TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/040990/0409105.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 6.4 KB | 138 lines

                                                                                NATION, Page 42

The Fuss over Gus


Will Democrats tolerate a black bigot?


    Chicago Congressman Gus Savage has a way with words. He
calls Ron Brown, the African American who is chairman of the
Democratic Party, "Ron Beige" because he is not militant enough
to suit Savage. When a reporter tried to question him about
charges that one of his sons was a no-show employee on the
payroll of Walter Fauntroy, Representative from Washington,
D.C., he snapped, "Are you still wearing your wife's
underwear?"

    Last month, during a rally a few days before the Illinois
primary, the five-term Democratic lawmaker outdid himself.
Clumsily parodying a calypso song about a suspicious husband
who wonders why his wife's purse is filled with money, he
accused his black opponent, Mel Reynolds, of receiving more
than $26,000 in contributions from pro-Israel political-action
committees or from individual Jewish donors who were members
of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. "He who pays
the piper calls the tune," said Savage. "Where did he get all
that money?" Attended by security men from the organization of
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Savage read at length
from a list of Reynolds supporters with Jewish-sounding names.

    Savage's tirade unleashed a storm that sent Democratic
leaders running -- or rather, tiptoeing -- for cover. By
failing to condemn Savage quickly, they left themselves open
to accusations that their party, anxious not to offend black
voters, applies a double standard: denouncing bigotry when
Republicans utter racially insensitive remarks and keeping mum
when similar slurs are made by African Americans. Such
accusations are all the more damning because Republicans, whose
veiled appeals to anti-black prejudice have helped win five out
of the last six presidential elections, only recently
confronted a similar problem and appeared to deal with it
firmly. Last year, after former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke
was elected to the Louisiana state legislature as a Republican,
G.O.P. Chairman Lee Atwater denounced him and read him out of
the party.

    Racist rhetoric is nothing new in American politics. Blacks
have been its most consistent victims. But when politicians
make offensive comments these days, they are usually
sufficiently embarrassed -- or shrewd enough -- to offer fast
apologies or disassociate themselves. True to form, Ron Brown
declared that he was "appalled" by Savage's remarks and
promised that Savage would receive no help from the party's
campaign treasury. That did not matter much, since the funds
generally are reserved for candidates in tight races against
a Republican -- and Democrats running in Savage's Chicago
district are invariably shoo-ins. Said Savage: "We never got
a dime from the Democratic Party. I guess he's not going to
give me what he's never given me before."

    No one was more mortified by Savage's outpourings than two
prominent black Congressmen, House whip William H. Gray III of
Pennsylvania and New York's Charles Rangel. Both appeared at
the Savage rally to offer their endorsements, though they left
before he began his denunciation of Jewish influence.

    As word spread of Savage's outburst, Rangel stepped forward
to condemn it. "If I had known that such foul statements would
be made in my presence or out of it," he said, "I would not
have gone to Chicago." Gray, the third-ranking Democrat in the
House and a man who has been mentioned as the first black vice
presidential nominee, waited to see a videotape of Savage's
remarks before declaring them "unacceptable, divisive and
bigoted." A private lunchtime meeting last week of the
Congressional Black Caucus turned into what one member called
"a knock-down, drag-out" on Savage. Said a participant: "I
think members are trying to say to him, `Cool it. Don't
continue to try and tear things apart.'" The next day, Savage
screened a videotape of his speech and asserted that he had
made no anti-Semitic remarks.

    Savage has developed a reputation on Capitol Hill as
something between a rascal and a scoundrel. An energetic
promoter of minority set-aside contracts, Savage's most notable
achievement was to push the construction of a 27-story federal
building that wound up in another Chicago congressional
district. He is also known for sponsoring seven resolutions
honoring heavyweight boxer Joe Louis. All died in committee.
Recently, the House ethics committee reprimanded him for making
sexual advances to a female Peace Corps volunteer during a trip
to Zaire.

    Savage has always had an uncertain political base in his
district, a mostly black area that encompasses parts of
Chicago's South Side and some adjacent working-class suburbs.
Running against divided fields, he has never won more than 52%
of the vote in a primary contest. This year his opponents
rallied behind a single candidate, Reynolds, a former Rhodes
scholar with support from a number of prominent blacks in the
district. Savage may have decided that a low-road campaign of
race baiting and anti-Semitism was the safest way to stymie a
strong opponent. Even so, he squeaked past Reynolds with only
51% of the vote.


By Richard Lacayo. Reported by Julie Johnson/Washington and
Gavin Scott/Chicago.


____________________________________________________________
Savage's Double Standard


    While critics charged that a Democratic Party double
standard let Gus Savage get away with conduct that would be
intolerable from a white politician, the Congressman was
applying a double standard of his own. Like virtually all
politicians, including the overwhelming majority of the
24-member Congressional Black Caucus, both Charles Rangel and
William Gray welcome contributions from political-action
committees favoring Israel. The voting records of most black
members of Congress demonstrate a pattern of solid support on
Israel and other matters of concern to Jewish voters.

    Thus, minutes before Savage excoriated his opponent, Mel
Reynolds, for accepting what he called "Jewish money," he was
locking arms with two men who do the very same thing. The only
difference seems to be that Rangel and Gray had endorsed
Savage, while Reynolds was trying to unseat him. Savage's
calculation seems to be that "Jewish money" is legitimate if
it goes to an ally, but somehow becomes tainted if it assists
a challenger.