Harry Belafonte's Shocking Comments

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Wednesday, October 09, 2002

This partial transcript from Hannity & Colmes, October 8, 2002 was provided by the Federal Document Clearing House.

Click here to order last night's entire transcript.

SEAN HANNITY/CO-HOST: All right, now speaking of my radio show, I have an affiliate in San Diego, KFNB. And they had an interview today with Harry Belafonte. And he said some horrible things about our Secretary of State, but I think you need to hear about them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY BELAFONTE: There's an old saying in the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and there were those slaves who lived in the house. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master to exactly the way the master intends to have you serve him. That gained you privilege.

Colin Powell is permitted to come into the house of the master, as long as he will serve the master according to the master's plans. And when Colin Powell dares suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture. And you don't hear much from those who live in the pasture.

I think Colin Powell made a decision to serve the Republican party since he served that kind of an ideological leader. And I think that he's finding even the best of himself, having no room to be heard, because that's not the voice they want. What Colin Powell serves is to give the illusion that the Bush cabinet is a diverse cabinet made up of people of color and made up of people of another gender, and that that alone is to give Bush the credentials to say that he's a truly democratic man, when in fact none of that is what is true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: That is disgraceful. It is frankly racist. It is mean spirited. It is hateful. And sadly, conservatives that happen to be African-Americans are attacked in vicious ways all too often. And it's got

to stop.

ALAN COLMES/CO-HOST: Well, I'd like to get Mr. Belafonte on this program to expand on those views. We're going to invite him on the show.

HANNITY: Oh, I'd like to get him on the program to ram those views right down his...

COLMES: Well, I'd like to hear what he has to say in a broader forum and see if he can...

HANNITY: He's disgraceful as a human being. To say what he said is disgraceful. And he ought to apologize to the Secretary of State.

COLMES: Well, let's see if he'll come on HANNITY & COLMES and discuss it.

HANNITY: You don't think that's disdainful?

COLMES: I wouldn't have made those comments. I don't agree with him.

HANNITY: You don't think that's disgraceful?

COLMES: I don't agree with him. I'd like to hear more. I'd understand where he's coming from and I'd like get some background on what he has to say. And I'd like to have it one day. All right, that's all the time we left for tonight.

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2002

Answers

Powell smiles at Belafonte remarks

From the International Desk Published 10/9/2002 3:24 PM

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell merely smiled when told of singer Harry Belafonte's remarks calling him a slave who lived in the "house of the master," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Wednesday.

"He smiled when I told him about it," Boucher said responding to a question about the calypso singer's comments made to a San Diego radio station.

"There's an old saying," Belafonte told 760 KFMB. "In the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and 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's committed to 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."

Boucher said Powell told him Wednesday both the Internal Revenue Service and the secretary of state's accountant "thought he did better as a field hand."

In his comments Tuesday, Belafonte also criticized other members of the Bush administration.

"As they said when the secretary sang at ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), he shouldn't quit his day job," a U.S. official said. "I think the same can be said about singers who get into politics."

Copyright © 2002 United Press International

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2002


Amid Race Flap, Lott Urged to Pull Out of Belafonte Award Dinner

By Marc Morano CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer

October 10, 2002

(CNSNews.com) - Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) is being urged to "pull out" of an Oct. 24 award dinner honoring entertainer/activist Harry Belafonte, following the singer's comparison of Secretary of State Colin Powell to a house "slave."

Lott is listed as a "National Honorary Patron" along with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) for the Washington event sponsored by the non-profit relief group Africare.

Condoleezza Rice, the assistant to the president for national security affairs, was initially scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the Africare Bishop John T. Walker Memorial Dinner honoring Belafonte, but is no longer listed because of "scheduling conflicts." Rice and Powell are African Americans, as is Belafonte.

Lott's participation in the Belafonte event is drawing criticism because of Belafonte's reference to Powell during a Tuesday interview with KFMB San Diego radio host Ted Leitner.

"Colin Powell's committed to come into the house of the master," Belafonte told Leitner. "When Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture.

"In the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and 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 you to serve him," Belafonte added.

Niger Innis of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a conservative African American civil rights group, told CNSNews.com that Lott must make sure everyone knows he is withdrawing from the dinner.

"I mean publicly, not privately, not quietly, not through an e-mail. [Lott] needs to be outraged," Innis said.

Innis is angry that Belafonte would denigrate the life and career of Powell, saying the singer represents "selfish ideological interests ... that do a disservice to the people they pretend to speak for."

"For years, Belafonte and the civil rights movement have been pushing for Black Americans to get the opportunity to serve their country in a variety of ways and now you have a distinguished general and now secretary of state that is blazing his own path. It's a disgrace what Belafonte is saying," Innis said.

Lott's office did not return repeated requests for comment on Wednesday.

Innis said he would not be surprised if Lott refused to take a stand.

"We are tired of [Lott] being in the wrong place at the wrong time and this is the wrong place at the wrong time. He needs to pull out [as National Honorary Patron]," Innis said.

Rice No Longer the Keynoter?

Condoleezza Rice was originally scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Africare Belafonte dinner, but she is no longer listed, according to the group's website. Africare's spokeswoman Libba Conger told CNSNews.com, "[Rice] hasn't been the keynoter for quite some time."

Conger cited "scheduling problems" as the reason for Rice not giving the keynote address. Conger emphatically denied that Belafonte or his political views contributed to Rice not appearing at the award dinner and said the new keynoter was scheduled to be former Atlanta Democratic Mayor Andrew Young.

But a spokeswoman for Young at his office at Good Works International said she was unaware of Young being the keynote speaker for the event and only had him scheduled to attend the dinner. Africare's website does not currently list a keynote speaker for the awards dinner. But another website, promoting Belefonte's life and career, still lists Rice as the keynoter. Further confusing matters, a spokesperson for Rice told CNSNews.com that Rice was never scheduled to be the keynoter at the Belafonte dinner, but had received an invitation.

Powell served as the keynote speaker for last year's Africare Awards dinner honoring Louis W. Sullivan, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the previous Bush administration.

Asked if Belafonte's comments regarding Powell would impact Lott's serving as the National Honorary Patron, Conger replied, "I imagine there will be no impact whatsoever."

Innis thinks it's a shame that Powell was compared to a slave and Rice is no longer scheduled to speak at the Africare dinner. "This administration has put forward two Black Americans that have had more influence in American policy than any others in the history of our country," Innis said.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2002


Well...I have to say that I would not expect such a reaction from someone who is as successful as Belafonte. But this IS a common reaction among a lot of blacks. When one of their race make it to the top, they have a hard time crediting that person with hard work, perserverance,and integrity. Its easier to try and bring that person down than to take yourself up the ladder. Its easier to make up phoney reasons why that person is a success than to face the reasons why you are not a success. Sad but true. The same black person will whine about descrimination and then bitch about one of their own headed for the top. Its a real problem among the blacks. I guess its selfesteem. They don't have much and when one of them does, they try and suck it out of him. Just being black tells them they are unworthy. Granted they had that pounded into them for generations, but I do think its time they pulled up the boot straps and took responsibility for themselves and their communities. And no way am I painting all blacks with this paint brush. There are many wonderful, educated, blacks serving their communities and families. We have a great example in Police Chief Moose in MD. Taz

-- Anonymous, October 11, 2002

Bellefonte should go back to the pasture with all due haste.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2002

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