By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Original Sources (www.originalsources.com)
August 10, 2000
On Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee, Vice President Gore introduced Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman as his vice presidential running mate and said the inclusion of the "first Jew on a national ticket would help tear down a mighty wall of division."
Only, in some Jewish circles he would not be considered the first Jew on a national ticket. Republican Barry Goldwater, who ran for President in 1964 was the son of a Jewish father, Baron Goldwater, grandson of a Polish Jewish immigrant, named Mike Goldwater who founded an Arizona mining store in 1862 that later became the prosperous Goldwater Department Stores of Arizona. Barry Goldwater was introduced into the world of politics by his Jewish Uncle Morris Goldwater who often complained about the problems of big federal government and high taxes.
Barry Goldwater’s heritage notwithstanding, it appears we are going to be treated to a campaign that plans to milk the Jewish connection for all its worth, while branding any opposition to Lieberman as "Anti-Semitic." We have already heard references to the Holocaust and "anti-semitism" of those who don’t like Lieberman. In fact, the very first opportunity to blast someone out of the water on "anti-semitic" bigotry charges has already been launched against a surprised local NAACP chairman in Dallas named Lee Alcorn who made the mistake of voicing a concern shared by many, namely: how would it play in Cairo and Baghdad to have an American Orthodox Jew in the White House as a major player in the Middle East Peace talks?
NAACP national president, Kweisi Mfume, immediately announced that he would strip Lee Alcorn of his NAACP membership, and obviously his position as president of the Dallas, Texas chapter. "I strongly condemn those remarks," Mr. Mfume said. "I find them to be repulsive, anti-Semitic, anti-NAACP and anti-American. Mr. Alcorn does not speak for the NAACP, its board, its staff or its membership."
And just exactly what was it that Alcorn said on the Monday KHVN-AM radio talk show? Alcorn clearly is no great communicator, but basically, according to the radio clip I heard, and which was edited by the print media in such a way as to obscure his real point, he was complaining that the choice of Sen. Lieberman was another slap in the face for black Americans:
"I'm concerned about, you know, any kind of Jewish candidate, you know, and I'm concerned about the Democratic Party. I'm sick of the Democratic Party taking the African-American vote for granted. ... We don’t ever seem to get anything out of our vote other than well, ‘I’m a democrat and democrats have always taken care of our interests.’ And when you look at the major area of the black community we still have serious economic disparity and schools, re-segregation all over again, there’s just a number of historical things that affect the black community that have not been addressed bv the Democrats."If we get a Jew person, then what I'm wondering is, I mean, what is this movement for, you know? .Does it have anything to do with the failed peace talks? What is actually behind it?.. I think we need to be very suspicious of any kind of partnerships between the Jews at that kind of level because we know that their interest primarily has to do with, you know, money and these kinds of things."
"We still have a long way to go before we have any kind of economic parity."
Alcorn angrily resigned from the NAACP after receiving a fax from Mfume. The episode has sparked a flurry of what the Anti-Defamation League called "anti-Jewish slurs and offensive language" on Internet message boards, discussion groups and e-mail lists on the Internet. America Online, the world's largest Internet service provider, has been removing what it calls "hate messages" aimed at the vice presidential candidate.
Even the Bush campaign jumped into the fray with the Governor’s campaign spokesman, Ari Fleischer, condemning Alcorn’s remarks "in the strongest terms:"
"When it comes to fighting anti-Semitism, Governor Bush and Secretary (Dick) Cheney stand shoulder to shoulder with all Americans in condemning such foolish utterances. NAACP National President Kweisi Mfume deserves praise and credit for immediately leading the condemnation of Mr. Alcorn."
Meanwhile, back in Dallas, a surprised Lee Alcorn was offended by the reaction considering that it is Gore himself who has emphasized Sen. Lieberman’s religion, claiming him to be the "first Jewish candidate on a major party's ticket:"
"What is being batted around is the fact that he's Jew," he said. "He's (a) Jew. That doesn't mean I'm against Jews because I say it. People can extrapolate and make a big molehill out of something."
Todd Gillman of The Dallas News reported yesterday that "In a 10-minute telephone interview Tuesday, Mr. Alcorn referred repeatedly to Mr. Lieberman as "Jew," rather than "Jewish" or "a Jew," even after it was pointed out that those terms are considered more acceptable." The word "Jew" is a noun describing a person who adheres to Judaism. The word "Jewish" is an adjective which pertains to Jews. In his radio interview Lee Alcorn used both words correctly - "a Jew" and "Jewish." It would seem that Gillman has more of a prejudice problem than Alcorn has if he took it upon himself to correct the English of the person he was interviewing. On Wednesday Alcorn told the Morning News that his comments had been taken out of context -- that he meant to say in the radio interview that, given the loyalty black voters have shown to Democrats, Vice President Al Gore should have picked a black running mate instead of a Jewish one:
"I'm not sure how you can criticize or make comments about Lieberman the politician and not be cast as anti-Jewish. I think that's unfortunate."
Actually, Alcorn’s whole statement on the radio interview with KHVN-AM clearly shows that is exactly what he was talking about. Only, probably to create this big "news story" Gillman left out one critically important sentence in his article: "...Does it have anything to do with the failed peace talks?" By leaving out that qualifying sentence the "quotes" that are being re-broadcast over and over and used to "prove" Alcorn’s "un-American" (in the words of Mfume) statement might be classified as somewhat Anti-Semitic.
However, using such polarizing words as "un-American" and "repulsive," simply inflame the situation. Alcorn’s core concern is not only being ignored, but used to silence him and others with similar concerns. His number one concern is a belief that blacks are being taken for granted by the Democrats and their concerns ignored. His second concern was: How would having an Orthodox Jew as vice-president affect the Middle East Peace talks? Is that an Anti-Semitic question? If so, would it be an Anti-Muslim question to ask how a Muslim vice-president might affect the Middle East Peace talks?
For years we’ve heard from the media attack after attack on the "Christian Right" for its interest in political issues. However, in Senator Lieberman’s first speech after being selected by Al Gore as his vice-presidential choice, he began his address with a prayer and a quote from the biblical book of Chronicles. This has not been condemned, even by Americans United for Separation of Church and State who said of it:
"While Americans are a religious people, many of them get very nervous, and properly so, when candidates appear to place too much emphasis on their personal faith in the context of a political campaign."Yesterday, Sen. Lieberman opened his first campaign address with a prayer and a recitation from the Book of Chronicles. This was apparently an expression of his personal religious devotion, and I think most Americans saw it that way.
"This event and other religion-related developments in the presidential campaign have sparked national reflection on the relationship between faith and politics."
They then go on to quote John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic president:
"'I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute -- where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be a Catholic) how to act and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote…and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.'
Only, the Constitution of the United States has absolutely NOTHING in it which would prevent a minister or priest from telling their parishioners for whom to vote. The Internal Revenue laws governing their tax-exempt status, on the other hand DOES. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., who operated his efforts to affect the laws of the United States from his Church, probably fractured the IRS laws with impunity. However, Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a black minister whose comments were beamed to the Republican Convention from the pulpit of his Church has been criticized for bringing "religion" into a political setting. Caldwell, who said he was neither a Republican nor a Democrat, has every right as an American to speak his mind on issues that concern him and his parishioners.
When Republican George Bush in responding to a question asked about the "Philosopher who had the greatest impact on his life" responded by saying "Jesus Christ" he was attacked in the media for bringing his religion up. Yet, Alcorn was accused "repulsive" and "un-American" when he expressed concerns about Leiberman - not because he objected to his religion - but because he thought Gore should have chosen someone else and because of the Middle East Peace negotiations.
For months the "politically correct" either ignored or ridiculed Alan Keyes, a conservative, articulate black Presidential Candidate. Yet a black man can’t suggest he is not pleased about Senator Lieberman’s candidacy? Is there a double standard here?
I can’t think of a more effective way to fuel anti-semitism in this country than by telling the black community that they can’t express their concerns, legitimate or not, because the candidate is Jewish, after they’ve watched a candidate of their race treated the way the liberal media treated Alan Keyes.
To comment: mmostert@originalsources.com
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