November 5, 1999   26 Cheshvan 5760

Deconstructing Cynthia McKinney
A passionate legislator and her complex relationship with the Jewish community.

Bill Nigut Special to the Jewish Times
bnigut@atljewishtimes.com

In 1981, Billy McKinney made a difficult decision. It was a mayoral election
year in the city of Atlanta, and the race was shaping up as a showdown
between Andrew Young and Sidney Marcus, one of the city's best-known Jewish
leaders. McKinney threw his support behind fellow state legislator Marcus,
and became co-chairman of the Marcus campaign. Throughout his public career
McKinney had always delighted in taking contrarian positions. In this case
he was excoriated for choosing Marcus over Young. McKinney was one of the
black Marcus supporters whom Maynard Jackson sneeringly referred to as
"shuffling, grinning Negroes." Marcus lost the race, but 18 years later,
McKinney's relationships with some local black leaders remains strained
because of the choice he made in that long-ago mayor's contest.
Atlanta businessman Jules Stine remembers the story well. "Billy was very
much out front in the Marcus campaign," Stine told the Atlanta Jewish
Times. "A black man taking on Andy Young!"
Stine and McKinney have been good friends for decades. In the early '70s,
Stine hired McKinney's daughter Cynthia to work part time in his shoe
store, inside Regenstein's department store, in downtown Atlanta. Stine
liked the then-St. Joseph's High School student right away.
"She was wonderful. She was bright and energetic. She had this wonderful
curiosity."
Stine became Cynthia McKinney's friend and mentor, and they remain close
today. He was at McKinney's district office last week when she gave the
interview to Atlanta Jewish Times editor Cynthia Mann that accompanies this
article.
"I have this enormous regard for intellect," Stine told me in one in a
series of phone conversations we had for this story. "Cynthia is very
bright. She is able to bring things together. She will be in your face and
tell you exactly what's on her mind with candor and frankness; and she's
had that since she was a little girl."       

A troubled relationship
A father who risked the scorn of his own community to back a Jewish
candidate for mayor. A most-trusted adviser who is a Jew. These are hardly
the credentials that would suggest McKinney has a troubled relationship
with many Atlanta Jews. And yet even those closest to her admit that she
does.
"I will acknowledge that there is tension between Cynthia and some members
of the Jewish community," says Stine candidly. And her father recognizes
the rift, too: "I would certainly like Cynthia to get past this friction,"
he told me.
Yet Billy McKinney bears a large share of responsibility for the rift. Just
ask Cookie Shapiro. Shapiro got to know Cynthia McKinney during the fall of
1996, when she was engaged in a fierce re-election battle against
Republican challenger John Mitnick. They were working together, planning a
campaign fund-raiser for McKinney that Shapiro had agreed to host in her
Buckhead home. Tipper Gore was set to fly in as the star attraction, and
dozens of invitations had been mailed to prominent and well-heeled Atlanta
Jews.
In the midst of this flurry of activity, Billy McKinney, who was serving as
his daughter's campaign manager, was accused of taking an anti-Semitic
swipe at Mitnick in a community forum at Ebenezer Baptist Church. He called
Mitnick "a racist Jew," a remark he recently said he made out of
frustration because Mitnick was trying to tie his daughter to notorious
anti-Semite and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. But McKinney was
slow to apologize, and his daughter was equally slow to take action to
reprimand him. (She eventually fired him from the campaign.) The incident
sent shock waves through the Jewish community and cast Shapiro's
fund-raiser in a new, controversial light.
"When all this started coming out she seemed to call me more often,"
Shapiro said. "I think she was trying to keep me from canceling. She kept
saying her father didn't speak for her." As for Shapiro, "I was determined
to go forward because I wanted to give her a chance to speak for herself."
The fund-raiser was a success, and McKinney went on to win a convincing
victory over Mitnick. Shapiro was pleased. "When she won, I was genuinely
thrilled for her." In high spirits, she called McKinney to congratulate her
on her victory, and left a message with the campaign office. There was no
response.
"I must have called her a dozen times and she wouldn't talk to me," Shapiro
said. "Not one phone call; and to this day she hasn't called me one time."
Shapiro now believes McKinney was exploiting her: "Coming to me and using
my platform was strictly political. She wanted to make an inroad into the
Jewish community."

Not responsive
Shapiro isn't alone. A number of Atlanta Jews who spoke for this article
said they've had no contact with McKinney since the election of 1996.
Sherry Frank, regional director of the American Jewish Committee, offered
her explanation. "I've been a supporter of hers endlessly because I think
she's so smart; but she doesn't have contacts in the Jewish community; she
doesn't have a sixth sense about it. I'm sure she isn't asked to speak as
often to Jewish groups as John [Lewis, the 4th District congressman who is
revered among Atlanta Jews] because she hasn't been accessible."
Weeks after her victory over Mitnick, McKinney did accept an invitation to
appear at a meeting of the Men's Club of Congregation Beth Jacob. Program
Director Chana Shapiro was there and said that was the last time the
congregation heard from McKinney. "We don't feel like she's been there for
us.... She gave us the sense of being attentive and listening, but she's
never given us the sense of caring, and that's a whole different thing."
For his part, Rabbi Stanley Davids tried for two years to get McKinney to
speak at Temple Emanu-El, his Dunwoody congregation. His invitations, sent
to members of McKinney's staff, went unanswered. "When I finally talked to
McKinney herself, she promised me I would be contacted by a staff member
who would set up a meeting. It never happened. It was a dead end. About a
year ago I gave up in frustration."
Davids, who lives in the 4th District, remains bitter about his lack of
rapport with McKinney: "I think I and the community in which I live, mainly
the Jewish community, are being ignored. I have never before lived in a
situation in which I was cut off politically from those who represent me in
government."

Tensions with AIPAC
Frank blames the tenuous relationship between McKinney and Atlanta Jews on
the Mitnick-McKinney contest. "It was a terrible election that left scars
that aren't healing."
But the first signs of estrangement pre-date the stormy 1996 campaign.
In 1992, in her first race for Congress in what was then Georgia's 11th
District, McKinney made it clear she wouldn't be beholden to the
American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Stine said McKinney
thought AIPAC was heavy-handed in demanding her endorsement of their
positions in return for its support. McKinney refused to play ball.
"Here was a young woman who had not yet been elected to Congress and AIPAC
was saying 'This is our point of view, sign off on this.' Cynthia being
Cynthia was not going to do that. Had it been a Catholic group, had it been
the Pope, she wasn't going to do this. I think Cynthia was taken aback by
the aggressiveness that is how AIPAC does business."
McKinney's relationship with AIPAC continued to deteriorate after she won
the 1992 race. An AIPAC source, who insisted on anonymity, said that
tension grew to the extent that, "for the next few years, AIPAC saw
Congress as having 434 members. We didn't send her the information we sent
to every other member. We didn't talk to her. She didn't ask us not to. We
were told to leave her alone by other members of the Georgia delegation."
To this day McKinney has never been to an AIPAC convention, an event that
annually draws up to 200 U.S. senators and representatives.
Stine calls himself a strong supporter of AIPAC, but he defends McKinney
for refusing to placate an organization which Stine thinks plays a
disproportionate role in defining how Jews view elected officials. "We have
been known on occasion to get turned off if the list [of issues] AIPAC
hands out isn't checked off properly."

Farrakhan and free speech
With relations already beginning to show signs of strain, an episode in
1994 heightened Jewish suspicions about McKinney. She refused to vote for a
congressional resolution condemning the anti-Semitic speeches of a
Farrakhan disciple, Khalid Muhammad. McKinney saw the vote as a threat to
freedom of speech, while her critics saw it as a blatant slap at the Jewish
community.
The ensuing controversy dismayed McKinney supporter Melissa Fay Greene, the
prominent Atlanta writer. "I felt the long arm of Farrakhan reach down here
and right into my living room. It poisoned the waters here. Atlanta had
such a magnificent history of black-Jewish relations but suddenly it was as
if we were unable to have access to that. We all fell back on knee-jerk
reactions. We borrowed instead of looking at our own rich history of
cooperation."
Greene, like Shapiro, continued to back McKinney through the 1996 election
despite intense pressure from the Jewish community. "I think she has a good
heart, and I don't think she realized the power Farakkhan's name had to
distance and upset her possible Jewish supporters." Now, though, Greene has
pulled away. "She didn't win my fidelity beyond my loyalty to the Jewish
community."    

A visionary
To be sure, McKinney has forged close alliances with some Jews.
Stephanie Davis, head of the Atlanta Women's Foundation, has known McKinney
since her days in the state legislature, where Davis was a legislative
researcher. "I think she's a visionary in many ways," Davis said. "She is
so strong on issues of equality and equal rights for women and people of
color." Davis is frustrated by what she sees as the Jewish community's
unwillingness to forgive McKinney for the harsh tone of the 1996 election:
"We cannot disregard her or pretend she's not important to our future or
try to discount her for past actions that I think she's reversed."
Gary Edelman, a Decatur surgeon, credits McKinney with winning him a
position on Gov. Barnes' newly created Community Health Board. He has risen
to vice-chair and become an adviser to McKinney on health care and other
issues. "She's a good lady," Edelman told me. "I think she's misunderstood
in the Jewish community."
Frank agrees. "We like to hate Cynthia," Frank said of Atlanta Jews.
   
Business as usual
Even her friends acknowledge that McKinney is abrasive, that her world is
made up of stark contrasts and of friends and enemies, to whom she reacts
with deeply felt passion. It may therefore be Jewish hyper-sensitivity
which assumes that her treatment of Jews is somehow different from the way
she deals with others. To some extent, it's simply how McKinney does
business.
There was the infamous 1991 speech on the floor of the Georgia House
condemning President Bush's decision to launch the war against Iraq. Most
members walked out in anger as she was speaking. "It still sticks in
people's craws today," said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, her friend and ally.
Just two weeks ago in an interview for CBS' "60 Minutes," McKinney weighed
in on Emory University's fight with former business school professor
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. McKinney called Emory University President William
Chace a "liar" and urged Sonnenfeld to take Emory for all he could in a
lawsuit.
She has, at times, been a passionate supporter of President Clinton. Yet,
after an embarrassing incident in which she and a black guest were turned
away from a White House party by secret service agents, McKinney loudly
protested that it was typical of the way the White House treats non-whites.
Her anger was probably justified. But other members of Congress might have
chosen a more discreet approach in deference to the president.
Jules Stine admits that she is often too blunt: "Sure there are things that
Cynthia has said that would have been better left unsaid. [But] on balance,
I would much prefer that kind of candor and directness."
Despite the strong criticism expressed by many of the Jews who were
interviewed for this article, none accuses McKinney of being anti-Semitic,
although some believe her father is.
At the same time, many believe she uses the politics of divisiveness as a
weapon.
American Jewish Committee board member Elaine Alexander said, "I've known
her for too long to think that Cynthia's anti-Semitic. But I think her
tactics really reflect the burn-and-kill philosophy of politics today.
Would she use anti-Jewish feelings to win an election? Absolutely."
For his part, Gary Edelman bluntly invoked racism as one reason for Jewish
hostility toward McKinney. "Some people in her district would just as soon
see her as their maid as their congresswoman."

"Pretty good" voting record                
Emotions aside, what about her voting record?
Despite her strained relationship with AIPAC, her votes on their issues
rates a "pretty good" from Mark Moskowitz, AIPAC regional director in
Atlanta. But for two years now, McKinney has voted in favor of amendments
to reduce U.S. aid to Israel. Last year, the amendment called for some of
the funding earmarked for Israel to be redirected to African nations, and
so to some, McKinney's vote was an understandable decision by a black
congresswoman with a burning interest in helping Africa. This year, though,
she was one of just 35 House members who voted for the proposed $30 million
reduction (from a total package of $2.88 billion); and this time, the
proposal did not call for redirecting the money anywhere. "The vote
disturbed us," said Moskowitz. "We wondered if she was letting us see her
true colors."
Moskowitz adds that AIPAC "still isn't 100 percent sure what her feelings
about Israel are because she doesn't speak on it. She stays pretty quiet on
the issue."
Jay Kaiman, southeast director of the Anti-Defamation League, has a
similarly vague grasp of McKinney's position on the ADL's agenda. "She
hasn't made our issues a priority. On the other hand, I don't think she's
ever taken any stand that's been offensive to us on hate crimes or
religious protection."
The simple fact is that McKinney doesn't put so-called Jewish issues at the
top of her agenda. She is deeply involved in helping emerging African
nations. She fights for black causes and women's rights. And truth be
known, she doesn't need Jewish votes to keep her seat - the 4th District is
just 4 percent Jewish - as long as she maintains her strong coalition of
women and African American voters.

A force to reckon with
Still, McKinney is a force for Jews to reckon with. She is the only member
of the Georgia delegation with a seat on the foreign relations committee;
and if Democrats regain the majority in the House next year, she'll become
chairwoman of the international relations subcommittee. In that role, she
would have enormous influence in decisions affecting American relations
with Israel.
And that is why many of the Jews who were interviewed for this article
believe it is important to repair whatever breach exists between McKinney
and the Jewish community. "We should stay close to her to educate her,"
Sherry Frank insisted.
But how? Mark Moskowitz said that APIAC "has had discussions with her
office about ways to repair the relationship and they've chosen not to do
any of the things we've suggested."
Elaine Alexander suggested that they key may be in the hands of the Jews
who are close to McKinney: "I think she has some real friends in the Jewish
community. I would hope that people who have maintained close ties to her
would be able to sensitize her."
It won't be easy. The wounds are deep on each side. Stephanie Davis offered
a McKinney perspective: "I think she may feel misunderstood and feel she
can't redefine herself in a community she thinks has vilified her. She
doesn't want to look as if she's pandering."
Cookie Shapiro believes there should be a relationship with her, but the
potential is limited. "I think her opinions are set and that's the way they
are."
Cynthia McKinney hasn't talked with me for three years. That's why her
interview appears outside this article. Our troubles date back to the 1996
election, too. She remains angry because she feels I barged into her
campaign headquarters with a Channel 2 camera when I was trying to get the
campaign's reaction to Billy McKinney's attack on John Mitnick. Last week,
when I interviewed her father, I reminded him of his daughter's boycott. He
laughed: "If Arafat is making peace with the Israelis, I think I can get
Cynthia to make peace with you."
In the large scheme of things, McKinney's relationship with me is
irrelevant. But McKinney and the Jewish community have to decide if it is
worth their while to invest in repairing theirs. n

'What's The Mission?'
Cynthia Mann Editor
The following is excerpted from an hour-long interview at U.S. Rep. Cynthia
McKinney's district office on Sycamore Street.

AJT: Let's talk about you and your leadership. What drives... your passion
and priorities?

McKinney: I try to think in the back of my mind, 'What's the mission?'
[Writer] Ellen Goodman did a column, oh gosh, a long time ago. She said the
best elected officials are the ones who have one foot in the door and the
other foot outside. And that's because we need the kind of people who are
so committed they're willing to walk if they are asked or forced to
compromise on their values.... I've always tried to remember that.

AJT: What won't you compromise on?

McKinney: We talk a lot in this office about being the voice for the
voiceless. The old 11th District gave me an opportunity to serve them and
this country and they really were the voiceless: people who still don't
have running water in their homes, people who never saw a member of
Congress, probably never dawned on them they actually had a representative
up there. Be they in Jefferson County, Ga., or Dunwoody, Ga., or Haiti,
Guatemala, or Australia, [or] East Timor, we define our constituency as
those people who need us.
What I ask people to do is not judge me on what I say but judge me on what
I do.

AJT: Clearly you have strong feeling about the United States' role in the
world. What's your view of your mission on the International Relations
Committee? I know you have a special interest in Africa.

McKinney: I have a special interest in human rights.... The subcommittee I
serve on is the human rights international operations subcommittee.
...I knew there had been a lot of people victimized by our [foreign] policy
and I wanted to know why and I wanted to change that.... We used to be a
force for good in the world and our accumulation of power was not just an
end in itself, but a means to do good things on behalf of people in the
world.

AJT: You've been criticized by pro-Israel quarters... for being hard on
Israel.... Most recently, you voted for the Campbell Amendment [to the
foreign aid bill] to decrease aid to Israel. Can you share your thoughts
about Israel and the peace process?

McKinney: When Yitzhak Rabin shook Yasser Arafat's hand, I was there. I
didn't have to go. I was there because [of] my concern for human rights....
There's no way you can have peace in this world, unless there's a certain
level of respect for people just because they're people. So that's why I
place a lot of prominence on human rights as an important issue in the
formulation of our foreign policy.

AJT: So, has your support for human rights in the context of the Middle
East peace process created ill will?

McKinney: I can tell you I've tried to be consistent.... Let me put it this
way. My telephone number is listed in the phone book. People can call me.
We have an open-door policy in this office....
You mentioned the Campbell vote. What happened there was the president made
a request and his request included money promised as a result of the
implementation for the Wye accords. I am not an expert on the politics of
the Middle East. But I will be supportive of the peace process. Absolutely
100 percent. The appropriations committee put an additional $50 million in
- $30 million for Israel and $20 million for Egypt - and the Campbell
Amendment struck the additional funding, the $50 [million], which was not
the president's request.

AJT: Some people in the Jewish community talk about alliances they felt
they made with you in the 1996 campaign and that since then they feel cut
off, that there hasn't been a lot of dialogue, and that you haven't reached
out....

McKinney: My home telephone number is listed.

AJT: But what do you ascribe this to? Are you just busy?

McKinney: I guarantee you I work seven days a week....
My political mother is Jewish. Her name is Sima Osdoby. She's in Bosnia
right now. [When] I met her, she at the time was the national director for
WAND, Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament.... She basically is the
reason I ran for Congress.... My political daddy is my first boss... Jules
[Stine].
... But I don't think about people this way. We don't sort of categorize
people and take a litmus test. I don't do that!... Please, we're open....
The people who are concerned need to call me.

AJT: Do you have any comment on the black-Jewish relationship... on what
we share and where we're apart?

McKinney: How do we judge progress in relationships? You got to have some
indicators of what progress is.
...If it's a shared agenda, I can tell you that the people I go to in the
Congress for my peace issues, for my human rights issues, for my civil
rights issues, are first Democrats, but I know that my Jewish colleagues
are going to support 99 percent of the issues I have.
What does that tell me? It tells me that... we're a lot alike.
I was disappointed that the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish
Congress filed amicus briefs against minority districts. That was shocking
to me.
I read Melissa Fay Greene's book - she did an event for me at her house -
and it ["The Temple Bombing"] was a really good book about the commonality
and at the same time the differences in our struggle. I walk into a room
and everybody knows just exactly what I am. I'm automatically identified.
But I wouldn't know you were Jewish unless I asked or unless you
volunteered it. The struggles are quite different.
But... the thing I always say is we have to wrap our loving arms around our
white allies because we identifiable minorities in this country will never
get anywhere on our own. It's through... coalitions.
...We've got to understand... sometimes the people who look like us don't
even care about us. We've got to redefine who we are. Are we just black?
No, we're much more than that. [And] because we are, the people who impact
our lives are also going to be much more than black. We need to embrace
that and embrace them.

The McKinney File

Born: March 17, 1955

Hometown: Lithonia, Ga.

Party: Democrat

Personal: Divorced, one child

Religion: Roman Catholic

Years in office: Georgia House, 1989-1993; U.S. Congress, 1993-2000.

Congressional committees: Armed Services;
            International Relations,
            (ranking member)

4th District: All of DeKalb County, parts of Gwinnett
    and Fulton counties

Contact information:    
124 Cannon Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-1605
E-mail: cymck@mail.house.gov
Website: www.house.gov/mckinney