As I tried to explain to my grand-kids, as we were watching primary election returns, we're comparing Bill Clinton's 1990s record with what we would expect of Hillary Clinton today. But the 2016 social and political contexts are vastly different from what they were in the mid-1990s. Bill Clinton himself has renounced the crime bill. The same is true for the Don't Ask, Don't Tell and DOMA bills, which he signed but has now renounced. So we should look at his record in the context of his time, how bad things had been, and how far he helped advanced the cause of racial justice and equal rights.
When things are bad, and you're trying to get from 2 up to the ideal of 10, moving it up to 4 is a significant accomplishment. But when you get to 8 and look back at the 4, it doesn't look so good. That's over-simplifying, of course, but it illustrates the point.
Bill Clinton became president in 1993, following 12 years of Republicans in the White House (Reagan and Bush 41). For most of his two terms, he had a Republican controlled Congress, with arch segregationists Jesse Helms and Strom Thurman as strong voices in the Senate. But his appeal and the Clintons' joint popularity with African-Americans has other roots too. In an article on NPR online, Danielle Kurtzleben tries to answer the question.
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"But as Hillary Clinton seeks the nomination herself, some are raising questions about just how good the Clinton presidency was for black Americans . . . .
". . . . [Toni Morrison called him the 'first black president.'] . . . . — a way to talk about Clinton's popularity with black voters. And that popularity, at least, is undisputed. In 1992, the New York Times editorial board . . . gushed about America's advances against racism . . . [and that Clinton had showed] 'that it is politically possible to bring poor blacks and blue-collar white voters together. It is finally possible for Americans to transcend racial division and look instead to mutual interest.' . . .
"'Because of his Southern heritage, he appeared to be very, very comfortable in African-American communities,' says Andra Gillespie, an associate professor of political science at Emory University. . . . [he has] 'a sort of cultural fluency'. . . . And once he was in office, he tried to show he was reaching across color lines.
"'I think that a mixture of his personality and his politics really made him relatable and likable to many in the black community,' said Stefanie Brown James. . . . He believed in affirmative action, for example . . . . And he appointed African-Americans to high-profile positions — in 1993, he appointed four black [to his] Cabinet . . . .
"The Clinton years were also known for a booming economy. During that time, the median household income in African-American households grew by 25 percent, . . . In addition, African-American unemployment plummeted from 14.1 percent to 8.2 percent (of course, the unemployment rate also fell for other groups). And the administration touted its record of boosting loans to minorities."
[Kurtzleben then discusses the negative effects of the crime bill and welfare reform, particularly on African-Americans. Then she continues with the overall picture.]
"Of course, Bill Clinton didn't pass (or write) the crime bill himself; indeed, two-thirds of Congressional Black Caucus members voted for it. At the time, the bill was considered
'imperfect but necessary,' as Slate puts it, given America's crime problems in the 1990s. And it's not even entirely clear that it played a big role in driving up incarceration. . . . Still, it's not exactly the former president's proudest achievement; two decades later, Clinton himself has renounced it. . . .
"But it's still not clear how much blame or credit Hillary Clinton deserves for her husband's policy legacy. It's true that Bill presented her as a sort of co-president . . . and that she had a particular interest in the politics of welfare reform.
"'Hillary had never publicly opposed any legislation or policy of her husband's administration, but her views about welfare were strongly held and probably more complicated than his,' [Carl Bernstein] wrote, adding later that her pragmatism eventually led her to support the third pass at a welfare reform bill. (President Clinton vetoed two earlier welfare reform bills.)
"In Hillary's autobiography, she described the bill as hardly perfect, and conceded that pragmatic politics had figured in her willingness to support the measure. . . . Of course, she didn't sign bills; he did. But regardless of her part in any of that, voters lump the Clintons together, for better or worse. . . . Still, Clinton has her own legacy to run on. . . . [her association with Marion Wright Edelson's Childrens' Defense Fund], her legal aid work, for example. She also benefits from her work with another high-profile president [as Obama's Secretary of State]. Voters who like and defend Obama also see Clinton as an extension of his legacy. . . .
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Kurtzelben wrote that piece some months ago. Since that time, as Bernie Sanders has increasingly become better known nationally, his support among African-Amercians has increased, especially among those under 40. But Hillary Clinton still gets a definite majority of their votes and loyalty, especially the older ones. Those who now choose Sanders usually do so because of his idealism and his more progressive policy positions, as opposed to her incremental pragmatism.
Ralph
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