The McKinney letter

By Kimberley Jane Wilson
web posted October 22, 2001

First comes the tragedy, then comes the farce. 

I was reminded of this saying when I heard about
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-4th GA) and her recent
letter to His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, of Saudi
Arabia.

The massacre that took place on September 11 is of course, the
tragedy. This terrible event caused enormous physical and
emotional pain for thousands of survivors as well as friends and
family members of the victims. An untold number of people have
lost or will soon loose their jobs because of the economic impact
of the attacks. These folks are suffering as well.

Congresswoman McKinney's efforts to wheedle money out of
Prince Alwaleed, is the farce. If these weren't such serious times
her letter would be almost funny.

Prince Alwaleed offered a donation of $10 million dollars last
week to the disaster relief fund for New York City victims and
was promptly turned down by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. It turns
out that the donation came with strings attached. The prince was
looking to score publicity points against Israel and gave his
unasked for opinion on US foreign policy.

Mayor Giuliani told the Saudi prince to take his check and go
away. That should have been the end of the story but instead
Rep. McKinney who is from Georgia and not New York
jumped in. She wrote a pitiful, groveling letter to Prince
Alwaleed that first, praises him lavishly then attacks Israel, and
finally asks that in light of the poor conditions of black Americans
could he please send that $10 million to some black charities that
she'd be happy to recommend.

Now, I have been among the first to point out that Black
America has some serious problems. Rep. McKinney did not
entirely exaggerate in her letter. As she wrote, "A black baby
boy born in Harlem today has less chance of reaching age 65
than a baby born in Bangladesh." I have no argument with that
statement. However, a mere $10 million hand out to a few
selected charities will not change a thing.

The challenges facing many a black baby born today can be
daunting. Too many of our kids have to play catch up due to
substandard public school education, low to non-existent
expectations from teachers and a poisoned popular culture that
certainly is not helping. Hip Hop and to a lesser extent R&B
frequently glorifies a lifestyle of violence, misogyny and mindless
sex without acknowledging that this is a dead-end way to
actually live. The drug epidemic did serious harm to inner city
black communities. Too many of our young people feel hopeless
and are acting accordingly. Despite all this I can't help but feel
repelled by Rep. McKinney's begging letter to a foreign prince.

I would've hoped that a member of the United States Congress
would've had more pride than to write such a letter. By both
Saudi and rich American standards $10 million isn't a such a
huge sum. If Rep. McKinney is really serious about collecting
cash for her pet charities then she would do better going to one
or two Hollywood celebrities. All you have to do is pick up the
latest copy of Ebony Magazine and you can read about some
actor or singer who merrily threw away more than the amount
the prince offered on houses and cars.

Someone should remind Rep. McKinney the source of a
donation matters just as much as the amount. Prince Alwaleed
comes from a country that is infamous for it's casual abuse of
human rights. According to Amnesty International women in
Saudi Arabia face a horrifying level of daily discrimination. They
are not allowed to drive or even walk outside of their homes
unescorted and face severe physical punishment if they dare
show their uncovered faces in public. Saudi Arabia is a country
that only "officially" outlawed slavery in 1962! Unofficially
domestic workers, particularly foreign born female workers are
treated little better than slaves. This is also a country that is
strongly suspected of appeasing and giving millions upon millions
to Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization.

When Rep. McKinney told Prince Alwaleed in her letter that
"statistics are very grim for Black America" and that his money
could "help improve the state of Black America and build better
lives," she fell prey to the idea that black people can't help
ourselves and need some kindly outside savior to fix everything
for us. As living proof of what an ambitious and determined
person can do she should know better. While it's true that
people can not live on pride the congresswoman from Georgia is
a glaring example of what happens when you try to live without
it.

Kimberley Lindsay Wilson is the author of Work It! The Black
Woman's Guide to Success at Work (Iuniverse, ISBN
059500122X, $8.95) & Eleven Things Mama Should Have
Told You About Men (African American Images, September
2000, ISBN: 0913543691, $12.95). She can be found at
http://members.aol.com/wilsonhope/aaa/index.html.

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