Thu, 10 Oct 2002 09:10:00
Yassah, Massah, Right away Suh!
I fairly spit my soda out when I read this. I cannot believe the nerve of Belafonte. It boggles the mind.
Powell Lashes Back at Belafonte over Slave Remark
October 09, 2002 07:55 PM ET
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell lashed back at singer Harry Belafonte on Wednesday for remarks likening the former general to a plantation slave who curries favor “to come into the house of the master.”
Appearing on a segment of CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Powell said he was “very proud to be serving” President Bush and called the racially charged criticism leveled at him by Belafonte “unfortunate.”
“If Harry had wanted to attack my politics, that was fine. If he wanted to attack a particular position I hold, that was fine,” Powell said, according to a transcript of his remarks. “But to use a slave reference, I think, is ... a throwback to another time and another place that I wish Harry had thought twice about using.”
Powell, the first black American named chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state, initially brushed off the performer’s remarks with humor, saying through a spokesman that his accountants thought he was “better off as a field hand”—a reference to his earning a lot more money in private life than in public service.
Belafonte, 75, who like Powell is a black man of Jamaican descent, lashed out at the secretary during a talk show appearance Tuesday on KFMB in San Diego.
Long outspoken on civil rights and other political issues, Belafonte was asked by San Diego radio show host Ted Leitner whether he thought Powell had taken a low profile as the Bush administration pressed its case against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.
Powell initially had been seen as a leading proponent for seeking U.N. support for any military force against Iraq as opposed to unilateral action by the United States.
NOT A BELAFONTE FAN
“There’s an old saying, in the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and there were those slaves that lived in the house,” Belafonte said. “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’s committed to come into the house of the master,” the performer continued. “When Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture.”
OK. Take a moment and think about what Belafonte said.
Do you see it yet?
HE CALLED COLIN POWELL A HOUSE NIGGER.
What the *fuck*? Are we doing that again now? Did I miss a memo where it was OK to categorize black people as “house niggers” and “field niggers” again? Well spank my ass and call me Jenna. I had no idea.
You know what the real crime is here? That Harry Belafonte is bringing something other than skin color into being black. Clearly, Powell isn’t “black” enough for him, whatever the hell that means. And in an effort to, I imagine, shame Powell into behaving more “black,” he used what might be one of the nastiest insults you could say to a black man in recent history. The implication here is that a house nigger would sell out his people in order to gain favor with “the man.” Worse than that, it implies that Powell hasn’t goddamned well earned the right to be where he is today. Love him or hate him, but dammit, the man deserves his job, and calling him a “house slave” (no such term, BTW, it has always been “house nigger") is abhorrent.
In my opinion, Belafonte should be shunned. I wouldn’t listen to a word this man had to say on anything, ever again. No matter what he says in public to try to weasel out of this one, you know how he feels in his heart. He sees black people in two categories; The field niggers who are banded together in oppression under the man, and the house niggers, serving the man and doing his bidding.
Shame on you, Harry Belafonte. You make me sick. You are what’s wrong with race relations in this country...and the fucked up thing is you went after another black man. You just gave a green light to anyone who wants to categorize black people who work hard and get ahead as house niggers. Great job, jackass.
Posted by JimK at 09:10 AM on October 10, 2002
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Comments:
#3 Posted by JimK 
on 04/08 at 03:02 AM -
Wow. Clayton, you’re WAY late to the party, and not smart enough to use a comments form. Thanks for stopping by, though.
#4 Posted by marcus 
on 04/29 at 11:14 PM -
its true.Powell is a house nigga who is mastered by bush. this is the type of poison we dont need. this is what marcus garvey, malcom x, steve biko talked about, black face but white soul. he is a sell out.fuck powell and anything he stands for.
#5 Posted by Rann on 04/29 at 11:19 PM -
black face but white soul.
Funny, I never knew souls were color-coded.
#6 Posted by JohnReb on 04/29 at 11:39 PM -
fuck powell and anything he stands for.
Such as integrity, personal responsibility, and striving for success?
#7 Posted by Heinrich Walker on 04/30 at 01:39 AM -
Isn’t “Black Face, White Soul” the autobiography of Al Jolson?
#8 Posted by David Duke 
on 07/27 at 06:29 AM -
Notice how race is always important when looking at alleged wrong doing by Whites against non-whites. However, when you talk about White separatism or White supremacy, all of a sudden race doesn’t matter, it’s only skin color. We can deal with accusations of wrong doing. Just so long as you don’t tell us race is unimportant. Race is very important. One of the most important factors in life is race. Race is the most important factor in dating, marriage, procreation, adoption, and were you live. The racial makeup of a area or nation will make or break that area or nation. Compare Haiti to Iceland, then tell me race is not important.
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#1 Posted by CLAYTON
on 04/08 at 02:41 AM -
I THINK MR. B WAS RIGHT WHEN HE USED THAT FRASE BECAUSE IT JUST LOOKS THAT WAY TO MOST BLACKS