WASHINGTON (AP) A year after a Texas police chief defended the use of
racially charged terms, Gov. George W. Bush appointed him to oversee the
state's law enforcement training.
The appointee, Charles W. Williams, testifying in a discrimination lawsuit
filed by one of his officers, said that terms such as "porch monkey" were
not racial slurs. He also said that blacks didn't mind being called ''niggers"
50 years ago. "It wasn't any big deal back then," he said in an October
1998 sworn deposition.
Asked about his comments Thursday, Williams said he didn't mean to offend
anyone.
"You just have to show me where it's a racial slur," he said in an interview.
''lt just depends on how it's used and who it's used toward.
"I've been around race with blacks and browns all my life,'' added Williams,
who is white. "I'm the farthest thing from a racist "
Mike Jones, a spokesman for Bush, the likely Republican presidential
nominee, said the governor was not aware of Williams' comments at the time
of the appointment. Bush's gubernatorial staff will look into the matter,
he said.
"Governor Bush has zero tolerance for racism." Jones said The state's
standard background
check would not cover a civil lawsuit, he said.
Jones added that Bush has appointed nearly 3,000 people to more than
200 boards and commissions.
In November 1999, Bush named Williams to head the Texas Commission on
Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, a state agency that sets
standards and training for police and other law enforcement officers.
The commission works to "improve professionalism'' and assure that Texans
are served by "highly trained and ethical law enforcement and corrections
personnel." Williams, the police chief in Marshall, Texas, was first appointed
to the nine-member commission by Bush in 1997. The governor elevated him
to chairman in November 1999.
Between those two appointments, in June 1998, officer Ricky Mitchell
sued the city of Marshall and Williams in federal court alleging discrimination.
Mitchell charged that he was punished because he was black and because
he complained about a discriminatory atmosphere in the department.
The case was dismissed by a federal court last year and is now on appeal.
Before it was dismissed, Williams gave a sworn deposition in which he
was asked about a variety of comments allegedly made by Marshall officers.
In one case, an officer was said to have joked about someone being a
"porch monkey.'' in another, an officer allegedly called a child a "black
bastard " Williams said, "If it's in a general statement, no, I don't consider
it a racial slur." `He added that he does not consider the term "white
honky" to be a racial slur, either.
Later in the deposition, Williams was asked if be uses the word "nigger."
He said he only uses
the word now while advising others to avoid it. But when he was growing
up in south-central Oklahoma 50 years ago, he said, the word was common
and inoffensive "I was born and raised with blacks, and back then we had
Nigger Charlie and Nigger Sam, Nigger Joe, and we regarded those people
with all the respect in the world. That was their name," said Williams,
who is now 57.
"They didn't mind it wasn't any big deal then," he added "It graduated
from that to Negro, then it graduated to black, and now it's African-American.
So to me that was not any different than me calling him an African-American
today "
The case was dismissed by a judge who found there was insufficient evidence
that Mitchell's treatment was related to his race or to his complaints.
On Thursday, Williams did not retract any of his statements. He attributed
the lawsuit to "one disgruntled employee," who recently left the department
He added that the case was the only time he had been accused of racism
or sued in federal court
"Out of 31 years (as an officer) and 21 years as a chief, that's not
a bad record," said Williams, who is battling liver and skin cancer.
If people are offended by his comments, he said: "They have their right
to their opinion and I have my right to my opinion.''
But Bush still needs to explain his decision to elevate Williams, given
his comments in the deposition, said Doug Hattaway, a spokesman for Vice
President Al Gore, who Bush faces in the presidential race.
"It's disturbing that someone in a position of authority would hold
views like that," he said, "and mystifying that he'd be elevated to a higher
position.
The plaintiffs attorney, Alex Castetter, said he also was surprised
that Williams was elevated on the commission.
"I suppose that Governor Bush can appoint whoever he wants to appoint,"
Castetter said. "I don't think that's who I would have chosen"