Hypocrisy, Republican style
SAN FRANCISCO — The four-day Republican Party convention finally came to an end on August 4 with the formal nomination of Texas Governor George W. ("Dubya") Bush, as the party's presidential candidate in November. Since the selection process had been completed weeks earlier, only 8% of the television audience tuned in.
For those who did, an illusion was offered. The Republican Party is now a party of "diversity".
The son's party is not like that of his father, George P. Bush, the last Republican president. It's in the "centre", in line with the Bush image of a "compassionate conservative".
The "good ol' boys" from the extreme right (the most racist, anti-woman, anti-labour, anti-immigrant elements) were kept out of sight, except for the closed parties paid for by the major corporations. Reporters who tried to sneak in to those were forcibly ushered out.
The illusion began on day one, when more black faces than I or anyone else had ever seen at a Republican convention suddenly appeared on television. The mostly white and very wealthy delegations were entertained by gospel singers, rap stars and almost every black elected Republican in the country. There was singing and dancing, and photo ops with the few top African-American Republicans to be had for the asking.
The headline of the New York Times black columnist summed it up best. Behind the illusion, wrote Brent Staples, the Republican Party "is largely a party of, by and for white Americans. But subtract the minority props — and what you have is the same ultra white party that shocked many Americans' sensibilities at the 1992 and 1996 conventions."
Statistics bear Staples out. The speakers at the opening sessions were 54% white, 21% black, 12% Latino and 1% Asian. Yet convention delegates were 83% white, 4% black and 3% Latino. The number of delegates worth at least US$500,000 was close to 45%.
Faye M. Anderson, a former vice chair of the Republican National Committee's New Majority Council, noisily (her words) quit the party's minority outreach committee earlier in the year after Bush appeared at Bob Jones University, a racist institution, and refused to condemn the flying of the Confederate flag (the flag of slavery) atop the South Carolina statehouse. In the August 1 New York Times, she noted that the number of black delegates, 85, while more than 1996 (52), was fewer than in 1992 (107).
Affirmative action
Ironically, the two most prominent African-American speakers, retired General Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice, Bush's foreign policy adviser, don't agree with a key plank of the Republican platform: its strong opposition to affirmative action.
Texas and Florida, where the younger Bush brother, Jeb, is governor, have both eliminated affirmative action in higher education. George W. Bush says he supports "affirmative access" but opposes "preferences".
Affirmative action is required to begin to end white privilege. It is only the first step needed to begin to right the wrongs of nearly 400 years of slavery and racism in the United States. Other steps, including reparations, are also needed.
Powell himself was a direct beneficiary of affirmative action. In 1978, when a list of proposed promotions did not include a single black colonel, the secretary of army at the time, Clifford Alexander, ordered a review to reconsider the list. The new list included Powell's name, among other qualified African-Americans.
That kind of "missing from lists" racism is typical of US society. Privilege, the historic affirmative action that all whites have benefited from, is rooted in racial oppression. It's why affirmative action programs with real teeth (goals and quotas) are necessary. No oppressed nationality or racial minority in any capitalist country can ever achieve equality unless governmental power is used to end historic privileges of the dominant racial/national group.
The ruling rich who own and control the Republican and Democratic parties benefit from racism. But the US non-white population is growing and is expected to be a majority by 2050. The rapidly changing demographics indicate why a shift in rhetoric is needed even if Wall Street and Main Street will remain in the hands of rich white men.
So the mostly white convention delegates applauded Powell loudly. Cynical as bourgeois politicians tend to be, they ignored his and Rice's support for affirmative action. They understood where Bush stands.
More stage props
Besides black faces, the convention also put on its brown face. The day before Bush officially accepted the party's nomination, he spoke at a rally in Philadelphia of Latinos carrying signs in Spanish praising his candidacy. It turned out that many, if not a majority, of the sign carriers did not speak Spanish, nor were they Latino.
The diversity stage prop even included a gay Republican member of Congress from Arizona. But he wasn't allowed to mention sexuality. Him speaking, however, was still too much for many delegates, including Bush's own Texas delegation, where many bowed their heads in protest.
The most hypocritical family at the convention was that of Bush's chosen vice presidential candidate, Dick Cheney. The darling of the right wing, Cheney, a former secretary of defence and supporter of Star Wars, and his family tried to downplay the fact that one of his daughters is a lesbian. When his wife, Lynne, herself a prominent conservative activist, was asked about her, she implied the interviewer was "outing" her daughter.
In fact, Mary Cheney has been quite public about her sexuality for more than a decade, and worked until May as the corporate-relations manager for the Coors Brewing Company, including liaising with the gay and lesbian community.
The Republican platform states: "Homosexuality is incompatible with military service". It opposes civil rights protections for gays. It's no secret in Texas that George W. has publicly supported a law which makes private, consensual sex between gay adults a crime.
Dick Cheney during his career in Congress opposed the right to abortion even after incest or rape. He voted against freeing South Africa's Nelson Mandela and opposed making the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a national holiday. In 1987 he opposed the Clean Water Act. In 1988 he was one of 13 representatives who voted against a bill that initiated federal funding for AIDS testing and counselling. He even opposed the creation of the Education Department.
What about white, male affirmative action? Powell in his speech defending affirmative action made an indirect criticism of Cheney and his ilk: "Some in our party miss no opportunity to roundly condemn affirmative action that helped a few thousand black kids get an education. But you hardly hear a whimper when it's affirmative action for lobbyists who load our federal tax code with preferences for special interests."
Cheney for the past five years has been the chief executive of a Texas oil company, Halliburton. Federal contracts to Halliburton during his tenure increased 15-fold. The handouts enriched him and his shareholders. Cheney's net worth is estimated at US$50 million.
The Republican Party remains mainly a party of and for whites and the well-off. Their problem is that a majority of voters still support abortion rights, although with some restrictions. Most think gays should have civil rights protections. While affirmative action is opposed by most whites as "unfair", a majority support equal opportunities for minorities and reject racism.
The Democratic Party is different in style (otherwise why have two parties?), but fundamentally the same regarding policies protecting the rich and powerful. The Democratic Party convention takes place in Los Angeles in mid-August.
Street protests
There was another, more significant, gathering taking place outside the Republican convention hall — one much closer to the interests of working people. Thousands of protesters who support abortion rights, affirmative action, gay rights and the environment and oppose the WTO, IMF, World Bank and the death penalty rallied and faced off the cops. Among the most prominent signs was "Free Mumia" — the black political activist on Pennsylvania's death row.
A chilling message was sent to the street protesters by the authorities. They rounded up activists whom the police considered "ringleaders" of nonviolent civil disobedience. They raided a warehouse where protesters were making puppets, claiming that "criminal activity" was taking place.
In an unprecedented move, one protest leader from the Ruckus Society of California had his bail set at US$1 million. He was not charged with a felony, only eight misdemeanours. The arrest occurred while he was talking on his cellular phone on the street.
Several hundred people were arrested. Several other protesters received bails of US$400-500,000. One speculation is that bails were set so high to prevent leaders from going to Los Angeles during the Democratic Party convention, where even bigger protests are expected.
By Malik Miah