Jump to content

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown: "all look alike to me"...


Recommended Posts

Posted

So, will she be forced to resign or be punnished in any way at all? Can you imagine what would happen if someone said that all blacks look alike to them? I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If we are going to promote a no tollerance for racism deal, then we must enforce it. It isn't a one way street to me, it goes both ways, all ways, for all races.

 

MIAMI ? U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown apologized Thursday for remarks she made a day earlier when she said Hispanics and whites "all look alike to me."

 

 

 

Brown made the statement during a Wednesday briefing on Haiti with Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, a Mexican-American, and the Florida congressional delegation. During the meeting, attended by about 30 people, Brown sat across the table from Noriega and launched an attack on President Bush's policy on Haiti.

 

She said Republican leaders were "racist" in their policies toward the Caribbean nation, which is almost entirely black, and called the president's representatives "a bunch of white men."

 

"I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room. Rather, my comments, as they relate to 'white men,' were aimed at the policies of the Bush administration as they pertain to Haiti, which I do consider to be racist," Brown said in a statement on Thursday.

 

Brown added that she was offended that the meeting on the crisis in Haiti, led by administration officials, "turned into a diatribe rebuking the Haitian government and the Haitian people. I was personally insulted by the anti-Haiti sentiment brought to the table by the State Department and by Republican members of Congress in attendance," she said.

 

Brown also wrote a letter to Noriega, in which she apologized again "if what I said was construed as a personal affront."

 

"The State Department delegation that came to meet with us did not include any females or people of color. Given the racial makeup of the people of Haiti, who are 95 percent of African descent, I felt the delegation and the delegation's position were callous and out of touch with the needs (cultural and otherwise) of the Haitian people," she wrote.

 

After the dressing down, which sent a hush over the hour-long meeting, Noriega responded that he would relay her comments to Secretary of State Colin Powell (search) and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, both high-level African-American members of the Bush administration.

 

Participants in the meeting said Noriega later told Brown: "As a Mexican-American, I deeply resent being called a racist and branded a white man."

 

Noriega also pointed to Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican member of the delegation who was born in Cuba, and asked whether he appeared to be a white man. Diaz-Balart's brother, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, is also a congressional member from the state.

 

 

 

Brown's response, according to witnesses, was: "You all look alike to me."

 

U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican who organized the meeting, called the comments "disappointing."

 

"To sit there and browbeat this man who is a Mexican-American and call him names, it was inappropriate," Foley said.

 

As Brown criticized the political response to Haiti, which she said amounted to the detention of Haitian migrants fleeing their country and the freezing of millions of dollars in aid over flawed 2000 legislative elections in the impoverished nation, others said Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide had created the crisis on his own and should step down.

 

"Haitians need true, decent, democratic leadership elected fairly and freely by the people. Not surprisingly, they have finally said enough is enough," said House Intelligence Committee chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla.

 

In an apparent switch in the U.S. stance on Aristide, Powell said late Thursday that the Haitian president should "make a careful examination of how best to serve the Haitian people" and should consider "whether or not he'll continue this presidency."

 

Powell said that the United States has not yet decided what assistance it might provide to an international force that would support a "transitional government or a political settlement."

 

It is the first time the secretary has mentioned publicly any alternative to Aristide's settling the issue politically with his opposition.

 

In a statement Wednesday, Brown tried to draw a parallel between the administration's response and the 2000 election in Florida.

 

"It simply mystifies me how President Bush, a president who was selected by the Supreme Court under more than questionable circumstances ? in my district alone 27,000 votes were thrown out ? is telling another country that their elections were not fair and that they are therefore undeserving of aid or international recognition," Brown said.

 

Aside from the Florida delegation, several other members and officials attended Wednesday's meeting with Noriega. U.S. Reps. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif.; John Maisto, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States, and Adolfo Franco, an assistant administrator with the U.S. Agency for International Development, all were in attendance.

 

Fox News' Teri Schultz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Sincerely,

...Downhome...

Posted
So, will she be forced to resign or be punnished in any way at all? Can you imagine what would happen if someone said that all blacks look alike to them? I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If we are going to promote a no tollerance for racism deal, then we must enforce it. It isn't a one way street to me, it goes both ways, all ways, for all races.

 

MIAMI ? U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown apologized Thursday for remarks she made a day earlier when she said Hispanics and whites "all look alike to me."

 

 

 

Brown made the statement during a Wednesday briefing on Haiti with Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, a Mexican-American, and the Florida congressional delegation. During the meeting, attended by about 30 people, Brown sat across the table from Noriega and launched an attack on President Bush's policy on Haiti.

 

She said Republican leaders were "racist" in their policies toward the Caribbean nation, which is almost entirely black, and called the president's representatives "a bunch of white men."

 

"I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room. Rather, my comments, as they relate to 'white men,' were aimed at the policies of the Bush administration as they pertain to Haiti, which I do consider to be racist," Brown said in a statement on Thursday.

 

Brown added that she was offended that the meeting on the crisis in Haiti, led by administration officials, "turned into a diatribe rebuking the Haitian government and the Haitian people. I was personally insulted by the anti-Haiti sentiment brought to the table by the State Department and by Republican members of Congress in attendance," she said.

 

Brown also wrote a letter to Noriega, in which she apologized again "if what I said was construed as a personal affront."

 

"The State Department delegation that came to meet with us did not include any females or people of color. Given the racial makeup of the people of Haiti, who are 95 percent of African descent, I felt the delegation and the delegation's position were callous and out of touch with the needs (cultural and otherwise) of the Haitian people," she wrote.

 

After the dressing down, which sent a hush over the hour-long meeting, Noriega responded that he would relay her comments to Secretary of State Colin Powell (search) and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, both high-level African-American members of the Bush administration.

 

Participants in the meeting said Noriega later told Brown: "As a Mexican-American, I deeply resent being called a racist and branded a white man."

 

Noriega also pointed to Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican member of the delegation who was born in Cuba, and asked whether he appeared to be a white man. Diaz-Balart's brother, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, is also a congressional member from the state.

 

 

 

Brown's response, according to witnesses, was: "You all look alike to me."

 

U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican who organized the meeting, called the comments "disappointing."

 

"To sit there and browbeat this man who is a Mexican-American and call him names, it was inappropriate," Foley said.

 

As Brown criticized the political response to Haiti, which she said amounted to the detention of Haitian migrants fleeing their country and the freezing of millions of dollars in aid over flawed 2000 legislative elections in the impoverished nation, others said Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide had created the crisis on his own and should step down.

 

"Haitians need true, decent, democratic leadership elected fairly and freely by the people. Not surprisingly, they have finally said enough is enough," said House Intelligence Committee chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla.

 

In an apparent switch in the U.S. stance on Aristide, Powell said late Thursday that the Haitian president should "make a careful examination of how best to serve the Haitian people" and should consider "whether or not he'll continue this presidency."

 

Powell said that the United States has not yet decided what assistance it might provide to an international force that would support a "transitional government or a political settlement."

 

It is the first time the secretary has mentioned publicly any alternative to Aristide's settling the issue politically with his opposition.

 

In a statement Wednesday, Brown tried to draw a parallel between the administration's response and the 2000 election in Florida.

 

"It simply mystifies me how President Bush, a president who was selected by the Supreme Court under more than questionable circumstances ? in my district alone 27,000 votes were thrown out ? is telling another country that their elections were not fair and that they are therefore undeserving of aid or international recognition," Brown said.

 

Aside from the Florida delegation, several other members and officials attended Wednesday's meeting with Noriega. U.S. Reps. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif.; John Maisto, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States, and Adolfo Franco, an assistant administrator with the U.S. Agency for International Development, all were in attendance.

 

Fox News' Teri Schultz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Sincerely,

...Downhome...

Silly.

 

Black Democrats CAN'T be racist. They're black --- and Democrats.

-=Mike

...Don't worry, she won't suffer ANY negative connotations to this. I mean, this is worse than what Lott said, right.

 

Right?

Guest Anglesault
Posted

She didn't do anything wrong. She was just expressing her opinions or something. And it's the white man's fault that she has those opinions.

Posted

I swear to god when I saw this I knew who the first two people that would respond would be you two. RIPPER THE PSYCHIC!!!!!

 

It will all get swept under the rug because she is black though. If she were white and made racist remarks she would never make it in politics. I can't think of one time that someone made a racist remark and stayed in office well into their 90's, ran for president, became mayor of a state or anything like that. NOT ONE CASE. She should be fired and kicked out of washington just like Trent Lott was.

Guest Anglesault
Posted
, became mayor of a state or anything like that.

How would one pull that off?

 

:P

Posted
, became mayor of a state or anything like that.

How would one pull that off?

 

:P

*FLIPS OFF ANGLESAULT FOR CATCHING THAT BEFORE I COULD CHANGE IT*

Maybe its a really small state and....SHADDUP!!! I was too busy being really REALLY sarcastic....SHADDUP!!

 

*runs*

Guest Anglesault
Posted

*Chases Ripper screaming "Mayor of a state" over and over again.*

Guest Cerebus
Posted

In addition, us fair skinned Arabs also take offense to her statement.

Posted
She should be fired and kicked out of washington just like Trent Lott was.

Agreed. Racism is racism. We can't allow double standards to exist for things like this.

Posted
She should be fired and kicked out of washington just like Trent Lott was.

Agreed. Racism is racism. We can't allow double standards to exist for things like this.

But they do exist. Anybody who watches these things could have told you that (in fact, does ANYBODY expect her to suffer ANY harm from doing this?)

 

God knows her comments haven't really had much play in the press.

 

Lott's seemed to hit pretty hard fairly quickly.

-=Mike

Posted

No offense intended, but I'm white and I don't really notice the difference between other whites and hispanics at times. Aren't hispanics caucasian anyways? They certainly appear closer to whites than they do blacks or Asians, and there are only the three basic races. You can easily tell that Native Americans are Asian for instance.

 

EDIT: I should probably add, that many hispanics are black (like Carlos Delgado). It seems to me to be a culture/nationality that transcends race. Sort of like being English.

Posted
She should be fired and kicked out of washington just like Trent Lott was.

Agreed. Racism is racism. We can't allow double standards to exist for things like this.

But they do exist. Anybody who watches these things could have told you that (in fact, does ANYBODY expect her to suffer ANY harm from doing this?)

 

God knows her comments haven't really had much play in the press.

 

Lott's seemed to hit pretty hard fairly quickly.

Of course they exist. That's why we (the individual people of the Unites States) need to take a stand against it. We should DEMAND that she step down. As we should do for anyone who makes similar comments (no matter which people are slandered). Do I expect her to suffer any harm? No, I don't. And that angers me very much. I hope I'm wrong, though.

Guest Anglesault
Posted
What's disappointing is the fact that you morons seem to think we'd overlook this just because she's black or a democrat. This is absurd

You would put money on her being forced to step down?

Posted

Well, I hope the conservatives on this board don't try to say the reason why this is going to be let go is because she is a Democrat. Truthfully, it has become very popular to bash whites these days, and just about every non-white race pretty much gets free ride to do so.

Posted
Well, I hope the conservatives on this board don't try to say the reason why this is going to be let go is because she is a Democrat. Truthfully, it has become very popular to bash whites these days, and just about every non-white race pretty much gets free ride to do so.

Of course not.

 

She's also black.

 

And a woman...

Posted
She should be fired and kicked out of washington just like Trent Lott was.

Agreed. Racism is racism. We can't allow double standards to exist for things like this.

You do know that Trent Lott still has his job, right.

Guest Cerebus
Posted
She should be fired and kicked out of washington just like Trent Lott was.

Agreed. Racism is racism. We can't allow double standards to exist for things like this.

You do know that Trent Lott still has his job, right.

Not as majority leader he doesn't.

Posted

Lott was basically forced out by his own party, his comments were used as an excuse by the Karl Rove Machine to get rid of Lott who represents the old-guard, southern, traditional conservative Republicans and replace him with someone more to the Bush admin's liking. Compare the lack of support Lott received to the massive show of support the White House gave Santorum (whose comments were far worse than what Lott said), mainly because he's rich, young, not from the south, and socially conservative.

Posted

So what exactly was she saying here?

 

That all hispanics look alike to her AND that all whites look alike to her.

 

-or-

 

That she cannot tell the difference between whites and hispanics?

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...