Powell played it dirty, if any of his colleagues ignored him and voted down his proposals; if any of the presidents wouldn’t grant him proposal session to discuss civil rights or helping the poor, Powell made vicious public statement or sent embarrassing telegrams to the press describing their insensitivity. Powell was a pride personified. He would enter the congressional dining room and barber shop Knowing full well that African Americans were not served there, and demanded service were not served there, and demanded service. He won it. He badgered racist congressmen and stopped their habit of saying the word nigger in sessions of Congress. One of the most dangerous legislative weapons was the Powell Amendment, a rider he tried to attach to any proposals for federal funds. The Amendment was that, if successfully attached to a bill, it would nullify federal grants to state or local governments if the agencies receiving the money discriminated. Voters from Harlem elected Powell as their reprehensive nearly two dozen times. After the election of 1960, Powell took over as chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. In that role, he had more concrete power than any African American man on the planet. This is were Powell made his greatest contributions. He oversaw passage of the backbone of President Kennedy’s New Frontier and President Johnson’s Great Society social programs. Powell had no permanent friends, only permanent interests. Ultimately, Powell used up his political currency. Members of the House, happy to find a reason to silence him, expelled him for pocketing congressional employment paychecks to his wife, and taking junkets abroad with female staffers. The fighter in him took the case all the way to the Supreme Court. He won back his seat. But the people of Harlem grew tired of Powell’s unbelievable record of roll call absences and endless litigations. In 1970, they finally voted him out. Two year later, he died of prostate cancer at the age of 63. Powell was an egocentric, self-indulgent, and a often treacherous person, the opposite of Randolph. But if I have to say I like Powell’s style better. He didn’t care about anything but getting his point across, he would step on anybody shoes; look at the many wives he had. Both men contributed a lot to the African American race. Today, African American union members earn 37 percent more than their non-union counterparts. Labor unions have helped us fulfill our legitimate demands from better jobs, better working conditions, a living wage, affordable healthcare and secure retirement. We give this thanks to Asa Phillip Randolph. Powell on the other hand was a risk taker who made it possible for later generations of African-American politicians such as Jesse Jackson, etc. 网站原创范文除特殊说明外一切图文作品权归所有；未经官方授权谢绝任何用途转载或刊发于媒体。， |
