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VIEWS IOPINIONS
o ,the
epublic n h d cb r ed th t
Clinton d deliberately voided
draft beca eo hi oppo ition to the
r in Vietn m. But in e rly
October, viclo line of t c
emerged-th t Clinton
un triotic, "anti-American",
perh p even
"crypto-Communi t".
Bu h' P thetic effort ere
i pired by the polemi of oth I
rightwing ctionarie. epublican
Congre smen Sam John on of
Te , and R ndy Cunnigh m,
Duncan Hunter nd Robert
Dorn n of C liforni , joined
together to d cribe Clinton a
"full-time organizer for
demonstrations against his country
in foreign land," a traitor" who w
"directly re ponsible" for deaths of
American troop in Vietnam, and a
"useful idiot" of Communist Rus ia.
Clinton' re pon e was
characterized more by orrow than
anger. Bush' campaign, Ointon
observed, had "sunk to a new level."
Clinton al 0 recalled that only four
years betore that the President had
vowed that it was "time to put" the
Vietnam War "behind us", to heal the
CL 0 0 Dby
obt ining the endor ement of
enty-two retired general nd
admiral for hi
campaign-including Admir I
William Crowe, form r chairman of
the Joint Chief of S under Bush,
General John Wickham, former
Army Chief of Staff, and Lt. General
Calvin Waller, the second highest
ranking U.S. officer in the Pe ian
Gulf War.
Dan Quayle w given the
ignment as the human torpedo
during single debate apperance
against AI Gore. Sounding like a
broken record in his attacks against
Clinton's "character", laughing
nervously ith an evil exp ion on
his face, the Vice President did his
best to raise qu tions about hi
Democratic opponents. His constant
barking and fierce pos ture were
THE IRO Bu h'
MaCarthy- tyle eli tta
again t the "tax- nd- pend"
Democra that the Clinton-Gore
ticket is probably the most
conserv tive Democratic tandem in
thirty years. On the i ue of
"character", mo t American
Dr. Manning Marabl� is
Profi or of Poliliul Sc·
History at th� Univ�rslty 0/
Colorado-Boulder. '''Alo I tlu
Color LiM" appetJn in over 250
publkado aNl is b� by
more than 60 radio statioll'
intern4lionally.
CHA
Ku Kluxer
kinhead
•
give
anA
,
By JAMES E. A�BROOK
Now that the dust has cleared on
Clarence Thomas' first year as a
Supreme Court Justice, time has
come to evaluate his performance.
From the standpoint of Ku
Kluxers, Skinheads, and Nee-Nazis,
'he has earned an A-plUS.
Those who want only white men
always to control the nation's
political and social values also
would confer the highest possible
mark on this political opportunist
from Pin Point, Ga.
But from the standpoint of Black
people and others who beleive in
equality and fair play for all citizens,
Thomas deserves the lowest grade,
anF-minus.
Looking back at Thomas' route
from Southern poverty 0 the
Supreme Court, we see the hand of
his key benefactor, the white man
who plucked Thomas from potential
mediocrity, treated him as a protege
and shepherded him so carefully and
persistently that he sits on the high
court. .
"trong influence helped Thomas'
advancement as a Reagan
bureaucrat,
Danforth is a "moderate"
Republican with ministerial "live
and help live" principles and a
genuine concern for his fellow
creatures. He voted for the civil
rights bill that Bush vetoed.
Respected widely for his
idealism, he sometimes is called
"Saint John" by fellow senators.
Thomas, on the other hand has
allied himself with far-right zealo
such as Strom Thurman, Jesse Helms
and others who consider him a "good
boy." '
He followed their philosophies
throughout his federal sevice under
Reagan and Bush Asst. Secy. of
Education, Civil Rights Division
(1981-1982); chairman, Equal
Employment Opportunity
Commi sion (1982-1990); and
judge, U.S. Court of Appeal
(1990-1991 ).
E IJROCENTRIC -80llREOISIE
BUICK MIDa.E e FAMILY.
BUSH NOMINA TED him to the
U.S. Supreme Court on July 1, 1991,
and he was confirmed on October 1S,
1991
Thomas deserves the F-minus for
firs t-year Supreme Court
performance because, among other
things:
- He wrote his opinion that
"cruel and unusual punishment"
(prohibi ted in the Eighth
Amendment) did not occur when
two white prison guards in Louisiana
beat a Black pri oner bound in
leg-Irons and handcuffs. The Black
man' face was swollen, his teeth
were loosened, his dental plate
broken and his head was puffed-Up.
Seven of the Supreme Court
justices said the white guards bad
violated tbe- man and his rights, but
Thomas said the Supreme Court had
no jurisdiction over the case, thereby
implying that the states were free to
set whatever rules they pleased in
handling prisoners.
This opinion could imply an
approval of the beating of RodDey
King who also w in sllz police
custody.
- He voted with Court
conservative to permit hlte
officials in two counties in Alabama
to revoke the legal powers of Black
official who had just been duly,
legally elected.
- He expressed disapproval of
integrated education, he .ald,
becau e ometime it preveota
Blacks from being a majodty. (In an
article everal yean a 0, he
questioned tile legality of Brown v.
Topeka, Thurgood Marshall '.
resounding 1954 victory that opeaed
many doors for Black people.)
Thomas voted a,llo.t'
• .Affirmadve Action aDd tbc CIIIUCS
that ould make omen and BIac:b
legally equal to white men.
Thomas is no ThurgoodMaJlhall.
"Saint John" Danforth ould bne
been better.
,
H
DUe 0
African American
ne spaper
columnists as gues
speaker at colleges?
u .
HILTO : HIOHBR BDUCA-
110 h repeatedly referred
to our colleagues, the regular
columni of the Pan
African Pre, being the
djunct faculty of the com
munity.
AS higher education
profe sion 1 for nearly fif
teen years, and a doctoral stu
dent at one of the top
graduate chool on the West
Coast, I can say without hes
titalion that some of my be t
lessons have been learned
from these writers.
These writers, along with
the newspapers' taff of
reporters, cover crucial i -
sues impacting the African
American community and .
the larger Pan African world.
These writers are from the
West Indies, Africa, Latin
America and even "down
home." Many have ad
vanced degrees.
They teach/discuss busi-
nes, political cience,
c1610g , .... ¢h!}f¢C .... 'a'ifc
psychology, to name a few of
their areas of expertise.
In the past, we have
named outstanding
newspaper "adjunct faculty"
such as Eva Doyle, Tony
Brown, M. Lee Stanley,
Lenora Fulani, Bill Reed,
John Jacob, Marian Wright
Edelman, Mark O'RiIey,
Manning Marable, Ben
Chavis, Usa Collins, James
Alsbrook, Conrad Worrill
and Mable Finney.
AS ANY REGULAR
reader of the Pan African
Press will tell you, this is not
the entire faculty.
In many ways, however,
the knowledge that they and
the scores of other writers
have of contemporary issues
goes unnoticed by college
students, unle s they read the
newspapers or in the case of
a Manning Marable, a stu
dent could actually take his
courses at the University of
Colorado.
'We strongly encouraged
college officials to contact 1)
African American
newspapers in their areas, 2)
the National Newspaper Pub
lishers Association (NNP A)
in Washington D.C. or3) Hll,
TON: HIOHBR BDUCATION to
inquire about the availability
of these and other jour
nalists/adjunct faculty as
speakers.
AS WE CLOSE'in on the
twenty first century, it is
going to be essential that col
lege students, and especially
students of African descent,
connect with pracunoners as
well as the theorists.
As we close in on the
twenty first century, it is also
going to be essential that
higher education connect
with a press that has a long
history - and a readership of
nearly twelve million! ,
HILTON: HIGHER
EDUCATION is designed to
dialogue with college and
world readers. Education is
ongoing and certainly not
limited to classroom study.
Let's talk, (714) 899-0650.
THA T MAN IS Sen. John
Danforth, Republican, of Missouri.
In many ways the opposite of
Thomas, Danforth is said by many
Black Missourians to be a genuinely
"good" man. He is the ari tocratic
but humble heir to the Ralston Purina
millions. He attended a private
country day academy at St. Louis,
received his bacehlor's degree with
honors at Princeton, his law degree
from Yale and his divinity degree
also from Yale. He practiced law and
entered state poliitics before winning
a U.S. Senate eat in 1970.
He i a liberal who made a
mistake and is trying to live with it.
The mi take is Clarence Thomas.
He found Thomas graduating
without a job at Yale Law School
and, being a liberal, hired the
African-American Thomas one of
his assistant attomeys-general for
the state of Missouri. Danforth's