What else can be said about the past presidential election? "Gore was elected by the voters and Bush was selected by the courts." For Black voters in Florida there was voter fraud intimidation, police checkpoints, irregularities, confusion, dirty tricks, cancelled registrations, erroneous ex-felon lists, old voting machines, "pregnant chides" and generally widespread Black voter disenfranchisement. But George Bush is the President. Where do we go from here?

"To every misfortune there is some good fortune," I always say. The contested process of Republican George Bush assuming the presidency has placed an awesome burden on him to make peace with Black folks specifically and Democrats in general. The battleground has shifted from Florida to the District of Columbia, Chocolate City.

It is difficult to shrug off that the first two appointments by President Bush were African Americans resulting in General Colon Powell as the first African American Secretary of State. General Powell is a leading supporter of affirmative action and has put the State Department on notice that its staff needs to reflect the color of the world nations. His foreign policy position won't do much to mend fences at home on affirmative action, poverty, health care and justice but will go a long way to implement meaningful policy for emerging African nations.

On the other hand, Condoleezza Rice is well qualified as National Security Advisor but have little remembrance of her days in Alabama segregated schools. Unlike Colon Powell who was most responsive to me in the war against Proposition 209, gutting affirmative action in California, Condoleezza Rice listened to my Stanford alumnus I~ that Stanford appointed her Provost to defend affirmative action, but did little.

Then Bush nominated Linda Chavez, one of the nation's staunchest anti-affirmative action proponents. as Secretary of Labor. This would be tantamount to appointing anti-affirmative action U. C. Regent Ward Connerly to that position to dismantle affirmative action through out the nation. Then Bush nominated ultra conservative former Senator John Ashcroft as U. s. Attorney General. Mr. Ashcroft is against affirmative action, voluntary busing, gay rights and women's rights to choose. Now the "smoke and mirrors" with Powell and Rice laced with rhetoric about compassion, inclusion, civility and justice become "real thin." The struggle will continue. As the late Urban League President Whitney Young told me before his untimely death on the shores of Africa, "It does not matter who is in the White House, we will deal with him."