Racial Politics

WASHINGTON -- President Bush protested yesterday that charges that his administration is playing racial politics are "grossly unfair" but said he worries that if the accusations are repeated often enough, the perception may be impossible to shake."

The United States Constitution once diminished oppressed people, counting them three-fifths of a free person. The Howard County Board of Education Study Commission shamefully proposes to count county voters as just 70 percent of a full vote in future school board elections. The commission's offensive first principle is that racial bigotry determines board elections, thus certain races deserve ensured representation they cannot win through the ballot box. A distinguished list of minority officials elected by these "racists," including the current County Council chairman, proves otherwise.

Racial politics, internal disputes and honest philosophical differences have left the Columbia Council deadlocked 5-5 as it tries to choose a new president for one of the nation's largest homeowners associations. In a five-hour, closed-door meeting Monday night, the council was evenly split between finalists Gregory C. Fehrenbach, 53, administrator for the township of Piscataway, N.J., and Michael D. Letcher, 47, city manager of Sedona, Ariz. The council is scheduled to try again tomorrow night.

Steele supports taxpayers tired of unfair burden The Sun's editorial "Racial politics" (Sept. 2) attacks Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's speech at the Republican National Convention, during which he said, "You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich." The Sun claims that Mr. Steele's comment is code for racist, affluent whites who want to cut social welfare programs. Has The Sun's editorial board ever considered that Mr. Steele speaks for taxpayers who are sick of paying more and more taxes to support the nation's ever-expanding welfare state, public schools, social programs and the rest?

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke may have reached what historians sometimes call, "the defining moment" of his administration when he submitted his redistricting plan to the City Council Monday.The defining moment: Is the mayor a bold leader or an overly cautious one? Has he fulfilled the hopes of the predominantly black constituency that put him into office or has he let them down?Has he been/is he now/will he be (if re-elected this fall) a mayor who is prepared to do the right thing despite the political costs?

LIMPING back to square one. After months of laborious and expensive screening, the search for a new Columbia Association president has foundered on the shoals of a flawed council structure, allegations of racial politics and differing management styles. The Columbia Council deadlocked in a 5-5 vote over two candidates: Michael D. Letcher, the city manager of Sedona, Ariz., and Gregory C. Fehrenbach, administrator for the town of Piscataway, N.J. Differences of opinion about Columbia's needs were to be expected, even healthy.

The United States Constitution once diminished oppressed people, counting them three-fifths of a free person. The Howard County Board of Education Study Commission shamefully proposes to count county voters as just 70 percent of a full vote in future school board elections. The commission's offensive first principle is that racial bigotry determines board elections, thus certain races deserve ensured representation they cannot win through the ballot box. A distinguished list of minority officials elected by these "racists," including the current County Council chairman, proves otherwise.

SELMA, Ala. - After more than 30 years, Mayor Joseph T. Smitherman's high-wire act above the city's churning racial politics had begun to settle into routine. Every four years, he would hold barbecues in black neighborhoods, boasting about the number of black department heads he had appointed, while reminding white voters he would be "the last white mayor of Selma," hinting a black deluge was around the corner. But this year, Smitherman has found himself in the fight of his life, forced for the first time into a runoff election - on Tuesday - against a black candidate, and the hints have become a bit less subtle.

Columbia is a place designed right down to its mailboxes to promote racial harmony. So it might seem odd that in the past week, two finalists competing to run the town have decided they don't want the job - at least in part because of racial politics. Stranger still, perhaps, is who is at the center of the storm: a woman who could be considered a symbol of Columbia. In 1967, Barbara Russell, now a councilwoman from Oakland Mills, was one of the first 100 residents to settle in the planned community that James W. Rouse created for people of all races, religions and income levels.

Steele supports taxpayers tired of unfair burden The Sun's editorial "Racial politics" (Sept. 2) attacks Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's speech at the Republican National Convention, during which he said, "You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich." The Sun claims that Mr. Steele's comment is code for racist, affluent whites who want to cut social welfare programs. Has The Sun's editorial board ever considered that Mr. Steele speaks for taxpayers who are sick of paying more and more taxes to support the nation's ever-expanding welfare state, public schools, social programs and the rest?

MARYLAND LT. GOV. Michael S. Steele got 10 nearly prime-time minutes this week at the Republican National Convention. The obvious question is: How'd he do? Scored purely for performance, pretty good. He was engaging, telegenic and at ease. In short, we'd score his speech-making skills ahead of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s. But on content, Mr. Steele did not rise to the moment. And, unfortunately, his failure - combined with the provocative remarks made by Mr. Ehrlich this week - suggests that Maryland's chief executives are fundamentally misguided on issues of race.

To Baltimore voters, next month's Democratic primary for Prince George's County executive may seem familiar. That's because it looks a lot like the race in Baltimore three years ago, when voters had to choose a successor to Kurt L. Schmoke, the city's first African-American mayor. As in that race, when the city elected Martin O'Malley, Prince George's voters must select a replacement for the county's first black executive, Wayne K. Curry, at a time when crime is rising, schools are failing and a general malaise has taken hold.

VIRGINIA'S TWO Republican senators are showing President Bush how to put his words of compassion and reconciliation into action. John Warner and George Allen are urging Mr. Bush to support a black Democratic appointee for a permanent judgeship on the federal appellate court that oversees Maryland and four other states. That's a pretty significant about-face in a party that has opposed all previous black appointees to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Bush would be smart to follow the senators' lead.

LIMPING back to square one. After months of laborious and expensive screening, the search for a new Columbia Association president has foundered on the shoals of a flawed council structure, allegations of racial politics and differing management styles. The Columbia Council deadlocked in a 5-5 vote over two candidates: Michael D. Letcher, the city manager of Sedona, Ariz., and Gregory C. Fehrenbach, administrator for the town of Piscataway, N.J. Differences of opinion about Columbia's needs were to be expected, even healthy.

Columbia is a place designed right down to its mailboxes to promote racial harmony. So it might seem odd that in the past week, two finalists competing to run the town have decided they don't want the job - at least in part because of racial politics. Stranger still, perhaps, is who is at the center of the storm: a woman who could be considered a symbol of Columbia. In 1967, Barbara Russell, now a councilwoman from Oakland Mills, was one of the first 100 residents to settle in the planned community that James W. Rouse created for people of all races, religions and income levels.

Racial politics, internal disputes and honest philosophical differences have left the Columbia Council deadlocked 5-5 as it tries to choose a new president for one of the nation's largest homeowners associations. In a five-hour, closed-door meeting Monday night, the council was evenly split between finalists Gregory C. Fehrenbach, 53, administrator for the township of Piscataway, N.J., and Michael D. Letcher, 47, city manager of Sedona, Ariz. The council is scheduled to try again tomorrow night.

RICHMOND, Va. - With his black skin and Union blue re-enactor's fatigues, Kenneth Brown thinks it the better part of valor not to trespass on the privately owned fields and forests that were once the Civil War battleground of New Market Heights. But standing beside the road last summer, Brown surveyed the hallowed grounds just above and beyond the one-time capital of the Confederacy. Here in the early autumn of 1864, in little better than an hour, 14 black Union soldiers won Medals of Honor for wresting the Heights, amid terrible casualties, from some of the Confederacy's toughest troops, and thereby proving to a doubting nation the mettle of their race.

SELMA, Ala. - After more than 30 years, Mayor Joseph T. Smitherman's high-wire act above the city's churning racial politics had begun to settle into routine. Every four years, he would hold barbecues in black neighborhoods, boasting about the number of black department heads he had appointed, while reminding white voters he would be "the last white mayor of Selma," hinting a black deluge was around the corner. But this year, Smitherman has found himself in the fight of his life, forced for the first time into a runoff election - on Tuesday - against a black candidate, and the hints have become a bit less subtle.