Condoleezza? A question for historyby Wilbert A. TatumMs. Riced*?"?s accomplishment in be-Publisher Emeritus, & Chairman coming the second woman, and firstrdam News : Black woman, to become Secretary ofState, there are those of us who are muchMs. Condoleezza Rice will soon be concerned, not only about the appoint-confirmed 4 the Senate and become ment, but about the state of the nation,Secretary of State for the United States as Ms. Rice awaits confirmation,of America. She is aBlackwomanwho We had no way of telling how ef-Will replace an outgoing of State fective Ms, Rice was as a presidential ad-who also happens to be Black, Colin visor. There were no ways by which we. As impressed as some maybeby could measure her, except the satisfacJanet Jacksongala of One Hundredees who expressed dismay over pre-terdam Newssenting an award to the 38-year-oldperformer.NEW YORK, NY - Some guests at- Victoria Andrews said that the or-tending the One Hundred Black ganization 4*ceshould be ashamed ofMen's annual benefit last week chas- themselves for glorifying Jackson, wholess than a year ago exposed bearbreast on national television.4eejad Anthony Rivera pSorganizations sole purpose for recogniz-ing Jackson was to sell tickets for the $375-a-plate gala awards dinner, there are otherebrities it could have tapped.But Paul Willfams, theorganization's president, didn Tt seem moved by the criticism. He said hisproup decided to honor Jackson forer oartistic achievement ? and a ca- Treer that has ogone from success togreater success.In addition to Jackson, Willie E.Gary, the celebrated defense attorney,was honored, along with baseball leg-end Henry oHank ? Aaron andJohnnetta B. Cole, president ofBennett College for Women.Despite the controversy over theorganization's decision to recognizeJackson, a high point of the occasionwas a progress report given on thetised the Organization for its decisionto salute op singer Janet Jackson withan award.One critic, Jeff Wilson, said thatJackson has odone absolutely noth-ing to deserve the honor ? and thater selection sends a wron messageto young people, particularly to Afri-can American youth.Wilson wasn Tt alone.There were a number of attend-to turn off our emotions and put aside ourPatriotic concern for America and fall instep with his failing polices.The uniter, not a divider, promisedus four years ago that he would bringhonor to the White House. It has neverhappened and already after this electionhis so-called Christian friends are boast-ing that good won over evil and are con-demning Democrats, Liberals, and any-one that doesn't hide behind the Biblewith them. You know, these are theChristians that claim to be concernedabout the un-born but in fact don't giveyo» @.damn about the jiving, if you don t,will bring America together? |; ~ I doubt patriotic Americans can for-get right away about the vicious lies that & ri .ewey Funkhouser (File Photo) .the so-calld Swift Boat veteransHe and his friends (the so-called _ pounded the airwaves with, and the wayChristian Coalition) spent years spread- Bush exploited 9/11 and spread fear, toing lies about Democrats and liberals cover up his lack of honest leadership.east3pm to 9pmOpen Fri. Tpm to 14pmOpen Sat - ipmto 9pm .Pork Chops, Chicken, Neck BewR i er Pos. 411 Deck St. Greenville, NC 27834252-756-9558Open ThursCOMMENTARY: oBush is amazing_ ceeds; ten or twenty years down the road,- nowin, I would guesstion of President Bush by her perfor-mance. He is the one, and. only one, towhom Ms. Rice had to report, par-ently, Mr. Bush was satisfied with herpanne over these last four years,and future performances of thesame level. Otherwise, he would nothave hired her for such a difficult job atsuch a difficult time in the history ofAmerica.While most of us have been led tostirs controversy at annuala Terroup Ts educational program by theRev. Pacques A. DeGraff, a One Hun-dred Black Men board member.DeGraff reported that the pro-gram successfully opened an EagleAcademy for Young Men, enrolling118 young men to the 9th grade atan inaugural ceremony hosted by Co-lumbia University.DeGraff recalled that when theorganization recruited students for theProgram, one young man filled in hisapplication and left the portion forhis address blank. Rev. DeGraff saidthe young man Ts response when askedwhy he left the space.blank was thathe was homeless and had no knownaddress except the shelter where heoften stayed. DeGraff said the orga-nization made sure that the youngman was properly enrolled in the pro-gram and pledged to work with himas he strives to pursue his educationaldream, despite the impediments.Meanwhile, last year the grouplaunched the Bronx School for Law,Government and Justice, the onlyschool in America built within a judi-cial complex. The school fae eestudents to careers in the law. T and devising issues that would divide the A couple years ago I heard Jerry; American population to his selfish advan- Falwell on national brag about hav-i tage. A aher the election he expectsall ing been a guest of Bush in the WhiteHouse a couple times and that the Evan-gelical Christians were going to get Bushre-elected and then they would get Jebelected for eight years and then Job's sonfor eight years. Think it can't happen?Well they have followed through on thefirst step. Their movement for worlddominance is moving faster than onemight think. They are enlisting manyerable weak and lazy-minded . des-perate people everyday; all done by us-ing fear tactics. I understand they have abig push to enlist Mexican people. Thereis no doubt about how fast Hispanicsare populating the United States ofwe i ' F i Suc-if you don't believe the way your bosswants you to believe, you will be out ofa job. With the condemnation of homo-sexuals that the far right spew now, howwill they be treated? Are we to believethat it will not be a lot worse?We are on a very dangerous slopenow with religion mixed with govern-ment. Each person should be free to be-lieve as he chooses, without fear. If not,we are heading in a Nazi-style direction.If we keep going in the direction we arethat twenty yearsfrom now we would be ohauled off ? withfor writing a letter like this.I challenge each of you to researchand find out all you can about this evilmovement and expose those who are| behind it and try to determine whatkinds of business they are in (besides thereligion business). What other incomedo Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell have?Do Bill Bennet and Gary Bauer haveties with Jeb Bush? These people havebecome wealthy from religion and pos-sibly other businesses that might ormight not be legitimate. We need to stopthese people. America will not survive ifwe don't.Dewey FunkhouserGreenville, NCotHuman beings are the only creatureson earth that allow their children to comeback home.-Bill Cosby*believe that Ms. Rice is contentious, dif-ficult to get along with, and as much aright-wing hard-liner as Bush, she hasnever been truly tested as to what shewould become under fire 4° ? especiallythe kind of fire that one experiences asthe Secretary of State of the UnitedStates.We must operate from the premiseof knowing and understanding whatshe has done before to assess the possi-bility of how well she will do in thisnewly. appointed position that theCommander-in-Chief has entrusted .her with, which is arguably one of themost difficult diplomatic posts in theworld. A post which has diplomacyattached as one of the requirements forsuccess in it seems a strange fit for Ms.Rice. She is known in the State De-partment as a contentious, hard-linewitch. No one in the international dip-lomatic corps, yet interviewed, seemsto have a supporting thing to say abouther. Yet, Ms. Rice has been chosen. Andthat is thar.It has been said that she will suc-ceed in areas where Colin Powell failedbecause she refuses to accept namby-pamby excuses from her staff: and willreact in the same manner to those dip-lomats from other countries who refuseto measure up to her standards or ex-pectations, or who try to play hercheap. True or not, none of us can say.aOct. 30 - Nov. 6, 2004 The Minority Voice Newspaper Page 5What we do know is that she has areputation of being tough, officious,smug, and smart as hell 4° ? with oneiGeorg W. Bush. 7hat is a tough rA@sumA® tohave as the incoming chief diplomatin America, who has among otherthings haunting her: a worldwide dip-omatic corps who, with few excep-tions, hate our guts; little experiencein the trenches of diplomacy 4° ? wherethe ability to bargain is a requirement;and a world full of racist white men4° ? who have never seen a woman,much less a Black woman, as anythinother than a maid, a slave or a sexualobject (not necessarily in that order),Ms. Rice has not done well in theBlack community for a number of rea-sons. She has not related to Black menparticularly well. We must concede thatmuch of that could be due to jealousy.Too, she has not related very well withgod, and one god only: and that is.Black women. Bar of that could be dueto jealousy on her part. Perhaps morethan that is jealousy over her achieve-ments, and ability to live her life andhave a career, without having to ¢_ ona Black man for her survival. This isg indeed hard to fathom, because in talk-ing to her and reading what she is about _and decisions that she has made, onemust first settle with the idea that she is. aneni oWhatever happens in this new ven-~~ ture of hers will just add more glory totthe international accomplishments ofthe Black woman in America. We wishher well, and ask that she soften up abit, and begin to understand that thereare others out here who wish her well;and are proud of this Black super-woman, in spite of the fact that fewBlacks seem to wish to honor her for heraccomplishments with George Bush._ Many of us believe that she hasdone the Black nation harm. Yet, wewish to hope that before her tenurewith Mr. Bush and the governmentof the United States ends, she will havefound a way to reach out to the Blackcommunity from whence she came, inorder for our children and their chil-dren to understand what she did dur-ing these years with Mr. Bush, andwhy she decided that she had to do itin the way in which we now perceive._ Black people want nothing morethan to be able to honor her, ratherthan include her on whatever enemieslist that is now being prepared.BUSH IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE RIGHTWARD DRIFTCONTINUES FROM PAGE?the Black vote, he doesn't seek the Blackvote and he doesn Tt seek any su portfrom Black leaders. It Ts sad to think, butthat Ts where we are. ? .When T first campaigning for theWhite House in 2000, Bush addresseddelegates to the NAACP annual con-vention. However, he has refused to speakat a convention while in office, the onlysitting president in modern history torefuse an invitation. He has spoken tothe National Urban League twice, wherehe felt he might get a warmer reception.Each time he was received polite y, butnot enthusiastically. Unlike his Demo-cratic opponent, John Kerry, Bush alsorefused to be interviewed by the Na-tional Newspaper Publishers AssociationNews Service, a federation of more than200 Black newspapers, and Black En-tertainment Television.With authorized war and rebuild-ing appropriations for Iraq and Afghani-Butterfield WantsBuyout PaymentsWASHINGTON - Congressman G.K.Butterfield is urging the U.S. Departsment of Agriculture to get tobacco quotaayments to farmers as soon as possible. Many tobacco farmers are facing ex-treme financial distress, ? Butterfield said. oAfter meeting with many tobacco farm-ers in ny district I blow that they simplycannot wait until the end of 2005 toreceive the first buyout payment. ?Butterfield said that one of the pro-visions of the new law eliminates al re-ining Phase II yments that were partof the Master Seclement Agreement,beginning with the payment that wouldhave obeen tendered in December 2004.The new law replaces these paymentswith the buyout, but only specifies thatthey are paid sometime during 2005.Butterfield said that he has written toUSDA Secretary Ann Veneman to urgethe department to spéed tlie paymentprocess. oTobacco farmers have, understand-ably, come to rely on these payments andreasonably expected this money to bepaid in December 2004. ? Butterfieldsaid. oShould there be a long delay inthe buyout payments, this will create a T very difficult financial situation for manymers, ?Without a timely payment,Butterfield said many farmers will beforced to begin selling future paymentsfor immediate lump sum amounts -funds that most fanners would other-wise use to pay off debts, fund futureoperations and to live on in retirement. ke would be a tremendous failure onthe part of the federal government if the.., Payments farmers have sosought for so long ts nar atastan now exceeding $200 billion,coupled with a federal budget that wentfrom a $256 billion surplus when Bushen to a projected $422 bil-lion in fiscal 2004 and rising to $2.7trillion in 10 years, budget officials saydomestic spending will dwindle duringush Ts second term. On top of those fig.ures, his tax cuts, that primarily benefitthe wealthy, are expected to cost the USS,treasury $1.9 trillion over 10 years.The Washington Post obtained aWhite House Office of ent andBudget memo earlier this year thatwarned all federal agencies in charge ofdomestic programs to expect budget cuts, oBut the cuts are politically sensi-tive, targeting popular programs thatn touting on the campaigntrail, ? the Post reported. oThe Educa-tion Department; a nutritional programfor women, infants and children; HeadStart; and homeownership, job-training,medical research and science programsall face cuts in 2006. ?to Speed TobaccoWashington, D.C *desperatelydeep discount, ? Butterfield said. ThePliase IT payments were negotiated whenthe four major cigarette-makers settledthe states T tobacco lawsuits in 1998, andwere intended to compensate growersover 12 years for any losses they mightsuffer as a result of higher cigarette prices.The latest and final checks were sched-uled to go out Dec. 30. The $10.1 bil-lion buyout deal was part of a $136 bil-lion corporate tax package approved byCongress and signed into law by Presi-dént Bush late last month. With about76.000 tobacco farmers and quota hold-ers. North Carolina will receive the larg-est portion of the buy out. The buyoutends the Depression-era quota systemthat kept prices artificially high and putU.S. growers at a disadvantage. Underthe quota system, a quota was needed tobe able to grow a specific number ofpounds of hee Overall U.S. produc-tion lias been limited to what domesticcigar cite makers intended to buy. withunsold tobacco going into reserve. Un-der the new law, the government willpay $10 for each pound of quota - $7per pound for the quota holder and $3t pound for the farmer. Payments willEe made over 10 vears and funded by afee on will be based on 2002 product.Those who quit farming before 2002will receive nothing,Wtih the quota system, growers willbe able to freely contract with cigarettecompanies to grow as much tobacco asthey have land io sustain.tan «Mtn+ica SAADohnsonj907 DikinsonReal EstateAve, Greenville, NC (252) 757 -3191RENTALS Since 1949ou Would Like To Rent A1, 2 or 3 Beroom Housing UnitRecepTo Buy, Rent, or Sell Real Estate,Call the...leagues and relatives,year-old mother,attendance.D. D. Garrett Agenc"Serving Eastem North Carolina Since 4Call us if you need someone to collectyour rent and manage your property.Several nice bullding lots...We handle Conv., HUD, VA, FHA FinancingRealtor @ Notary Public e Accounting606 Albemarle AvenueGreenville, NC 27834(252) 757-1692 or (252) 757 - 1162Fax Number (252) 757-0018ee |In ing his party's nomination,Bush offer a Sais of pra rograms that hewants enacted during his second term.However, the $3 billion price tag makesit unlikely that many of them will beenacted.Bush, the first president sinceHerbert Hoover to end a term with fewerpeople working than when he started,will be pressure to create more jobs.The U.S. has 585,000 fewer jobs nowthan when Bush took office. _ oI think by the end of his term,cause he has not generated jobthe effect of this weak labor market willbe that the economy will collapse backon itself, ? says Bill Spriggs, an economist. oWe will continue to see incomes stag-nate and then start to fall. I think itsrealistic because he doesn't think he Tsdone anything wrong. ?Democratic National CommitteeChairman Terry McAuliffe is alreadylooking past Bush's second term, oPhis party i tro r than it Ts everbeen. We're in the best nancial shape, ?he says. oWe now have, unlike four yearsago, millions and millions of new suporters of this party., We're debt-free for¢ first time ever and we're beginningto build towards 2008. ?ce sworn iny Ron JenkinsOKLAHOMA CITY - A racially mixedoverflow crowd cheered as Tom Colbertof Tulsa was sworn in Thursday and tookhis seat as the first black member of theklahoma Supreme Court.Colbert, 54, had been chief judgeof the Oklahoma Court of Civil Ap-peals,After Chief Justice Joe Watt sworehim in, Colbert traced the history ofthe civil rights movement, thankingleaders whom he said paved the wayfor his appointment.They included one in attendance- Clara Luper, who began the restau-rant sit-in movement in the 1950s inOklahoma City.Colbert spoke of Ada Lois SipuelFisher, who broke the racial barrier at theUniversity of Oklahoma in the late 1940s.Fisher refused to attend a speciallaw school set up for her in the base-ment of the Capitol and eventuallygot her law degree at OU. SupremeCourt Justice Thurgood Marshall wasone of her attorneys.Colbert joked that oit took us over50 years to make it from the basementof the state Capitol to the second floor, ?where the Supreme Court is located.He said the Brown versus Boardof Education case, which ended the oseparate-but-equal ? doctrine, broughthim to the door of the Oklahoma Su-preme Court, but it took Gov. BradHenry to open the door.He called the Democratic gover-nor a visionary leader who believesgovernment should reflect the peopleIt serves, oThere are so many people acrossthis country of all races and national-ity that never thought they would liveto see this day, ? Colbert told Henry. oWe all owe you a debt of gratitude. ?He also thanked former Gov.Frank Keating, who first appointedhim to the bench, and his many col-including his 80-Edith, who was inHe vowed to serveand fairness.Henry said the new justice had oincredible credentials ? and was a manof high intellect and fairness,klahoma is absolutely blessed tohave a man of this character to serve onits highest court, ? the governor said.efore becoming a judge, Colberthad served as a) counsel for theDepartment of Human Services, assis-tant district attorney in OklahomaCounty and assistant law school dean atMarquette University Law School inMilwaukee.He was oppeinted to the statehigh court to fill the vacancy createdy the retirement of Justice DanielBoudreau.Ron Jenkins writes for APwith integrity