Commentary : The Other Doubts About Powell : *Blacks: Some question the motives behind his meteoric rise.

It is almost impossible for white people to understand the mixed emotions some black people have toward Colin Powell. He is intelligent, articulate, handsome and he comes from the ‘hood. So what’s not to like? Why is it that polls show him more popular with whites than blacks?

Blacks are suspicious of the way white Republicans have shoved him up the ladder with vigor usually reserved for the most well-connected whites.

The Army sent Powell to George Washington University Graduate School after which, according to a Los Angeles Times magazine profile, Powell was hoping to command an infantry battalion. Instead, he “was ordered to apply for a prestigious White House Fellowship.” So we have an unenthusiastic black officer being not asked but ordered to apply for a prestigious fellowship where the competition was brutal. Black people look on this scenario with more than a little suspicion. Justifiably or not, they question the motives behind this.

Next, Powell becomes the first black man to serve the President as national security adviser. On the face of it, this would seem cause for cheers from the black community. Like many “Negro firsts,” however, things are not always as they seem. Blacks took over as mayors of big cities when they became underfunded, overpopulated and ungovernable. When Powell took over as national security adviser, it was under a cloud of suspicion and shame caused by the illegal antics of Oliver North and the Iran-Contra mess. It makes you feel the first black President will come only when the country is in ruins.

At age 54, Powell becomes not only the first black to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff but also the youngest person ever to hold that position. Certainly no small honor. But here we also have a few curious aspects. Why did President Bush pass over 36 white senior officers to give this younger black officer the job? Some blacks felt that since the Cold War was over, the job wasn’t so important any more.

Most black people don’t consider Powell in the Uncle Clarence Thomas mode, but a few less charitable blacks have dismissed him as a sophisticated “house Negro.” Some hold him up as a role model, while others feel our primary role models should be in the fields of medicine, science or computers and not the military, athletics or entertainment.

Black people are not monolithic in their assessment of Powell. If, in the future, he were to run as an independent, he would certainly be more attractive to black voters. But as a Republican, Powell only confirms what his black detractors say.