Clinton Chides Rap Singer, Stuns Jackson

Strained relations between Bill Clinton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson worsened Saturday when the Arkansas governor condemned as an example of black racism published comments a rap singer made about the Los Angeles riots.

Clinton made his remarks about rapper Sister Souljah in a speech to the Rainbow Coalition, which Jackson heads and which had played host to the singer on Friday. Jackson himself had praised her contributions to the group’s work just moments before Clinton criticized her for fueling racial tensions between white and black Americans.

Jackson was obviously stunned by Clinton’s remarks and returned fire at the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, labeling his comments unnecessary and divisive.

In an interview a month ago with the Washington Post, Sister Souljah expressed solidarity with rioters in Los Angeles who attacked white motorists following the acquittals in the Rodney G. King police-beating case.

She was quoted as saying: “I mean if black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people? . . . So if you’re a gang member and you would normally be killing somebody, why not kill a white person?”

In his speech, Clinton took note of Sister Souljah’s presence at the Rainbow Coalition meeting Friday and said her quoted comments “are filled with the kind of hatred that you do not honor.”

Clinton also said he was targeting her for criticism because “she has a big influence on a lot of people.”

Jackson, saying that Sister Souljah told him she had been misquoted, called Clinton’s criticism “an unfair attack on her character, her reputation.” He told reporters that he had privately urged Clinton to meet the singer and called upon the candidate to apologize to her.

“You saw the chill that went across that audience” when Clinton made his remarks about her, Jackson told reporters. “She certainly is due an apology.”

Sister Souljah could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Officials at the Washington Post on Saturday night stood by the accuracy of their story, noting that the interview on which it was based was tape-recorded.

The heightening of existing tensions between Clinton and Jackson raised the possibility that the civil rights leader could withhold support from the Arkansas governor.

Jackson declined to say when or if he would support Clinton, noting that he was pressing both expected independent candidate Ross Perot and Clinton to endorse the coalition’s programs.

In his remarks before about 300 coalition members, Clinton captured the fancy of the group as he recited many of his standard campaign promises, attacked the policies of the Bush Administration and pledged to be a President supportive of several of the programs endorsed by the group.

But as his 30-minute speech drew to a close, Clinton said he felt compelled to discuss racism with the predominantly black group, saying all Americans have an obligation to speak out against it.

Clinton said the singer’s comments in the Post interview were offensive. He said: “If you took the words black and white and you reversed them, you might think (former Ku Klux Klan leader) David Duke had given that speech.”

Immediately after the speech, as reporters and coalition members rushed both men, a defiant Clinton defended his comments and an embarrassed Jackson criticized them.

“I do not know why he used this platform to address those issues,” Jackson told reporters. “It was unnecessary. It was a diversion. . . . Perhaps he was aiming for an audience that was not here.”

Clinton said: “This was the best audience for that message. If not here, where would have been better?”

Clinton and Jackson, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, have had a chilly relationship throughout the 1992 campaign.

Earlier this year, Clinton lashed out at Jackson after being incorrectly told that the civil rights leader had endorsed one of his rivals.

On a broader scale, the ill-feeling between them stems from a basic political disagreement. Clinton is seeking to push the Democratic Party toward more centrist positions, while Jackson wants the party to remain true to more liberal policies.

Many Jackson supporters expressed doubt that their leader would embrace Clinton after Saturday’s speech. They also said they believed Clinton’s comments were directed more toward white voters than to his immediate audience.

Ronald Walters, a political science professor at Howard University in Washington and a political adviser to Jackson, called Clinton’s remarks “divisive.”

“Those are not messages designed to heal and to make people feel good,” he said.

But Clinton aides dismissed speculation that the candidate was seeking to impress white voters by talking tough to a multiracial group. They noted, instead, that Clinton has challenged the conventional assumptions of other groups that have invited him to speak.

“This was the right forum for this discussion,” said Paul Begala, a Clinton campaign staffer. “He had the courage of his convictions to say what he thought before this group.”

Moreover, Begala said Clinton had brought up his own racial shortcomings before the coalition when he noted that he had made a mistake by playing golf at an all-white country club in March.

After drawing widespread condemnation from many black leaders, Clinton apologized for the incident and promised never to do it again. He repeated his apology in his Saturday speech.

In other comments, Clinton lashed out at the White House and was particularly critical of Vice President Dan Quayle, whom he called a “hit man” for the Bush Administration in its attacks on poor people.

“I’m tired of people on trust funds telling people on food stamps how to live,” Clinton said.

Clinton began his day with a private meeting with four Democratic mayors, who later reaffirmed their support for his candidacy. At a press conference following the meeting with the mayors, Clinton said he would issue a new version of his economic plan for the nation’s cities at the June 22 meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Houston.

Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson said the mayors did not time their embrace of Clinton to counteract the publicity that followed Perot’s recent meeting with four big-city mayors. Mayor Jackson called the meeting with Clinton a “working session” for the upcoming conference.

“We don’t believe that there was a show of affection for Perot by the mayors last week,” he said. “There was no need to counteract that because Bill Clinton’s been on the point for urban issues for a long, long time.”