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Nation
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17
THE MAROON TIGER
PAGE 8
From Gridiron to
Grand Old Party:
Black republican J. C. Watts, Jr.
By Chucky Meadows
President Clinton's Black cabinet
Is the cupboard becoming bare ?
By Christopher R. Hardiman
The year was 1981, and the game and the clock
was winding down in the fourth quarter of the
Orange Bowl. The Sooners of Oklahoma Uni
versity were playing the Florida State Semi-
noles. The quarterback for the Sooners was a
black man named Julius Caesar Watts, Jr., and
he drove his team down the field to a thrilling
last minute victory. That is still how most Okla
homans remember the man known as J.C. Watts.
This is perhaps aided by the young, healthy
physique seen on his campaign commercials in
the Sooner state. From athletic stardom, Watts
went on to win a seat on the Oklahoma Corpo
ration Commission, a legislative body that regu
lates utilities. Now, Watts is the Congressman
for the fourth district that encompasses the south
western portion of Oklahoma. The shift from
passer to politician is not the most outstanding
distinction that Watts has managed to achieve.
Watts is receiving a great deal of attention
because he is a black republican, part of a
growing trend.
According to the New York Times, last
November’s ballot listed a record number of 25
black Republican candidates nationwide. This
fact provokes mixed feelings and deep thought
in America’s black communities. The number
of African-Americans that identify themselves
as Republicans falls below 10%. The ideology
of Republicans is right-wing, and blacks are
hesitant, to say the least, to identify with conser
vatives. Black Republicans are often seen as
“Uncle Toms” or “sell-outs”. This perspective'
is backed by the fact that the constituents of
most black Republicans are majority white. It is
the opinion of many black Democrats that blacks
who cross the party line serve as mere tokens for
the Republicans.
“J.C. Watts is not a sell-out,” says Oklahoman
Leila Barfield. Mrs. Barfield is the only black
member of the City Council of Lawton, Okla
homa, a small town in the heart of Watts’ Con
gressional district. In an interview with the
Maroon Tiger, Councilwoman Barfield said she
crossed the party line to vote for Watts because
of his forthright nature and his strong dedication
to African-Americans.
“That’s part of the problem that blacks have in
this country. We so blindly support Democrats.”
Watts, who lost his cousin to the racial violence
of the '60s, says that he is a Republican because
Democrats have done little toward the overall
advancement of the black community. The
death of Watts’ cousin might have been due to
his father’s outspoken dedication to the cause of
the Civil Rights Movement. Abortion, accord
ing to Watts, is a matter that can be resolved in
the Scriptures. He argues against abortion on all
grounds, except when a woman’s life is in dan
ger. Mr. Watts is also an opponent of gays in the
military.
Perhaps most importantly, Watts stands for
thorough changes in the welfare system. This
stance parallels that of politician Michael
Murphy of Massachusetts. Also a black Repub
lican, Murphy thinks that the welfare system
should be "more of a trampoline than a swamp”.
Like many of the former Civil Rights
activists, Watts’ uncle and father are both min
isters. Watts himself builds his so-called con
servative political platform on a strong Chris
tian base. Many believe that the current state of
welfare has trapped blacks in the muck and mire
at the bottom of the economic ladder. In an
October 7th issue of the New Y ork Times, Watts
said that “Congress has too long defined com
passion in America by how many people are on
food stamps and in public housing. I think we
should measure compassion by how few people
are on food stamps and in public housing.”
Watts has a plan to substantiate the
black community by channeling significant in
vestments. “We’ve got to go into the black
communities, and we’ve got to talk capital for
mation,” Watts was quoted in the same issue.
“We’ve got to talk capital gains.”
So should J.C. Watts be thrown into
the category of conservative Republicans along
with names like Gingrich and Helms? Bill Jor
dan is a Mississippi lawyer and minister who
campaigned on the Republican ticket at the
same time as Watts. Also an African-American,
Jordan says the problem is that blacks “so blindly
support Democrats.” He feels that regardless of
actual policy implementation, the Democrats
take for granted that blacks will affirm them.
J.C.Watts has been slapped with the deceiving
title of “Unabashed [Christian] Conservative”.
If this label is peeled back, however, we find-
messages and stances that benefit blacks, and a
man who has an obvious plan to change the
status quo. America has attached a conservative
stereotype to Christians. In actuality, Jesus Christ
can be argued as the original revolutionary.
In 1992, when President Bill Clinton, was look
ing for the right Washington bureaucrats to run
key positions on his cabinet, he held the promise
to make his cabinet resemble the American
society. More minorities and women would
make up the cabinet of this president than any
other in history. In his quest to hire the most
capable leaders, he hired five African Ameri
cans; but of the five, two, Espy and Elders, have
decided to leave the Clinton Administration due
to controversies surrounding their character,
while in office.
In 1988, Michael Espy was the first African
American elected to represent the people of
Mississippi in the United States House of Rep
resentatives, since the Reconstruction period.
After being elected, Espy became the most out
spoken member of the House on agricultural
issues, for most of the district that he repre
sented was a huge agricultural area. After being
elected to his second term in 1990, Espy was
given the duties as Chairman of the House
Subcommittee on Agriculture. In 1992, after
Bill Clinton’s successful bid to the White House,
Clinton nominated Espy to head the Agriculture
Department. After receiving high acclaim and
being confirmed by his colleagues on Capitol
Hill, Espy began to work on improving the
conditions on cooked and unprocessed meats,
where he gained high acclaim once again by his
appropriate actions to solve the seriousness of
this issue. After all the high praise he received,
Espy was later subject to criticism for allegedly
taking money and gifts in January 1993 from
poultry interest, Tyson Foods, Incorporated of
Arkansas. After an independent counsel inves
tigated the matter last June, Espy was found
guilty of accepting up to $10,000 in illegal gifts,
trips and money from Tyson Foods, which in
cluded trips to the Virgin Islands, tickets to the
1993 Super Bowl, and other vouchers. After
fighting these allegations and even reimbursing
Tyson for their gifts, Espy resigned in October
1994.
Ignoring her recent service with the Clinton
administration, former Surgeon General
Joycelyn Elders has had a long, lengthy public
service career with the first family, which leads
back to when Clinton was first elected governor
of Arkansas. In 1979, Elders was appointed, by
then GovernorClinton, to head Arkansas’s Pub
lic Health Department System. She received
numerous recognitions for her work in helping
to decrease the mortality rates of babies born in
the state of Arkansas by 50% from 1979 to 1986.
Elders received the nomination for the position
of Surgeon General in the Spring of 1993. Be
fore she took office, numerous scandals were
brought up by the Republican Party, especially
the conservative factions of the G.O.P., that Ms.
Elders was not the best candidate because of her
positions on several key issues; this disapproval
was so great that she barely received her confir
mation from the Senate. In her short term as the
nation’s leading physician, Elders came out in
support of condom advertisements and sexual
education classes in America’s schools that
would teach school children masturbation as an
alternative to sex, and the proper usage of
condoms. Due to her very liberal views, the
Clinton administration called for Elder's resig
nation, citing that Ms. Elders was dismissed for
disciplinary reasons. This was also seen by
most analysts as a move by the Clinton admin
istration to clean out its dirty closets to improve
its chances for reelection in 1996.
Joycelyn Elders and Michael Espy have be
come the epitome of a dying breed of black
politicians; these two former cabinet members
have left Hazel O’Leary, Jesse Brown, and
Ronald Brown to represent African-Americans
on such views as energy, veteran affairs, and
most importantly, commerce. Due to the ac
tions of Espy and Elders, this struggle to repre
sent the views of African Americans on the
president’s cabinet has been placed on the
“backburner” in order to secure financial back
ing or to avoid a controversial quote in the
headlines in the evening newscasts and daily
papers of America.
IN THE NATION
Raleigh, NC - In early January, a 37-year-old White male was executed for the murder of a Black
coed. Kermit Smith was convicted in the 1980 kidnapping and murder of Whelette Collins, a
cheerleader at North Carolina Wesleyan College. Smith was only the second White person executed
for killing a Black person since the reinstitution of the death penalty in 1976, according to several
civil rights and anti-death penalty organizations who contend that capital punishment is dispropor
tionately applied to minorities.
Washington, DC - Members of the Congressional Black Caucus rallied against the hanging of a
portrait of former representative Howard Smith (D-Virginia) in the House Rules Committee hearing
room. CBC members stormed the room in protest while the committee was in its Jan. 24 session.
According to Black legislators, Rep. Smith served as former Rules Committee chairman, and was
a pronounced opponent of civil rights legislation of the 1950s and 1960s. Smith had also been
reported to have offeredjustifications for slavery. Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia) expressed concern
that the new Republican majority would hang a portrait of a man “ who did everything possible to
obstruct civil rights legislation.” The portrait was recently hung by present Rules Committee
chairman Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-NewYork).
Portage, WI - Christopher Scarver, the man accused of murdering serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer,
entered a plea of not guilty before a Circuit Court judge on Jan. 24. The 25-year-old pleaded “not
guilty by reason of mental disease or defect,” though Judge Richard Rehm found Scarver competent
to stand trial. District Attorney Martin Bennett revealed that Scarver’s case will be handled in two
phases: the first, deciding Scarver’s guilt or innocence; the latter, determining the mental illness
of the accused, if convicted. Dahmer had been sentenced after admitting to the murders of 17 men
and boys.
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