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."

Belafonte, who popularized calypso music with such 1950s hits as "Banana Boat (Day-O)" and "Jamaica Farewell," also repeated his criticism of Powell and the Bush administration for not attending an international conference on racism in South Africa.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters that Powell "smiled" when he heard of Belafonte's remarks.

"He also said that both the IRS and his accountants thought he was better off as a field hand," Boucher said, adding that Powell had no other particular comment. The State Department has not tried to contact Belafonte, he said.

Leitner, a local sportscaster who hosts his morning talk show on KFMB each weekday, told Reuters that Belafonte was in San Diego for a performance there on Saturday.

Leitner said he was struck by the bluntness of Belafonte's remarks.

"People have become so politically correct," Leitner said. "Even on talk radio nowadays, for someone to come out, an African American, to go after Colin Powell like that ... was so unusual in this day and age that it really stood out."

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