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Saturday, October 19, 2002
The Amsterdam News and Amiri Baraka what a lovely combination, assembled in this editorial. Getting Belafonte out of the way first:
As far as Harry Belafonte goes, I hadn't seen his comments anywhere other than on Drudge, and I think Drudge covered that himself instead of linking (which, by Mickey Kaus' measure, means it's only 80% true). So it doesn't really count as a major media onslaught. On the point of Belafonte getting assaulted on his statements for being black, I think one has to prove assault first, which they don't. But aren't Belafonte's comments about Colin Powell unacceptable? He's characterizing Powell's positions negatively on the basis of his blackness; doesn't that explicitly equal racism? It was a disgusting comment to make, completely disrespecting the idea that a guy like Powell -- who, oddly enough, has been the closest thing to a dove in this White House -- can animate himself; what Belafonte said was that Powell can't help but be dominated by white people. It's a disgusting thing to say about Powell, or any person, and should not be excused -- except for the fact that no one is calling him on this. Everyone else -- the Amsterdam News included, is focusing instead on the substance of his comments about Iraq, which are about as valuable as any singer's comments on world affairs can be (though when one adds in the racism inherent in our culture such that a singer may be the most prominent black and therefore the only outlet for widely-spreading a black opinion, his statements become more warranted -- but only to a slight degree, given that there are many prominent black officials whose opinions should come before his and be given their proper due -- yes, this includes Powell, and, for a few months at least, McKinney on the other end of the spectrum). Essentially, Belafonte gets away with being a racist because he's black -- that's no good, and any future comments he makes should be viewed through that prism unless he recants.
More on Baraka later, I guess...
Steven I. Weiss 10:51:00 PM
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