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Jewish World Review Dec. 27, 2000 / 1 Teves, 5761
Chris Matthews
He is also the country's first African American to
hold this prized portfolio. It is a "first" that the
Persian Gulf commander salutes proudly and loudly.
Just three days after getting his nomination, the
Harlem-born general drew his own personal line in
the sand.
"America overseas should look like America at
home," he told Howard University students. He
wants a lot more African Americans and other
minorities serving in the U.S. foreign service he is
about to lead.
Powell's greatest argument for affirmative action in
the State Department and elsewhere is his own
career. Had it not been for a certain governmental
outreach effort, this Bronx-raised son of Jamaican
immigrants might never have had his talents so
widely recognized, his vision assigned to such
exalted purpose.
"There may be one moment in our lives we can look
back to later and say that, for good or ill, it was the
turning point," Powell wrote. "For me, that day
came in November 1971."
That was the day that Powell, at age 34, was
ordered to apply to become a "White House
fellow." Created by Lyndon B. Johnson, the
one-year tour of high office was meant to give future
American leaders from every walk of life an inside
look at how the federal government runs. Also a
chance to befriend the insiders who run it.
"The people I met during that year were going to
shape my future in ways unimaginable to me then,"
Powell said.
They included future Defense Secretary Caspar
Weinberger, whom Powell would serve as military
aide when he ran the Pentagon in the 1980s; Frank
Carlucci, who named Powell his national security
deputy, and later his successor, in the Reagan White
House.
His years on the inside opened still more doors. In
1989, while commanding troops in Germany,
Powell was tapped by President George Bush as
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Last week, he
was nominated for secretary of state by Bush's son.
Even as they have resisted affirmative action, these
top Republicans helped to advertise its value by
recruiting this one outsider to their circle.
By becoming a great secretary of state, Powell will
no doubt offer a role model for African Americans
and other minorities. But his greatest lesson, his
finest inspiration, may well be in showing the
American majority what great things can come
when we open that thick, creaky door of
opportunity to those on the other
12/20/00: Armistice
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