November 14, 2002

BY CURTIS LAWRENCE STAFF REPORTER

Entertainer and longtime human rights activist Harry Belafonte told a gathering of Chicago liberals Wednesday he would not back down from his criticisms of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell for being ''house slaves'' doing the bidding of President Bush. ''I didn't say anything you haven't been saying,'' Belafonte told the gathering, who responded with chuckles and applause. He spoke at a private breakfast at the Gold Coast penthouse of Bettylu Saltzman, former chief of staff to Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.).

More than 50 like-minded people paid $100 to hear Belafonte at the gathering, which was a fund-raiser for the Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights. Guests included former alderman and radio talk show host Cliff Kelley, DuSable Museum founder Margaret Burroughs and activist and media consultant Marilyn Katz.

Belafonte, who was in town to receive the Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. Award for Equal Justice from the National Center on Poverty Law on Wednesday night, told the group he was "amazed" at the outrage some expressed in reaction to remarks he made to a San Diego radio station. He denied that it was a personal attack on Powell.

"What is not to admire about Colin Powell," Belafonte said. "We do admire him, but we have expectations of that admiration."

Belafonte, 75, initially directed the controversial "house slave" reference at Powell last month during an interview with a San Diego radio station, but since has included Rice.

"When you are actively a part of oppression, then you are a moral problem," Belafonte said, citing Bush's stance against affirmative action and his attempt to appoint conservative judges to federal seats. Belafonte, a staunch critic of Bush's Iraq policy, said he admired Powell's rise to power but couldn't support Powell's and Rice's support of Bush's policies.

The White House refused comment on Belafonte's remarks and said it would stand by previous remarks by Powell, who called Belafonte's remarks "a throwback to another time and place" in an interview with television talk show host Larry King.

Belafonte has come under attack from columnists and politicians, including African Americans, for remarks considered by some to be one of the deepest cuts at a black person's integrity.

"There are obvious political differences between Rice, Powell and Belafonte, but it's disingenuous to label Powell and Rice as sellouts or traitors," said the Rev. Christopher Bullock, an African-American Republican who mounted an unsuccessful run against Cook County Board President John Stroger.

But Kelley said he didn't see Belafonte's comment as a personal attack, stressing that Belafonte often mentioned the plight of the poor and locked-out of all races.

"He's not somebody out here trying to start a race war, he's talking about equity and fair play," Kelley said.

Belafonte, who is known to many for making the lyrics to songs like the "Banana Boat Song" and "Matilda" household words, has played a long-standing role in the civil rights movement. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. regularly held strategy sessions at Belafonte's Harlem apartment.

Belafonte predicted Powell and Rice would "rise up in big ways to bedevil us" because liberals and progressives will continue to be put in the position of disagreeing with two African Americans who play prominent roles in Bush's administration.

Belafonte also hammered Powell for representing the Bush administration when it pulled out of the United Nations conference on racism held in South Africa.

"Our government opted not to be there, and the spokesperson who led that retreat was Colin Powell," he said

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2002