[Mb-civic] Analyzing a Downfall - Eugene Robinson - Washington Post Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

Analyzing a Downfall
Claude Allen Had the Ear of the President. Now He's Accused of Theft. 
What Happened?

By Eugene Robinson
The Washington Post
Friday, March 24, 2006; A19

I have to admit that when Claude Allen was arrested a couple of weeks 
ago for allegedly stealing merchandise from discount stores, my first 
reaction was pure schadenfreude. Until his resignation last month for 
the standard Washington non-reason -- to spend more time with his family 
-- Allen had been the highest-ranking African American on the White 
House staff, the president's top domestic policy adviser. I think it was 
"Saturday Night Live" that first came out with the obvious joke: Who 
knew that George W. Bush had a domestic policy adviser?

Would it be fair to cheer Allen's downfall just because he held a highly 
visible post in an administration that is reviled by most African 
Americans? No, but there's more: He made his name in black conservative 
circles by serving as a top aide to Jesse Helms, the old buzzard from 
North Carolina. I can't say anything else about Helms that's suitable 
for a family newspaper, so I'll just quote my colleague David S. Broder, 
who once called him "the last prominent unabashed white racist 
politician in this country."

Helms, you will recall, railed against a federal holiday for the Rev. 
Martin Luther King Jr. at a time when even old Strom Thurmond had gone 
over to the other side. Allen later said that was a "difficult" period 
in his association with Helms, but apparently not too difficult.

As if that weren't enough, during a bitter 1984 campaign Allen was 
caught spreading smarmy innuendo about Helms's opponent, Gov. James Hunt 
Jr., whispering to a reporter that Hunt was vulnerable because of links 
"with the queers."

So, yes, when Allen was arrested on felony theft charges, my first 
reaction was smug satisfaction. But then I told myself: Don't hate. The 
proper reaction is pity, on every level.

Police allege that on several occasions, Allen did the following: He 
went into a Target store near his home in the Maryland suburbs and 
bought some merchandise, then went to another Target, loaded a Target 
shopping bag with identical items and used the receipt from the first 
store to "return" the items for a refund -- in effect, getting a bunch 
of stuff for nothing.

The most expensive item Allen is alleged to have stolen is a $525 Bose 
home theater system; mostly, he's charged with taking cheap items such 
as a $60 jacket and a $25 pair of pants. Police say they have documented 
25 instances of theft, and while the total value of the merchandise adds 
up to more than $5,000 -- and makes the alleged thefts a felony -- we're 
still talking small potatoes.

If what the police say is true, this graduate of Duke University Law 
School wasn't much of a criminal mastermind. Hadn't he ever heard of 
inventory control, or wondered what those ubiquitous bar codes are for? 
And why would a man who met several times a week with the president of 
the United States, and who earned $161,000 a year, risk everything to 
steal an $88 radio?

It sounds like a cry for help, and I have no idea what went so wrong in 
Allen's life. But I can imagine some of the strains and contradictions 
he had to live with.

I have respect for principled black conservatives -- I think they're 
wrong about many things, but I respect their right to be wrong. It's a 
fact of life, though, that they are isolated from the larger African 
American community by their political views. At times it must be very 
lonely.

And since black conservatives with credentials like Claude Allen's are 
relatively rare, they are in great demand and tend to rise fast. They 
have to balance their genuine political beliefs against the fact that 
the Jesse Helmses of the world love to have them around as window 
dressing so they can say, "Look, I'm not racist; here's this black 
person on my staff."

You could rationalize working for someone like Helms by telling yourself 
that you could do more good for the African American community from the 
inside, next to the seat of power, than from the outside. You could tell 
yourself you were advancing the interests of black people, even if most 
black people disagreed. You could ignore racism or pretend it was 
something else. You could tell yourself that you were making compromises 
and sacrifices for the greater good.

Finally, you could arrive at the White House, with a big job and regular 
access to the president. But it might be a White House where all the big 
decisions were made by just a few people, and you weren't one of them.

Then what?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/23/AR2006032301166.html?nav=hcmodule
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