Gore Right on Rights

The most critical test of leadership in the year 2000 is whether or not the candidates for the presidency can bring people together across ethnic lines and pursue the cause of one America. A leader must stand up against the forces of bigotry and make national unity a top priority. Vice President Al Gore '69 has led on civil rights and he will continue to lead with a new Civil Rights Bill for the year 2001 to outlaw racial profiling and increase the enforcement of laws against hate crimes.

On civil rights issues like racial profiling, hate crimes and affirmative action, Gore's record stands in clear contrast to that of Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Earlier this year, Bush consistently refused to utter a critical word about the Confederate flag flying over the statehouse in South Carolina. He even suggested that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was an "outsider" and should "butt out" of the controversy. When given the chance to speak out against a symbol of racism and treason, he could not muster the courage or the leadership to condemn it.

Gore, on the other hand, is determined to increase penalties for hate crimes, which are designed to stigmatize and dehumanize entire groups of people. Bush panders to the right wing and insists that hate crimes are no different from other crimes because every killer has "hate in his heart." The family of James Byrd, who was brutally murdered by bigots in Texas, pleaded with Bush to support a new hate-crimes statue in Texas. He refused. There is a difference between hate crimes and other crimes, and we need a president who understands that.

Gore also understands that affirmative action is good for families, good for our economy and good for our country. When people are held back by prejudice and discrimination, America fails as a nation. Bush opposes affirmative action efforts to break down the barriers erected by discrimination and would appoint Supreme Court justices who would turn back the clock on civil rights.

Along with taking a stand on the issues, a leader should lead by example. Again the contrast between Gore and Bush could not be starker. In August, Gore made the bold and historic decision to select Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) as his running mate. He is committed to making a Gore administration the most diverse in U.S. history.

This year alone, Bush has failed the test of leadership repeatedly. In April, the state's commissioner of health, a Bush appointee, said in the New York Times that Texas had a high teen pregnancy rate because the state's Latinos are culturally resistant to the idea that "getting pregnant is a bad thing." Bush failed to call for his resignation and did not even to ask him to apologize.

When Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and other Senate Republicans put Judge Enrique Moreno's nomination hearing on hold indefinitely and refused to give him an up-or-down vote, Bush failed to speak out. Moreno is from Bush's home state and was given the highest rating by the American Bar Association, yet Bush has not made one phone call to any Senate Republican asking that Moreno get a fair hearing and an up-or-down vote.

In this election year, Bush embraced Bob Jones University in South Carolina and refused to criticize the school's ban on inter-racial dating. Gore embraced the family of James Byrd, and vowed to fight for a Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The contrast could not be clearer.

John F. Bingaman '01 is a government concentrator in Cabot House. He is Campaigns Chair for the Harvard College Democrats.