September 19, 1998
THE SUPPORTERS

Blacks Remain Firmly Loyal to Clinton for Many Reasons
By KEVIN SACK

ATLANTA -- While moving about his district here last weekend, only days after the release of the independent counsel's report on President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, Rep. John Lewis was struck by the universality of support for Clinton that he found among black Atlantans.

He heard it at Bobby's Barber Shop. He heard it at a candidates' forum at the Ben Hill Recreation Center. He heard it at a community festival in Candler Park.

"People would say, 'Take care of the president, take care of my man,"' said Lewis, a Democrat who is black. "They don't want to see him resign. They don't want to see him impeached. They just want us to leave him alone because there's this deep feeling in the black community that this president has been there for us."

After a week devoted to the assessment of public opinion about the White House scandal, perhaps the most striking findings have been the circle-the-wagons defense of Clinton by black Americans, and the undeniable gap between the views of whites and blacks.

Polls conducted after the release of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report show that blacks are far more likely than whites to approve of Clinton's job performance, to regard him favorably, to trust him to keep his word, to blame his enemies for his problems and to oppose his resignation or impeachment. Even within the president's own party, black Democrats are significantly more supportive than their white counterparts.

In dozens of interviews this week, black Americans ranging from NAACP chairman Julian Bond to comedian Chris Rock cited everything from Clinton's choice of friends to his choice of woodwinds in explaining that he has connected with minorities, both politically and viscerally, in a manner never achieved by previous presidents.

And while blacks, like most Americans, are deeply disturbed by Clinton's infidelity and recklessness, they are not willing to jettison what they see as a unique relationship in exchange for an uncertain and potentially threatening future.

Many of those interviewed remarked on the ease with which Clinton moves in black circles, noting that he golfs with Vernon Jordan, that he and his family seek spiritual counsel from the Rev. Jesse Jackson and that he sings in black churches without the aid of a hymnal. Many said that there seems to be a guiltless and unpatronizing egalitarianism in Clinton's relationships with blacks that reflects his standing as the first president to come of age after the demise of legalized segregation.

"What he has been able to project unlike any other president in recent memory is that he is completely and totally comfortable with black Americans," said George Wolfe, producer of the Joseph Papp Public Theater-New York Shakespeare Festival. "It is not something that had to be negotiated or learned."

The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, the recently retired president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said he knew perfectly well why black Americans were more forgiving of Clinton's transgressions than white Americans. "It's the saxophone," he said, with an impish twinkle in his voice. "The man has soul."

Obviously, most minorities clearly admire the president's defense of affirmative action, his appointments of black bureaucrats and judges and his eagerness to confront racism. But their support for him is not simply a reflection of loyalty and political self-interest. It is also the product of distinct cultural traits born of the black experience in the United States, including a broad distrust of prosecutors, an instinctive empathy for the persecuted and a spiritual emphasis on forgiveness and redemption, many African-Americans said.

Rock, the hot young comedian, goes so far as to describe Clinton as "the first black president" because, he said, his every move is scrutinized. "He got his hair cut for $200 and people lost their minds," Rock said in his trademark screech. "It's very simple. Black people are used to being persecuted. Hence, they relate to Clinton."

Alvin Poussaint, a black professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said that some minorities were so aware of Clinton's seeming affinity with black people that "they circulate rumors that he must have had black ancestry."

And in a poll last year, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that Clinton was more popular among blacks than either Jackson or Gen. Colin Powell, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

What is more, many of those interviewed said they not only subscribed to Hillary Rodham Clinton's statement that a "vast right-wing conspiracy" had targeted her husband, but also that they believed the conspirators were motivated by a desire to reverse the gains made by blacks during the Clinton administration.

"You just can't help but think that some of this is race-based," said Bond. "In civil rights terms, this guy's a liberal and there's a part of the body politic that just can't stand this. They have been determined to bring him down from the very first."

Whether that is true, such attitudes provide yet another prism through which to view the enduring racial divide in this country, not unlike the polarized reactions to the not-guilty verdicts in the 1995 murder trial of O.J. Simpson.

From the beginning of Clinton's national political career, blacks have been among his most ardent supporters. He received an estimated 83 percent of the black vote in the 1992 presidential election (compared with 39 percent of white votes) and 84 percent in 1996 (compared with 43 percent among whites).

As with white Americans, the percentage of blacks who view Clinton favorably has declined since the Lewinsky scandal emerged, according to polls. But the affection for the president among blacks remains remarkably high.

In The New York Times/CBS News poll taken from Sept. 12 to Sept. 14, 86 percent of black respondents said they approved of the way Clinton was handling his job and 69 percent said they viewed him favorably, compared to 58 percent and 34 percent, respectively, among whites. Only 10 percent of blacks said he should resign or be impeached, compared to 44 percent of whites.

Fifty-five percent of blacks said that Clinton's enemies, as opposed to the president himself, were most responsible for creating his problems, compared with 32 percent of whites. And while Starr has charged that Clinton perjured himself repeatedly, 86 percent of blacks said Clinton could still be trusted to keep his word as president, compared to 44 percent of whites.

"Black people simply are more willing to judge him by his stride than his stumble," said the Rev. Calvin Butts the pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York's Harlem,

Clearly, a significant factor behind the president's support among blacks has been his record, particularly in the last four years, when blacks have relied on him to fend off a Republican-controlled Congress that they view as hostile to their interests.

Blacks interviewed this week spoke of the economy's boost for black employment and home ownership. They cited his numerous appointments of blacks to significant jobs, a record 13 percent of all political appointments, according to the White House.

They also mentioned Clinton's approach to racial issues, including his "mend it, not end it" prescription for affirmative action, his creation of an advisory board on race and his trip this year to Africa, where he expressed regret for America's role in slavery.

A number of blacks also said they have rallied around Clinton because they believe that Starr's investigation follows the pattern established by the FBI's inquiry into the activities of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s, including the surveillance of his sex life, and by the prosecution of black leaders like Washington Mayor Marion Barry.

"Instead of starting with the crime and looking for the man, Kenneth Starr started with the man and looked for the crime," said Bond. "And we've just experienced this time and again with black leaders."

Lowery said black Americans know persecution when they see it. "We've drunk from the bitter cup of persecution and repression, and if ever a president has been persecuted, William Jefferson Clinton has been persecuted," he added. "Now, I'll agree with you that he has cooperated with his persecution by providing bullets for Ken Starr's gun, but he's been persecuted."

As suggested by Lowery's comments, none of the black Americans interviewed this week found Clinton faultless. Many were incensed that the president had so foolishly placed his agenda, and theirs, at risk.

"As a matter of logic, blacks might be among those with the most cause for anger about a squandered opportunity," said Christopher Edley, a black professor at Harvard Law School and a consultant to Clinton on race. "But I think the faith in redemption cuts the other way. When you have a whole history of turning to the church for succor in the face of painful circumstances, you have to believe that faith will not only heal your wounds, but also reform the master."

The teachings of black churches about forgiveness and redemption, nourished by the scriptural examples of Jesus and David, came through in interview after interview. Many pointed to this month's decision by the board of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. to forgive its president, the Rev. Henry Lyons, who admitted having an "improper relationship" with a church worker. They also spoke of the willingness of black voters in Washington to re-elect Barry after he was convicted on drug charges, and of black Alabamians to forgive former Gov. George Wallace after he apologized for his staunch support of segregation.

"African-Americans are largely a very religious people, and forgiveness is part of the culture," said Gregory Jackson, a black Detroit businessman who owns three automobile dealerships. "It has been a survival technique. We couldn't survive with all that pent-up hatred, hostility and fear, so we've had to forgive and move on."

*The question on moral values is from a CBS News poll conducted Feb. 1. Based on nationwide telephone surveys conducted Feb. 19 to 21 with 965 whites and 96 blacks; Aug. 19 and 20 with 788 whites and 92 blacks; and Sept. 12 to 14 with 1,512 whites and 166 blacks. Within any single poll, differences between blacks and whites of 11 points or more are significant. Between any two polls, a difference among blacks in one poll and blacks in the other of 12 points or more is significant.
Reprinted from New York Times, Sept. 22, 1998

Notice: This material may be protected by Copyright Law, Title 17, U.S. Code