Discrimination/segregation in the Whitest House

[Jim Devine <jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

from Scott Shuger's SLATE column, copyright Microsoft:

>Everybody [i.e., the major US daily newspapers] runs stories about
President Clinton's press conference yesterday and all of these mention a
question near the end that seemed to have caught him somewhat flat-footed,
a question about why most top White House jobs in his administration have
gone to whites. But all of these stories run inside and none dwell at
length on the issue the question raises. With the exception, that
is, of USA [Today], which serves up a 1,900 word pass at the topic on its
front page. The story highlights the basic fact raised (and not denied by
Clinton) at the press conference: While Clinton has presided over a
historically diverse Cabinet, all 26 people who've held the top seven White
House jobs under him have been white, and 21 of them have been men. (But
what's the deal with USAT not mentioning the reporter's name or paper?) The
story garners two quotes from Clintonites that are sure to give the topic
some media life: Current press secretary Joe Lockhart is quoted as saying
that when it comes to crucial White House decisions, "women and minorities
still have to fight for a seat at the table." And former press secretary
Dee Dee Myers says, "The rule is still that when the big decisions get
made, it's not as diverse a group as the overall administration. And I'm
putting it nicely." The story tries to suggest important examples where
this alleged ethnic skew hurt. The most convincing: The United States' slow
response to the 1994 civil war and genocide in Rwanda. <

Jim Devine jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx & http://clawww.lmu.edu/~JDevine