Mr. Reynold's New Position

Recently President Bush appointed Gerald A. Reynolds, a black Republican, to become the new chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Formerly Mr. Reynolds served in the Education Department under Bush, and he is taking over from Mary Francis Berry who is also black, quite liberal, and famously outspoken.

Ms. Berry is no president’s idea of a team player, but given her position that wasn’t such a bad thing. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission has little real authority and it derives most of its importance from being the government’s official conscience in matters of race. The commission's main role is to make those in power believe that someone on the inside is watching. After the 2000 election in Florida, when there were widespread accusations that blacks had been excluded from the polls, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission launched an investigation.

However, in Washington they play hardball and in these times loyalty is highly prized. The Washington Post reported that upon assuming his new role Reynolds said that “…the first order of business at the commission will be fiscal: ‘One of the first things we're going to do is have an audit,’”

In other words, Ms. Berry best be looking for a good lawyer.

All that political blood sport aside; Mr. Reynolds’ resume is an impressive qualification for his new office. Prior to his stint at the Department of Education he was Senior Regulatory Counsel for Kansas City Power & Light Company, and before that he practiced law with Schatz & Schatz, Ribicoff & Kotkin, a Connecticut-based law firm.

However, even as he was joining the Civil Rights Commission Mr. Reynolds made a statement that attracted controversy. He suggested to a New York Times reporter that he himself had never experienced racial prejudice. When pressed on the issue he back peddled a little and then explained, “I just assume somewhere in my life some knucklehead has looked at me and my brown self and (then) given me less or denied me an opportunity. But the bottom line is, and my wife will attest to this, I am so insensitive that I probably didn't notice.”

Two questions occur to me - the first is, how important is sensitivity in the person who serves as the government's conscience in matters of race?

The second question - are he and my friend "Daniel" living in the same world?