European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 24, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday december 24, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Paul Delaney Efficacy of Black conservatives questioned they come often by was of Ivy league schools groomed for the corridors of Power. They include Anita Hill Clarence Thomas and Many of the witnesses from their face off on Capitol Hill. They arc the new Black conservatives a minority in a minority and in Many ways a political oxymoron. Traditional Black leaders View them As naysayers to civil rights who with their favored status in Washington since the Reagan administration have extra weight despite Small numbers. Their achievements might have been expected to make them inspirational figures but Many of the politically conservative Blacks Are considered opportunistic even by some Black republicans. There has always been a Strong a a conservative element in american Black life in the sense that Many Blacks Are churchgoing and family entered. But in current political parlance the new Black conservatives include figures like Thomas Sowell a senior fellow at the Hoover institution who has written extensively against affirmative action James Meredith the first Black to attend the University of Mississippi who became an ultraconservative and an aide to sen. Jesse Helms and scores of other prominent Blacks from academic political and business circles. John l. Wilks a Black whose Republican roots run deep and who held positions in the Nixon and Ford administrations draws a distinction with the new Breed in Washington. A they merely say they re conservative say they re opposed to affirmative action and Are immediately picked up by a right Wing White sponsor such As the Lover institution heritage foundation and Ameri can Enterprise Institute groups not known for their sensitivity to Black issues Quot he said. A that s the main shortcoming of these new Black  this year. Americans were Given a Elose look at the Black dream personified from Humble roots to Power suits on Capitol Hill. To some the Blacks seemed to represent a new generation an emerging Black right and an alternative to the voices of civil rights groups like the National association for the advancement of coloured people and leaders like the Rev. Jesse Jackson. But pulls show that so far that has not been the ease. A there is nothing written no data no evidence that the Power of Black conservatives is growing and gaining strength Quot said Milton Morris vice president of the joint Center for political and economic studies a Washington research group specializing in Black issues. There have always been conservatives in the Black Community. George Schuyler a columnist with the Pittsburgh courier was a Strong critic of the civil rights movement four decades ago As was the Atlanta daily world a Black newspaper that to this Day remains a voice of conservatism. But most Blacks who say they Are conservative take the counter View politically supporting affirmative action civil rights groups Jackson and Strong government involvement. A business Weck Lou Harris poll in september showed 54 percent of Black respondents Felt that the a act was very effective 34 percent said somewhat effective while 5 percent declared not very and 3 percent said not at All. Jackson was found very effective by 56 percent. Some experts say that among Young Blacks who share a conservative political philosophy there is anger and frustration at Black leaders and rights organizations whom they see As not doing enough to address unemployment poverty drug addiction crime and the plethora of other problems lacing Many Black americans. Stephen e. To Arter whose Book. Reflections of an attire Iuit a of Ion Rin. Challenged the effectiveness of the program said in an interview Hal Manv of the Young conservative and nol so conservative Blacks who have been its beneficiaries Harbor frustration and anger Over Altir alive action. He said though that they should not feel bitter. A a Amir native action can be a useful  he said. A one of the problems is it has gone from a tool to an institution a program whose time Mav have gone and whose future should be  but it was affirmative action that gave life to the new conservative minority first in the form of Quot set asides Quot that encouraged Black capitalism under president Nixon in 1969 and led to the enlistment of More Black and hispanic voters into the party. Whatever the visibility of this new class its political inroads have so far been limited. Very few of the More than 7,400 Black elected officeholders nationwide place themselves on the right. Julian Bond a professor of history at Harvard University and a member of the a act Hoard who served in the Georgia legislature notes a pattern most Black conservatives who hold government jobs Are appointed to them. A a it a the same old Story Quot he said. A Whites trying to Tell Black folks who should be their  c the new York time Tom Wicker Home and abroad Bush unable to deliver goods Alv Tift remembers id Senna cup can anyone recall a disappearance More precipitous than that of the National Celebration of desert storm last Winters great Victory in the persian Gulf a the War whose fighting men. And women unlike those of Vietnam were to be honoured and remembered the honors like yellow ribbons quickly came and went. The remembrance of the War As evidenced by polls and Public statements has been equally Short lived and soured by the survival of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. President Bush a popularity meanwhile has gone South just As swiftly. The astronomical approval ratings he registered during and after the War a around 90 percent in some cases a have slipped to As Low As 47 percent in a recent Abc news Washington Post poll. The Best evidence of Bush Sec Cline in Public esteem May be his plaintive remarks the other Day about the a filth and indecent material coming in through the airwaves and through these trials into Peoples  the obvious reference to the Palm Beach rape Case might have been taken As merely a political slap at the Kennedy family had the president not also criticized new York City s program to counter aids with free condoms for Young people and clean Needles for drug addicts. Aids Bush chirped a is a disease that for the most part can be controlled by individual  that s the bus speak equivalent of Nancy Reagan so just say no Quot Campaign which did no to work either. Bush seemed to be turning to a tried and True if threadbare political remedy a attacking a Straw Man in this Case indecency to deflect attention from his Lack of a coherent economic program and from foreign policies that look less effective every Day. Social concerns a Flag burning the pledge of allegiance a family  the fear of crime a have been a Iahlo effective for him and for other republicans in the past a remember the Mapplethorpe Flap Mayhe this time preaching against a smut and filth Quot can do the trick for Bush. Or maybe not. The Economy is in had shape and republicans As Well As too Many democrats have locked themselves into the nearly theological position that nothing can be done if it increases the budget deficit a though the likelihood is that nothing effective can be done if it does no to increase the budget deficit. But the Economy alone is not responsible for Bush stumble from Grace. His response to political and economic chaos in the former soviet Union May be properly restrained but to much of the Public it looks like indecisive hand wringing about one of the signal developments of the 20th Century. Japan and Western Europe go their ways Washington notwithstanding. The Nasty War in Yugoslavia is a bad advertisement for the a new world order Quot Bush proclaimed last Winter. But there is Little he can do about it since the use of . Military Power there would be unpopular among americans. In All these cases in fact the Power at Bush a disposal is mostly military. But in none would that Power be appropriate or feasible. Force might be both in Iraq where Saddam Hussein a nuclear designs seem Clear and his brutal control appears unaffected by what the world thought was catastrophic defeat. But it would be an admission of an Early and mistaken end to the War. Both at Home and abroad therefore. Challenge and change Are demanding More of George Bush a vision bold leadership intuitive understanding a than he seems Able to give. Nearly a year after desert storm his moment of glory seems far in the past and irrelevant to a future in which standing tall will rarely be sufficient. Clothe new York times