It is not that the new chairman of the United States
Commission on Civil Rights doubts racial discrimination still exists,
as his detractors have charged, it is that he is not quick to see it.
He is not sure he has personally experienced it. "I just assume
somewhere in my life some knucklehead has looked at me and my brown
self and said that they have given me less or denied me an
opportunity," said the chairman, Gerald A. Reynolds, 41, an
African-American lawyer. "But the bottom line is, and my wife will
attest to this, I am so insensitive that I probably didn't notice." It
is an outlook that could not be more different from that of his
predecessor, Mary Frances Berry, whom President Bush declined to
reappoint. Instead the president chose Mr. Reynolds, a fellow
conservative who once described affirmative action as a "big lie," as
chairman of the 47-year-old advisory panel with a storied history of
pushing the government to combat discrimination. Ms. Berry, 66, made a
reputation in her 25 years on the commission for haranguing presidents
for not doing enough to recognize what she considered the persistent
vestiges of discrimination. She fired off a 166-page report last week
as a parting shot that criticized the Bush administration for fomenting
a divided nation. [more]
Unqualified.
Before being named to the civil rights post, Reynolds worked as senior
regulatory counsel for Kansas City Power & Light Co. Earlier, he
was president of the Center for New Black Leadership, a conservative
think tank based in Washington. Reynolds also worked as a legal analyst
for the Center for Equal Opportunity, a public interest law firm that
has initiated a series of lawsuits across the country challenging
race-based affirmative action programs. The Washington Post September
16, 2002
Moronic. "Many of the problems devastating
low income black communities are the result of a spiritual decay. We
need to redefine the phrase "affirmative action" so that its focus
becomes community-based programs whose primary aims are to replace
self-defeating values with essential success values and to promote
economic development of urban communities." Knight Ridder/Tribune June
19, 1997
The Center for New Black Leadership beleives that "Minimum wage increases, while not designed to be racist, simply are." [more]
"Affirmative action is the big lie.
It is a corrupt system of preferences, set-asides and quotas, a concept
invented by regulators and reinvented by political interest groups
seeking money and power."[more]
Frankly it sounds as if Reynolds
is speaking of lobbyists or perhaps the employees of the Enron Corp. In
any case, if he is required to enforce laws he calls "the big lie" how
vigorously is he likely to be in his duties? Julianne Malveaux. Black Issues in Higher Education April 25, 2002
New civil rights head's insensitivity on race is breathtaking [more]
Civil Rights Coalition Laments Departure of Berry, Reynoso from U.S. Commission on Civil Rights [more]
