Bush Fills Post With Defender of Racially Charged Terms

A year after a Texas police chief defended the use of racially charged terms, Gov. George W. Bush appointed him to oversee the state’s law enforcement training.

The appointee, Charles W. Williams, testifying in a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by one of his officers, said that terms such as “porch monkey” were not racial slurs. He also said that blacks didn’t mind being called by what is now considered a slur 50 years ago. “It wasn’t any big deal back then,” he said in an October 1998 sworn deposition.

Asked about his comments Thursday, Williams said he didn’t mean to offend anyone.

“You just have to show me where it’s a racial slur,” he said in an interview. “It just depends on how it’s used and who it’s used toward.

“I’ve been around race with blacks and browns all my life,” added Williams, who is white. “I’m the farthest thing from a racist.”

Mike Jones, a spokesman for Bush, the likely Republican presidential nominee, said the governor did not know about Williams’ comments at the time of the appointment. Bush’s gubernatorial staff will look into the matter, he said.

“Gov. Bush has zero tolerance for racism,” Jones said. The state’s standard background check would not uncover a civil lawsuit, he said.

Jones added that Bush has appointed nearly 3,000 people to more than 200 boards and commissions.

In November, Bush named Williams to head the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, a state agency that sets standards and training for police and other law enforcement officers.

Williams, the police chief in Marshall, Texas, was appointed to the nine-member commission by Bush in 1997. The governor elevated him to chairman in November.

On Thursday, Williams did not retract any of his statements. He attributed the lawsuit to “one disgruntled employee” who recently left the department. He claimed that the case was the only time he had been accused of racism.