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Opinions/Editorials Title: Colin Powell Still Sees 'Dark Vein' of Intolerance in GOP Speaking on the day following the 50-year anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama, the first African-American Secretary of State Colin Powell said he still sees a "dark vein" of intolerance in the Republican Party, echoing comments that he made in 2013. "I still see it. I still see it in the Republican Party and I still see it in other parts of our country. You don't have to be a Republican to be touched by this dark vein," Powell told ABC's George Stephanopoulos Sunday on "This Week." "We've come a long way, but there's a long way to go. And we have to change the hearts and minds of Americans. And I see progress, especially in the younger generation," Powell added. President Obama, along with former President George W. Bush, was in Selma Saturday to mark the anniversary of the seminal moment in the civil rights movement. They were joined by Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, who was brutally beaten during the march out of Selma that day in 1965. "What that bloody Sunday event did for the nation was to hold up a mirror in front of all Americans and said, 'Look, this is what's going on in this country. This cannot continue,'" Powell said. Powell also echoed one of the theme's of Obama's speech in Selma, noting that while progress has been made on race relations, the "march is not yet over." "We've made enormous progress. If we hadn't made progress, [President Obama] wouldn't have been standing there, Eric Holder wouldn't have been with him and I wouldn't be here right now," Powell said. "But we still now have hurdles that we have to get over," Powell added, noting the battle in some states over voter identification laws. The former secretary of state also weighed in on the Justice Department report released this week that found systemic discrimination against African-Americans by the police department in Ferguson, Missouri. Powell said he was "shocked" by the report, but was not taken completely off guard. "I was shocked but not that surprised, frankly, George. I know these things have existed in other parts of our country. This shouldn't have been that great a surprise to any of us. But it's not throughout the country," Powell said. During the interview on "This Week," Powell declined to comment directly on the controversy that has engulfed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton following revelations she used a private email account while she headed the State Department. "I can't speak to Mrs. Clinton and what she should do now. That would be inappropriate," said Powell, who helped modernize the State Department through new computers and early use of e-mail during his time as secretary of state. "In order to change the culture, to change the brainware, as I call it, I started using it in order to get everybody to use it, so we could be a 21st century institution and not a 19th century," Powell said of his own e-mail practices. "But I retained none of those e-mails and we are working with the State Department to see if there's anything else they want to discuss with me about those e-mails." Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest "But we still now have hurdles that we have to get over, I've got a news flash for the good General. Until the Good Lord returns, we're always going to have racism. Just as we will always have larceny, theievery and murders. It's something called "human nature", General. We Christians call it "original sin." Does anyone ever wonder - when exactly (in the eyes of racists like Zero, Holder, Sharpton and yes - Gen. Powell) will we have "arrived"? How will we know?
(and this, by the way, from an affirmative action general who was promoted over many, much more qualified officers)
#2. To: Rufus T Firefly (#1) I was never a fan of Powell. Since he left the military, he has been a thorn in the side of Republicans. Can't stand the man and his constant approval of all the wrong things. Why can't they just go away! Truly, the only racists I know are black people. I run into a white racist occasionally online. I am sick of it. Call it white pride, but I'm done bending over for these unworthy recipients full of hate. IT isn't about their color, it's about their whiny, perpetual victim mentality and disgusting culture. They are no more entitled to my respect than anyone else. They need to earn it. ‘the Medieval Christian threat is under control’ #3. To: out damned spot (#2) I was never a fan of Powell. Since he left the military, he has been a thorn in the side of Republicans. Agree completely. I'm also no fan of Juan McClown, but in Powell's case he had always referred to him as "my good friend" That is I guess until Powell had a chance to vote for "his good friend" for POTUS. Powell supported the completely un-qualified (half)-black guy, instead. So it looks like in Powell's world, race trumps everything.
#4. To: out damned spot (#2) "They are no more entitled to my respect than anyone else." Less, actually. Until they stop committing a disproportionate amount of crimes, out-of-wedlock births, high school dropout rates, unemployment rates and government assistance rates, they're not even close to "equal". I look around and I see Asians succeeding, Arabs, Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese. Dedicated, hard-working people who had to learn our language and overcome the fact that they were recently our sworn enemies. I am fed up with people like Colin Powell telling me that I'm the problem. That I'm preventing the black man from succeeding.
#5. To: misterwhite (#4) Until they stop committing a disproportionate amount of crimes, out-of-wedlock births, high school dropout rates, unemployment rates and government assistance rates, they're not even close to "equal". Who the hell held them back in Africa for 10,000 years? As of 70 years ago they had yet to invent or implement the wheel. Now we have black history month. There is no black history. Every time a black farts, liberals stream in to smell it, exaggerate its importance to human advancement, then declare it to be conclusive evidence of repressed genius.
#6. To: misterwhite (#4) " I am fed up with people like Colin Powell telling me that I'm the problem. That I'm preventing the black man from succeeding. " Could not agree more. It is past time for blacks like Powell to grow up, and accept responsibility for their own actions, and to quit trying to blame anyone else for their mistakes. Si vis pacem, para bellum #7. To: out damned spot (#2) (Edited) I was never a fan of Powell. Since he left the military, he has been a thorn in the side of Republicans. I like how he is a thorn in the GOP's side. This has become a shitty party. It needs to reform.
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