On November 19 President Bush named Dr. Condoleeza Rice as his Secretary of State nominee to replace General Colin Powell. It wasn't much of a surprise since Dr. Rice is a trusted advisor to President Bush. What was a surprise was the reaction in some parts of the political landscape.
Several political cartoons were quite offensive in depicting Dr. Rice in the most negative stereotypical African American visual images. A Wisconsin Disc jockey referred to her as unqualified and as “Aunt Jemima” and a number of respected journalists chided President Bush for choosing “subservient” minority appointees. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times referred to these appointments as “toadies”. One can only wonder in what American presidential administration were there any appointments that weren’t subservient to the presidency? How is it that the media has gone from depicting President Bush as a bumbler needing the support of his cabinet to some one who’s Machiavellian ways now need to be reigned in by a counter weighting staff?
What is most interesting about the appointment of Dr. Rice and the subsequent reaction is the deafening silence from certain organizations that one might think would be overjoyed to see an African American become the most powerful woman in the world.
Go to the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) site and look for any press releases regarding Dr. Rice’s appointment and you can find a four-sentence response denouncing the disc jockey’s comments. There is not another single piece of information regarding the advancement of this colored person. In fact a search of the entire site brings back no reference to Dr. Rice at all. The NOW or National Organization for Women site has not a single reference to the outrageous insults to Dr. Rice nor does it refer to the significance of the second woman in history being named as Secretary of State.
Go to almost any other African American Media outlet internet page and there is not a single story as to the importance of this appointment. Ebony Magazine, Oprah Winfrey’s O magazine and a number of others listed in this Google search http://www.unc.edu/~haman/media.htm have no reference what so ever. One can only come to the conclusion that the achievement of an African American woman of this magnitude is significant in the liberal and African American media only if that woman is a Democrat. I come to that conclusion because in one black publication, Donna Brazile is mentioned prominently for an appointment to the DNC Chairmanship that she reportedly is rejecting yet Dr. Rice gets not a mention.
Only time will tell whether or not Dr. Rice will go down in history as a significant secretary of state. There is however no doubt that she has earned her chance to serve in the position. Time will also tell the impact that Dr. Rice will have on young minority women as a role model in this country and even in the world. If it is possible for Condoleeza Rice to reach such levels of achievement then why not them?
Dr. Rice brings substantial academic and intellectual credentials to her position. I won’t go into details here but a cursory look at her resume reveals a multi talented person in a number of areas. http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/ricebio.html
In addition, she has the experience to fulfill her duties, she has served a full four years as one of President Bush's closest confidants as National Security advisor. She has certainly proved her mettle by competing with a core of Bush advisors that by all accounts are no shrinking violets. Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and others in the Bush cabinet are seasoned bureaucratic and policy infighters who would have any timid operators for lunch. Dr. Rice has held up well in this team and in fact has kept the President's confidence and now stands to show the country just why she deserves it. It amazes me that she has not received the recognition she is due from the minority political establishment.
Update. In further searching on this subject I did find an article in Essence in February 2002 by Isabel Wilkerson coincidently titled "The most powerful woman in the world". It can be found here and is a very good read http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1264/is_10_32/ai_94044128
