While the Vietnam War was raging, the nuns at St. Benedict’s College, a tiny Catholic liberal arts school in Ferdinand, invited Dick Gregory to their campus. Gregory was and is a famous Negro comedian with a very anti-war reputation. I attended his speech and heard him make a comment that is permanently etched in my mind: “There would be no wars,” he advised the audience, “if mothers would simply refuse to let their sons go off to fight.”
Having a black entertainer come to Dubois County to speak against the Vietnam War would today be like having Eddie Murphy come to Southern Indiana to speak against the Iraq War. In today’s hysteria, when war criticism is called traitorous, the sponsors of such an event, even nuns, would be thrown into the cages at Guantanamo never to be heard from again. Gregory’s appearance did outrage the city fathers around Jasper but they couldn’t stop the event. The next best thing—get a speaker of their own. A few weeks later here comes Paul Harvey, the famous newscaster and story teller, to Dubois County. I am told that Harvey cost them $3,500 (a princely sum then) to hear “the rest of the story”.
Harry Belafonte was a contemporary of Gregory and a famous singer and actor and also an anti-war activist. I don’t recall Belafonte ever coming to the tri-state but he had many fans here who bought his classic rendition of “Day O” among others. Belefonte used his wealth to help financially strapped civil rights groups.
Last fall, Belafonte expressed his disappointment of Colin Powell’s lack of candor about the Iraq War by essentially calling his fellow African-American a “house nigger.” He explained this disparaging epithet this way:
." There's an old saying in the days of slavery, that there were slaves who lived on the plantation and [there] were those slaves that lived in the house. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master ... exactly the way the master intended to have you serve him.
"Colin Powell has come into the house of the master. When Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture.”
Belafonte was widely criticized for these comments and no wonder. Powell has maintained a lofty approval rating in the 70 percent range and is widely respected for his years of service as a soldier and statesman. I, like many others, felt that he would be a moderating influence on the gung-ho neo-cons of the Bush administration. But the hard-liners outflanked and humiliated him.
What a disappointment, but Powell has no one to blame but himself. He should have resigned with honor long ago and left the master’s house. On almost every critical issue—the Kyoto Protocol, the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty, The Middle East peace process, North Korea, and of course Iraq, Powell has been the odd man out, his influence minimal to non existent.
The event that really underscored just how far Powell is out of the White House loop was revealed in Bob Woodward’s latest book, “Plan of Attack.” In January, 2003, Bush had told all his principals and even Saudi Arabian Prince Bandar that he was taking the U.S. to war with Iraq when Condy Rice asked, “Have you told Colin?” Oops, he hadn’t. So a hasty meeting was arranged. Powell was told in a 12-minute session. So much for lengthy debate.
The irony here is that Bush needs Powell more than Powell needs him. Powell could have crippled the administration had he quit at any point in the past two years. As the loyal soldier who chose to swallow his pride and not confront Bush with his objections, he not only failed his president, he failed his country.
Now we are in a war we didn’t need to fight and can’t win. We should lay down our arms and come home and let the next administration sort out all the diplomatic problems. When you’ve dug a hole so deep you can’t get out, the first principle is to stop digging. It’s too bad Colin Powell wouldn’t stop this mess.
