, it’s not only prudent to be cautious but also to remember that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Click here for January 2002 Editor's Note - A Bright Economic Horizon

Click here for November 2001 Editor's Note - Initiatives Rigged in Controversy

Click here for April 2001 Editor's Note - The Good Competition

Click here for February 2001 Editor's Note - The Perennial Debate

Click here for January 2001 Editor's Note - The Beleaguered Media

Click here for October 2000 Editor's Note - Selling Out Cheaply

Click here for September 2000 Editor's Note - A Question of Trust

Click here for July / August 2000 Editor's Note - Value In Differences

Click here for June 2000 Editor's Note - Be Wary of Numbers

Click here for May 2000 Editor's Note - A Sobering Reminder