Powell Questions Trumps ‘Moral Authority’ at Virtual DNC

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s Speech at the Democratic Convention evoked his respect across the political and racial divide. (Photo Credit: Air 1)

Daily Democratic National Convention Opinion Coverage in Sepia

Wednesday, August 19, 2020 Day 2 Coverage

Colin Powell has always sustained a unique integrity within the African American community despite his Republican Party status. Black Americans are overwhelming members of the Democratic Party and have voted loyally for the ticket in abundance since the 1960s.

So when Colin Powell emerged as a semi-political figure as the Chairman of the Joint Chief’s of Staff in the George Herbert Walker Bush’s White House in the early 1990s, he was met with a level of respect from blacks not ordinarily accorded to republicans — which were, then at the time, essentially appendages of the anti-black party of Regan.

Powell’s ability to somehow stay above the political and racial fray over the decades has been remarkable, given the traumatic social upheavals that mark modern American history related to police violence meted out upon the likes of Rodney King and Yusef Hawkins, Michael Brown and Breonna Taylor. While the nation has also been subsumed by much ideological rancor and arched partisan division, Powell seems to have levitated above it all while maintaining a dominant presence in our politics and a sage voice within the national conversation.