"Reagan created the foundation for Bush"

The US-american Journalist and author Jill Nelson citicizes what she calls an "orgy of accolades" after former US-President Ronald Reagan's demise

Jill Nelson was born and raised in Harlem and has been a working journalist for over twenty years. She is a graduate of the City College of New York and the Columbia School of Journalism. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Essence, The Washington Post, The Nation, Ms., The Chicago Tribune and the Village Voice. Jill was a staff writer for the Washington Post Magazine during its first years of existence, and was named Washington D.C. Journalist of the Year for her work there. She freelances and lectures widely, and writes a twice-monthly column, "On the Verge," for NiaOnline.com and is a monthly contributor to the Op Ed page of USA Today. She was a professor of Journalism at the City College of New York from 1998 to 2003. Jill wrote the best-selling memoir, Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience (Noble Press, hardcover, 1993 and Penguin, paperback, 1994) which won an American Book Award. Most recently she is the author of the acclaimed novel, Sexual Healing, released in June 2003. She is the mother of an adult daughter and lives in Harlem.

George W. Bush called Ronald Reagan a "courageous leader himself" who "saved the world". What was in your opinion the political effect of this "courage", President Bush spoke about?

Jill Nelson: I don't agree. Despite Reagan's "common man" rhetoric, his domestic policies were most advantageous to corporate interests and the wealthy at the expense of working people, not unlike those of the current president, George W. Bush. Both work for corporate capital and rightwing ideologues. If that's their idea of being "courageous" and having "saved the world" is it a wonder the world is in such terrible shape? In fact, I believe Reagan's policies laid the groundwork for the current administration in terms of a level of arrogance, unilateralism and ties to the Christian and corporate rightwing.

What have been the main conflicts of the civil rights movement and the White House in these years?

Jill Nelson: Reagan's lack of support for civil rights was unrelenting. We should not forget that this is the president who sought to gut the US Civil Rights Commission; who declared America a "colorblind society" and then went on to methodically undermine civil rights laws; who tried to grant tax-exempt status to segregated Bob Jones University; who disparaged civil rights leaders as profiting from victimization; who consistently opposed affirmative action; of his appointments to the federal judiciary only 1.9 percent were Black.

You said that Reagan pushed a number of white male right-wingers onto the judiciary. Did they stay there still after 1989?

Jill Nelson: For the most part, yes, these are lifetime appointments. Of the 385 federal judges appointed by Reagan, 7 were Black. President Jimmy Carter appointed 265 judges of whom 38 were Black. We should not forget that these are lifetime appointments, and members appointed by Reagan carry out the "Reagan Doctrine" until they retire or die.

You criticized the "current orgy of accolades" after the dead of Reagan. Where are the other voices?

Jill Nelson: Largely pushed to the margins, although a few are emerging as we move further away from the announcement of his death. Sadly, it seems to me that the mainstream media response to Reagan's demise is not unlike the coverage of the events following September 11, 2001, including the US Patriot Act, the so-called "war on terrorism," and the nearly unilateral invasion of Iraq. Once again, mainstream media is parroting the official line, ignoring sources who disagree with that line, and reporting primarily information that fits into the "official story" claiming that Reagan a was a great man and we should all mourn his loss as if he were a national treasure. (Might I add that Reagan lived to be 93, far longer than most people?)

Could it be that nobody dares to remind the negative political consequences of the Reagan-administration because of the repressive politic of the current administration towards political opponents?

Jill Nelson: Sure could be. But the current actions of George W. Bush, nationally and internationally, are the reason why we should be looking critically at the policies of the Reagan Administration. Reagan's phony, homespun, shucks arrogance created the foundation for Bush I and Bush II. He perfected the art of seeing red, declaring it green, and convincing millions of Americans that they could not believe their own eyes.

Remember, Reagan was the president who was enamored of the Star Wars missile defense system; who believed nuclear war was winnable; who thought trees caused pollution; who doubled the US federal deficit during his eight years in office; who denied the prevalence of racism and bigotry; who presided over the explosion of the AIDS epidemic and took no action; who supported "constructive engagement" with apartheid South Africa; who gave us the Iran/Contra scandal; who broke the air traffic controllers union; who ignored massacres of civilians in El Salvador, and the list goes on and on and on.

The conviction of the current administration that they have the right to simply declare the world a certain way - whether or not the facts, international leaders, the United Nations, the American people, or anyone else supports this worldview - and act accordingly, has it's foundation in the Reagan administration. (Remember, Reagan is the president who declared ketchup a vegetable in order to cheat hungry school children out of a decent lunch!) The big difference between the Reagan and Bush administrations is that while Reagan was able to bludgeon and bully with relatively little resistance, Bush has to contend with Islamic terrorists who have as little regard for human life and the rule of law as he does.