Governor Will Not Fire 3 for Backing Book

Gov. George Deukmejian said Thursday that his three appointees to the California Bicentennial Commission will remain on the board even though they endorsed the sale of a book containing racially insulting terms like “pickaninnies” as a fund-raising device.

The Republican governor, in a statement released by his office, said he is satisfied with the commission’s public apology.

“Commission members have publicly admitted their mistake and offered their apologies to anyone who may have been offended,” Deukmejian said.

The tone of his statement was in sharp contrast to criticism he leveled at the commission last week when he said his commissioners were “grossly negligent and made a very, very major mistake” in approving the book--”The Making of America.”

Deukmejian’s earlier criticism, along with a staff inquiry he ordered to look into the commission’s approval of the book, led to speculation that he might remove the commissioners.

Although he did not spell it out in his statement, the governor’s office made it clear that Deukmejian did not plan to remove the three Republican commissioners.

“The governor will not be taking any personnel action in this matter because he is satisfied with the commission’s apology,” said Kevin Brett, the governor’s deputy press secretary.

In an apology released with the governor’s statement, the commission conceded that its approval of the book “was clearly a serious error in judgment.”

“It was never the commission’s intent to promote a particular viewpoint and certainly not to take any action that would be considered offensive to any citizens,” the statement said.

From here on, the commission said it will give books and other material it endorses a “thorough review.” Earlier, commission members defended their action by saying that they had only “leafed through” the book and that “no one reviewed it thoroughly.”

The commission was created to promote the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution.

The book, along with referring to black slave children as “pickaninnies,” asserts in a chapter on the 15th Amendment, which gave blacks the right to vote, that slave owners were the “worst victims” of slavery. The book also suggests that black slaves were responsible for mistreatment suffered at the hands of white owners.

The commission sold 215 copies of the book at $24.95 a copy, netting $2,145 before sales were stopped because of the controversy. The author of the book is W. Cleon Skousen, founder of the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a conservative institution based in Salt Lake City.

The governor’s statement did not satisfy either of the commission’s two most vocal critics in the Legislature--Assembly Speaker Willie Brown of San Francisco or Sen. Gary K. Hart of Santa Barbara. The two Democrats have been demanding that Deukmejian fire the three commissioners since the controversy erupted earlier this month. The three approved the book as a fund-raising device on a 3-1 vote last year.

Susan Jetton, the Speaker’s press secretary, said Brown still wants the three off the commission.

“We are disappointed that the governor didn’t more forcefully and aggressively disavow the philosophy expressed in the book. There was a lot of damage done when the commission gave its blessing to that kind of material. We certainly know the governor is not a racist, but we wish he would have gone farther than acknowledging that ‘a mistake’ was made,” Jetton said.

Hart, who carried legislation providing seed money for the commission, said in a statement:

“I’m surprised and very disappointed with the governor’s response. Last week, the governor said that his commissioners were guilty of at least gross negligence. I agree. What I don’t agree with is his acceptance of their apology as adequate assurance that his commissioners can be counted on to provide nonpartisan leadership for our bicentennial activities.”

The three embattled commissioners who voted for the book are Chairwoman Jane A. Crosby of South Pasadena; Marguerite P. Justice of Los Angeles, a former member of the city’s Police Commission, and Coanne Cubete of Fountain Valley, a realtor.

The lone “no” vote was cast by Jack Rakove, a Stanford University professor and Democrat who was appointed by the Senate.

Crosby, during a telephone interview, declined to discuss the commission’s decision to approve the book. She said she met privately with Deukmejian yesterday.

“We had a very constructive meeting. We are pleased that the governor is behind us 100%, and we hope that we can put all this behind us. We want to get on with the business of the commission,” she said.