THE SEQUEL OF THAT TAINTED `RACE CARD' DECK

A new report by the CIA inspector general's office and a new book by a
controversial author have revived charges that the CIA cultivated
connections to drug traffickers who flooded the U.S. with cocaine.

Both of them also add fuel to an ongoing debate about black activism,
paranoia and the "race card."

According to a July 17 article in The New York Times, the still-classified
CIA report found that the agency "continued to work with about two dozen
Nicaraguan rebels and their supporters during the 1980s, despite
allegations they were trafficking in drugs." This is in direct contrast to
the intelligence agency's own account, but it is in accord with other
reports on contra drug connections--a 1987 report of a House narcotics
committee chaired by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and a 1998 report of a
Senate subcommittee chaired by Sen. John Kerry (D--Mass.)--which detailed
those links.

News of the CIA report adds more credence to a new book by Gary Webb, the
former reporter for the San Jose Mercury News, whose three-part series in
August 1996 argued that the CIA helped accelerate the crack-cocaine
epidemic that devastated much of black America by aiding drug-dealing
contras. The book, "Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras and the Crack
Cocaine Explosion," expands on the Mercury News series.

In the series, Webb described how the Contras sold tons of cocaine to the
Crips and Bloods street gangs and used the profits to finance its terrorist
campaign against Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government.

The black community was outraged by Webb's stories, which were widely
circulated on the Internet. Charges that the FBI and the CIA were out to
get blacks have long circulated within the black community, so the Mercury
News stories resonated strongly. Black representatives were urged to
initiate congressional investigations of the charges and an energized
movement of activists demanded the CIA come clean.

But for African-Americans seeking mainstream credibility, it's crucial to
not be thought of as paranoid. Even when there is compelling evidence of an
activity's racist effects--if not intent--"responsible" blacks have to
downplay the racial angle or get accused of playing the race card. To
connect the CIA with crack--a drug with race-specific overtones--is
considered a mere variation of the old theme of black genocide and is thus
deemed irrational in mainstream discourse.

After first providing scant coverage of the Webb's reports, the mainstream
media later rushed to debunk the series. And although the Mercury News'
stories may have given too much credit to the Contras for initiating the
crack epidemic and excluded some minor testimony which conflicted with its
major thesis, Webb's major point remained unblunted.

Some media analysts suggest that the mainstream media's zeal to debunk was
fueled by a need to justify their journalistic malfeasance.

"While the Mercury News series could arguably be faulted for occasional
overstatement, the elite media's attacks on the series were clearly driven
by a need to defend their own shoddy record on the contra-cocaine
story--involving a decade-long suppression of evidence," wrote media critic
Norman Solomon in a 1997 study of this issue entitled "Snow Job."

Even the Washington Post's ombudsman, Geneva Overholser, was angered by the
full-scale attack on Webb--one of which was launched by her publication. In
a Nov. 10, 1996, column she noted that the major media have "shown more
passion for sniffing out the flaws in San Jose's answer than for sniffing
out a better answer themselves."

The public impression, however, is that Webb's series was thoroughly
discredited. The charge of cocaine-peddling Contras is now ridiculed as
just another story in the repertoire of conspiracy theorists. But his new
book contains such a wealth of information that supports his original
reporting, it's unlikely that any reader will remain unconvinced of
connections between contras and crack.

The American public's skepticism of government power is higher than ever
these days and has even provoked unprecedented demands for congressional
investigations of FBI procedure. But whenever African-American activists
allege shady government dealings, they find mostly ridicule.

For example, the FBI has yet to answer for J. Edgar Hoover's "COINTELPRO"
program, which was intended to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit or
otherwise neutralize" black leaders across the political spectrum: from
those as pacific as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to those as explosive as
Malcolm X, both of whom were assassinated. Yet those black activists who
have demanded the FBI be subjected to a congressional investigation
regarding the murders of these two black leaders are dismissed as paranoid
conspiracy-mongers, eager to play the race card.

It's important to remember that the original race card was put in play by 2
1/2 centuries of racial slavery and, as Webb's book makes clear, we're
still dealing with the consequences of that tainted deck.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)