Clinton Nominee Says Racism May Be Behind Attacks on Him, Others

Surgeon General-designate Dr. Henry W. Foster Jr. suggested Thursday that race may be a factor in attacks on his nomination, saying “it certainly looks fishy” the way minorities chosen for high Clinton Administration jobs are coming under attack.

He made the comment when asked if he thought President Clinton’s “nominees of color” and “the nonwhite members of his Cabinet” were being attacked because of race.

“One thing you must keep in mind, the Clinton Administration more than any other has brought diversity to its Administration, so there are a larger number of minorities,” Foster told a luncheon of black journalists.

“I can categorically say that minorities are certainly being attacked,” he said, adding that “it may be for” race.

“I cannot say that there’s an orchestrated effort to pick out minorities, but I can tell you it certainly looks fishy,” he said.

Foster made the comments at a Black Press of America luncheon held by the National Newspaper Publishers Assn.

Foster’s nomination has been under attack from anti-abortion groups and conservative lawmakers. He has been criticized for giving varying answers about the number of abortions he has performed in more than 30 years in practice and for having performed hysterectomies on severely retarded women in the late 1960s and 1970s.