Condi Rice, General Powell, two African Americans who happen

[monmouth]

to be a part of the Republican administration. Do any of you recall any outrage, discussions or beating of the brow when these two people were named to very high positions in the Bush administration? I ask this because I am so confused about hypocrisy. Granted, I may have missed something here, I have not been on DU for all of that long, but was there upheaval over their appointments?

[Captain Hilts]

1. Republicans like black Republicans. Powell could have been president.

They don't like black Democrats.

[monmouth]

2. Yup, that's what I thought. n/t

[Captain Hilts]

3. My firm did polling about Powell in the '90s.

[apnu]

5. Not to knock on Powell, or African Americans in general but...

... Republicans like anything Republican. Gay Republicans, Black Republicans, poor Republicans, Hispanic Republicans, traitor Republicans. Its all good to them. Party comes first with that crowd, always has been, always will be.

We could put Obama-Biden up against, literally, a piece of shit and a brick and Republicans would prefer the smelly waste over a Democrat.


Disclaimer, I'm not saying minorities or the poor are pieces of shit, just pointing out that Republicans will vote or follow anything, good or bad, with a next to its name

[elkston]

7. Sorry, but I don't agree. My gut tells me they would never nominate a black for the top job.

They talk a good game, but in the end, the bigot wing would come out and overtake the more moderate Republicans.

Look at how quickly the Rush Limbaugh neocons turned on Powell once he endorsed Obama. All of sudden he is just another ni--er.

As long as the mindset exists that discrimination is non-existent, that the passage of the civil rights bill magically made everything "FAIR", then Republicans will always be ruled by racial resentment.

[Captain Hilts]

10. When the alternative is someone like Bill Clinton, damn straight they would.

And don't underestimate the sense of affirmation even some Republicans would get in voting for a black candidate.

There's a reason Powell's positive ratings have been so positive for so long - Republicans, especially Rockefeller Republicans and northern Republicans - like him.

[RagAss]

14. eeerrrrr..... there was a party in Germany like that once.

[Bucky]

11. You're half right.

99% of Republicans put party above race--that's a good thing. But no way Powell could have gotten the republican nomination in either 2000 or 1996. He might've been able to win as a Democrat or an independent, but he's pro-choice, pro-affirmative action, and anti-corporate welfare. All three wings of the GOP bear him a personal grudge. He'd never get the nod.

[Captain Hilts]

15. My firm did polling about Powell with potential R primary voters.

They didn't like him on some specifics, but he could have gotten the 'nod and the general election would have been a walk in the park.

Do all the folks here agree with Obama on: FISA, the DC gun ban, the embargo on Cuba, public financing of elections? NO. Are they still going to vote for him? YES.

[BuyingThyme]

4. Powell is not African American.

[Captain Hilts]

6. He's a New York/Caribbean United Statesian. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Why not?

Some of his ancestors were forced as slaves to Jamaica, from Africa. He was born in the USA. What makes him non-African American, by any definition?

[Captain Hilts]

9. Why not be more specific? Why go back 100s of years?

His family is from Jamaica. He grew up in NYC.

[Bucky]

12. If we go back 100 years, I'm American-American. If we go back 10,000 I'm Asian-American

If we go back 100,000 years, I'm African American. What's the cut off point?

[Captain Hilts]

16. Most people value recent history more than ancient. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. So an African American must have parents born in Africa, then?

"His family are from Alabama; he grew up in NYC" wouldn't say anything about whether someone is African American, in anyone's definition. So "His family is from Jamaica. He grew up in NYC" doesn't seem a useful observation - it doesn't involve Africa in any way. All I can think is that you're saying the place of birth of the parents determines the definition.

Or are you saying there must be no intermediate country in the way the ancestral line arrived in the USA from Africa? Is there a significant difference between someone whose ancestors were shipped as slaves to British colonies on the continent of America in the 18th century, and one with them shipped to a British colony on an American island in the 18th century? Don't they have the same African ancestry? Adn doesn't the 'American' part come from the person being born in the USA?