[A-List] Singer Belafonte Likens Powell to 'House Slave'

[Waistline2@xxxxxxx]

Singer Belafonte Likens Powell to 'House Slave'
Wed Oct 9, 5:06 PM ET

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer Harry Belafonte (news) lashed out at 
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) in a racially 
charged radio interview, likening the former general to a plantation 
slave who had sold out his principles "to come into the house of the 
master."

Belafonte, 75, who has long been outspoken on civil rights and other 
political issues, leveled his criticism at Powell during an 
appearance on Tuesday on a morning talk show airing on AM station 
KFMB in San Diego.

A partial transcript of his remarks, and a link to a recording of the 
interview, were posted Wednesday on the radio station's Web site 
(http://www.760kfmb.com).

The entertainer, who like Powell is a black man of Jamaican descent, 
criticized the secretary when asked by radio host Ted Leitner whether 
he thought Powell had taken a low profile as the Bush administration 
pressed its case against Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein (news - web 
sites). Powell initially had been seen as a leading proponent in the 
administration for seeking U.N. support for any military force 
against Iraq as opposed to unilateral action by the United States.

"There's an old saying, in the days of slavery, there were those 
slaves who lived on the plantation and were those slaves that lived 
in the house," Belafonte said. "You got the privilege of living in 
the house if you served the master ... exactly the way the master 
intended to have you serve him.

"Colin Powell's committed to come into the house of the master," the 
performer continued. "When Colin Powell dares to suggest something 
other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out 
to pasture."

Belafonte went on to suggest that Powell's presence in the Bush 
cabinet amounted to racial tokenism, saying, "What Colin Powell 
serves is to give the illusion that the Bush cabinet is a diverse 
cabinet, made up of people of color ... when in fact none of that is 
what is true."

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