FORUM
j Majority leader Tom DeLay talks race
Armstrong
Williams
Guest
| Columnist
"The democrat's policies for
the last 30-40 years have failed
African-American and have
failed the rest of the country."
So said House Majority
Leader Rep. Tom DeLay when
we sat down with me recently for
a frank discussion on the myster
ies of skin pigmentation in this
country and what it would take
for America to huddle together as
a more equitable society.
Throughout the conversation,
one key phrase kept repeating:
"equal opportunity." For DeLay.
equal opportunity doesn't mean
embracing racial quotas or other
policies that implicitly link victim
status with the hue of one's skin.
Nor does it mean supporting bot
tomless entitlement programs
that dispense money to the under
privileged like some government
subsidized tranquilizer. Simply
handing money out to the needy
fails to create equal opportunity
because it does not confront the
/ problems that underlie poverty,
like deteriorating family values
and the absence of future expec
tations in poor neighborhoods.
That's why DeLay supported
reforms to the welfare system that
increased the work requirements
and funneled federal resources
into state run programs geared
toward strengthening family val
ues. According to DeLay, such
changes imbue children with a
sense of pride and future expecta
tions. "Children are looking up to
their par
e n t s
because
they are
getting a
paycheck
not a wel
f a r e
check,"
says
DeLay.
Addition
a 1
resources
Tom DeLay
could be used to empower chari
ties and religious organizations to
provide positive role models. In
short, equal opportunity starts
with strong families and the abil
ity of a child to affix value, hope
and meaning to their existence.
Other violations of equal
opportunity are government pro
grams that embrace victim status
for individuals or subsidize lazi
ness; but the ultimate violation of
equal opportunity are racial quo
tas. "Affirmative action had a
good idea to begin with and that
was to level the playing field so
that everyone could have equal
access," says DeLay. The prob
lem occurred when the govern
ment hijacked the program by
focusing on quotas, rather than on
those social conditions that
underlie inequality. "The govern
ment decided to come in and pro
vide equal opportunity by num
bers rather than equal opportunity
by stopping people from discrim
inating, or equal opportunity by
assuring that African Americans
have access to decent schools or
by making sure that job opportu
nities were based on equal oppor
tunity not race or gender," says
DeLay. We need to "come
together as a color blind society
where the government doesn't
pick winners of losers but the
government mandates that every
one have an equal opportunity
based on the capacity for each
individual to grab opportunity
and make something of them
selves."
Yes, racism exists. But that
does not mean we need to legis
late group rights. Common rights
derive from a common humanity.
That means eschewing the victim
status that is inextricably bound
up with racial and gender based
quotas. As Justice Thomas once
observed, "the [civil rights| revo
lution missed a larger point by
merely changing their status from
invisible to victimized... Minori
ties and the poor are humans,
capable of dignity as well as
shame, folly as well as success.
We should be treated as such."
For men like Tom DeLay and
Justice Thomas, the equality and
essential dignity of all human
beings, not just American blacks,
is the point. These are the ideas
that are embodied in the Declara
tion of Independence. And these
are the ideas that are the lifeblood
of an equitable society.
Whether or not leading
Republicans can adequately con
vey these ideas to the black vot
ing populace is another story.
President Bush garnered less than
10 percent of the black vote in the
last election. At least part of the
problem is a cultural stereotype
that equates the Republican Party
to an old boys network that is out
of touch and indifferent to the
chief concerns of black America.
"That's absolutely false,"
demands DeLay. who promptly
adds that "There were a larger
percentage of Republicans voting
than there were democrats voting
for the Civil Rights Act. ..the
Republican Party has always
been the party of equal opportuni
ty and has always protected those
who have been oppressed. Per
haps we just haven't done a good
job of telling our story. "
Perhaps. But a good place to
start would be backing some
black Republicans for elected
office. Currently, there are no
black Republicans representa
tives in the house or senate.
About one quarter of the mem
bership of the Democratic
National Committee, by contrast,
is black American. This strong
representation proclaims to black
Americans that they are part of
the Democratic Party.
DeLay has it right when he
says public policy should provide
the opportunity for an individual
to haul along his own life. But
unless the entire Republican
Party (house and Senate) does a
better job of telling their story,
few minorities will bother to lis
ten.
wtinv.armstnmgwilliams.com
Jessica Lynch: A weapon of mass distortion
George
Curry
Guest
I C"'Umn
There is no question that U.S.
Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch suffered
serious injuries in Iraq. Lt. Col.
Greg Argyrous, who supervised
her three-month recovery at the
Walter Reed Medical Center in
Washington, D.C., detailed them
in a TV appearance on "The
Early Show." He said Lynch's
injuries included "a fracture of
her right upper arm. a fracture of
three bones in her back, fracture
of her right shoulder blade, two
ribs. She fractured her upper and
lower left leg, her lower right leg
and in addition to multiple frac
tures in her right foot. She suf
fered large laceration of her scalp
that was repaired in the Iraqi hos
pital."
How Lynch suffered those
injuries is a story within itself.
'"She was Fighting to the
Death,'" an April 3 "Washington
Post" story by Susan Schmidt
and Vemon Loeb, was headlined.
It began. "Pfc. Jessica Lynch, res
cued Tuesday from an Iraqi hos
pital, fought fiercely and shot
several enemy soldiers after Iraqi
forces ambushed the Army's
507th Ordnance Maintenance
Company, firing her weapon
until she ran out of ammunition,
U.S. officials said yesterday."
It continued, "Lynch, a 19
year-old supply clerk, continued
firing at the Iraqis even after she
sustained gunshot wounds and
watched other soldiers in her unit
die around her in fighting March
23, one official said. The artibush
took place after a 507th convoy,
supporting the advancing 3rd
Infantry Division, took a wrong
turn near the southern city of
? Nasiriyah."
The writers said, "Lynch was
KRT Photo/Lew Stamp
Private Jessica Lynch waves during a parade in her hometown last week.
also stabbed when Iraqi forces
closed in on her position, the offi
cial said, noting that initial intel
ligence reports indicated that she
had been stabbed to death,"
It's a great story. Unfortu
nately, that's all it is - a story.
An Army investigation of the
incident, titled "Attack on the
507th Maintenance Company, 23
March 2003, An Nasiriyah. Iraq."
can be found on the Army's Web
site (http://www.army.mil/fea
tures/507thMaintCmpy/Attack
OnThe507MaintCmpy.pdf). It
provides no evidence that Lynch
had either shot an Iraqi soldier,
continued to fire at advancing
forces until hqtweapon ran out of
ammunition, or that she was ever
stabbed or shot. Rather, her
injuries were sustained as a result
of her vehicle crashing into
another unit vehicle that included
Shoshana Johnson, the first
. African-American female POW.
Before the Army report was
issued, the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) and, later, the
"Times" of London, disclosed
that the "Washington Post" had
published a hyped account of
Lynch's capture that was at odds
with the facts, something the
"Post" would acknowledge and
correct in subsequent stories.
The paper's ombudsman.
Michael (petler. told Amy Good
man on her "Democracy Now"
radio program that, "...the story
should not have been presented
in what really did look like a pro
pagandistic-type account."
Speaking with Goodman on
that same radio program. Richard
Lloyd Perry, a foreign correspon
dent for the London "Times."
said, "When I was in Nasiciyah.
this was a week or so ago, I
stayed in the General Hospital,
principally that's the safest place
In town, protected by both Iraqis
I ?'
as well as a small number of
American Marines."
Workers interviewed by
Perry said. "There was no resist
ance at the hospital. The Iraqi
soldiers and commanders who
had been there, had fled several
hours before?really the day
before, so these special forces
didn't have to fight their way in
at all."
None of this hype was
Lynch's fault; she deserves our
prayers and concerns. So does
Shoshana Johnson. And that also
goes for the families of the 11
soldiers killed in combat that
night.
In war, as we're seeing again,
truth becomes the first casualty.
George E. Curry is editor-in
chief of the NNPA News Sen ice
and Black PressVSA.com. He
can he reached through his Web
site, georgecurry.com.
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