AL'S RECOUNTS COLOR ME WHITE
Wednesday, November 29,2000
ON the eve of George W. Bush's declaration of presidential
victory, a Zogby-Reuters poll found a deep racial schism in
the land.
Some 60 percent of blacks who voted for Gore said that
Bush's victory would be "stolen"; only 24 percent thought
Bush's would be a "legitimate" presidency. Some 53 percent
of white Gore voters, on the other hand, said a Bush
presidency would be legitimate; only 24 percent thought it
would be "stolen."
So, there it is: I am statistically "white" again. Indeed, I
haven't felt this white since the O.J. Simpson double-murder
trial. In that racial divide, whites (like me) overwhelmingly
concluded that Simpson was guilty; blacks (unlike me) felt
that the racist L.A. cops had framed the brother. I
voluntarily withdrew from the black race when the jury
delivered its verdict of acquittal.
Years later, like so many of my fellow white Americans, and
in contrast to overwhelming numbers of my fellow black
Americans, I sided with the House of Representatives when
it brought articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton.
Throw the bum out! I screamed to anyone who'd listen.
Behind the bare-bone numbers of blacks who dread a Bush
presidency or who see it as a stolen presidency is the
specter - whispered and shouted by racial hustlers and
self-described civil-rights groups - that a Bush presidency
will spell disaster for minorities. They cite Bush's belief in
capital punishment, his opposition to abortion on demand and
his ambivalence about affirmative action and hate-crime
laws.
But Clinton and Gore both support the death penalty, and all
it takes for blacks in this case to stay the executioner's
switch is for them to stop murdering mostly other blacks.
The truth is that the bashing of Bush on civil-rights grounds
is largely hysterical. Yes, he has a principled, even
ideological disagreement with the "rights leaders" about the
tenets of affirmative action - but so did Bill Clinton who,
pressured to end it, amended it.
Under Bush, there would be a big push back to equal
opportunity and access to public accommodations, schools
and the workplace - the original tenets of the Civil Rights
movement - and very little busing for school integration. But,
lest we forget, Bill Clinton has been no advocate of school
busing; nor has he provided leadership and resources to
force integration.
Racial profiling in law enforcement? Clinton did not lead a
legislative campaign to eradicate the problem, much less take
the kind of sweeping executive action that was urged upon
him.
All in all, the fundamentals on civil rights, under a Bush
presidency, would probably be comparable with Clinton's
own moderate approach.
Most significantly, the talk of a destruction of basic rights
and liberties from a strict constructionist U.S. Supreme
Court - assuming Bush can get his nominees ratified by an
evenly divided Senate - is all just talk. Conservative jurists
generally respect precedents, especially those involving our
core freedoms and civil rights. Even Justice Antonin Scalia,
the scourge of liberals, has often defended free speech and
been a steady guardian of the First Amendment against
governmental incursions.
Hence, a "conservative" Supreme Court won't be so bad. It
might be good - for sound affirmative action, for affirming
Roe vs. Wade and for checking expansive governmental
power.
So, I am one black Democrat who is not blue, but white,
over the apparent Dubya win. He says he's a healer; let's
see him prove it.
In any event, I don't feel that his presidency is either
illegitimate or stolen. Instead, I believe the exact opposite -
and would welcome the Florida Legislature's picking of the
25 electors should a protracted Al Gore legal war
materialize.
Does this good wish for Bush make me sound and appear
more white and less black? You bet. So, color me white. But
color me optimistic and outraged by the tactics of a
Democrat who eats sour grapes for breakfast, lunch and
dinner.
Every American, black and white like me, ought to feel quite
comfortable with repeating here Dick Cheney's mantra
about Al Gore and the Clintonistas - "The wheel has turned;
and it is time for them to leave."
