Lieberman Addresses Black Caucus

L O S   A N G E L E S, Aug. 15, 2000 -- Democratic vice-presidential hopeful Joseph Lieberman is playing up his support of affirmative action in an effort to repair a rift with some prominent black Democrats.

Hours after arriving in Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention, the Connecticut senator attended a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus to address concerns about his support for a 1998 California ballot initiative — Proposition 209 — which banned state-sponsored affirmative action programs.

Lieberman insisted today he is no opponent of affirmative action.

Stresses Affirmative Action Support

“I have supported affirmative action, I do support affirmative action and I will support affirmative action,” he told the group of black lawmakers. History and reality make it necessary.”

Lieberman says that he backed the California proposition out of concern that many of the state’s affirmative action programs would lead to racial quotas, which he opposes.

“I support the kinds of affirmative action programs that are not quotas,” Lieberman said Sunday on ABCNEWS’ This Week. “In the economy we have now … affirmative action, in the best sense, is critically necessary to train and education millions of workers who are out of the economic mainstream now.”

“The quest for equal opportunity is one of the fundamental driving ethics of American life,” he also said, “and it has driven my life since I marched with Martin Luther King in 1963.”

Lieberman’s remarks to the Black Caucus this afternoon came amid continued controversy, as some black leaders say they are worried about his stands on issues relevant to their community.

“[Blacks] have some questions now that Gore has chosen a vice-presidential candidate,” California Rep. Maxine Waters, a prominent member of the caucus, said at a weekend rally in Los Angeles, The Washington Post reported today. “We have questions about affirmative action.”

“We want to win,” the congresswoman added, “but we don’t want to win at any cost … There are significant unresolved issues. I’m not going to buy the okey-dokey.”

‘You the Man!’

But despite clear signs that differences still remain, Lieberman was well-received by the caucus this afternoon.

“If you’re with me most of the time, you my man,” Washington, D.C. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who introduced Lieberman, said enthusiastically. “You the man! You the man! Don’t go too far now.”

For her part, Waters pledged to vigorously campaign for the Gore-Lieberman ticket, but expressed no regret at questioning Lieberman’s position on affirmative action.

“Until you stand up and question even those you are close to … you won’t know what you’re buying,” the congresswoman said. “It is alright to do this. It is honorable to do this.”

“Never follow anyone blindly” Waters added.

At the gathering, Lieberman joined with caucus members in singing “Happy Birthday” to the congresswoman, who turned 62 today.

Anti-Semitism At Issue

A small number of other visible black leaders, albeit outside the mainstream, have made decidedly anti-Semitic comments about the candidate in recent days.

This weekend, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan questioned Lieberman’s loyalty to the United States.

“Mr. Lieberman, as an Orthodox Jew, is also a dual citizen of Israel,” Farrakhan asserted. “The test he would probably have to pass is: Would he be more faithful to the Constitution of the United States than to the ties that any Jewish person would have to the state of Israel?”

The Democratic Party immediately condemned the remarks, which were not only anti-Semitic but inaccurate — Lieberman is an Orthodox Jew, but does not have Israeli citizenship.

Farrakhan’s statements came after some similarly anti-Semitic remarks by an NAACP leader last week.

“If we get a Jew person [on the Democratic ticket], then what I’m wondering is … what is this movement for?” Lee Alcorn, president of the Dallas branch of the NAACP, said on a Fort Worth, Texas radio show. “Does it have anything to do with the failed [Middle East] peace talks?”

“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 money.”

The NAACP disavowed the remarks and Alcorn resigned from the organization two days later.

At the convention tonight, Rev. Jesse Jackson, who is strongly supporting the Gore-Lieberman ticket, will deliver what will surely be a rousing prime-time speech and Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., a black congressman from Tennessee, will give the keynote address. Former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley will also address the convention tonight — during his primary battle with Vice President Al Gore, Bradley, a former pro basketball player, made “healing the racial divide” a central theme of his campaign.

ABC Radio’s Tim Scheld, Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.