I suspect that this issue will be used to incite people and to inflame people, which is unfortunate. You'll have people from both sides, Republican and Democrat, who'll jump on him and jump off his bandwagon because they don't want to look as if they're coddling a racist. But as I said, I don't think his sentiments were expressed to be racist; I think he was praising a colleague at his 100th birthday party, his retirement party


He even mirrors another sentiment of mine

A Washington Post reporter who came to my district did an interview with me. In this interview, he told me, "Well, there are many in the black leadership who believe you're a sellout, you're an 'Uncle Tom.'" I said, "Look, I can handle that. This is America. They can believe what they want to believe. But you know, I believe there are some of those same people who I believe are race-hustling poverty pimps. I think they use race and poverty as an industry."


And now the old JC ain't there anymore...the "Uncle Tom" accusation hangs on Colin Powell.