On the Record

■ The Mystery of the Missing Votes: When Congressional Black Caucus voted on Clarence Thomas’s nomination to the Supreme Court, its spokesman, Khalil Munir, announced the vote was 24 to 1 against. Gus Savage (D., Ill.) was absent and did not vote; Gary Franks (Conn.), the lone black Republican in Congress, voted for Thomas. But, hey presto, the next day, word was that Black Caucus vote against Thomas was 19 to 1, meaning that five black congressmen had somehow dissociated themselves from the original action and were now listed as not voting. “Instead of following black public opinion (which is supportive of Thomas),” commented Evans & Novak, “the [Black Caucus] congressmen want to lead it”—minus the five nameless defectors from the original vote. . . . This is not insignificant. Black reaction to Thomas’s nomination is mixed and, when opposed, far less violently so by and large than reaction of white liberal community. NAACP’s Benjamin Hooks asks: “If we decide to oppose him, what is the alternative?” . . . John Jacob’s (National Urban League) first reaction was a sober: “I think we have come out of it a lot better than we expected.” Subsequently, he announced that the Urban League would be neutral on the nomination, neither supporting nor opposing it. . . . Racine Winborne, senior editor of Baltimore Afro-American, said what many rank-and-file blacks are thinking: “If the nomination of Judge Thomas gets thrown out, what we run the risk of symbolically is losing the nomination of a black, losing the one black voice on the Court.” . . . Columnist William Raspberry of Washington Post quotes a friend’s reaction to Thomas’s nomination: “Given a choice between two conservatives, I’ll take the one who’s been called ‘nigger.’ ” Raspberry goes on to say: “Thomas is sufficiently acquainted with racism to recognize it when it comes before him on the Supreme Court . . . and smart enough to find in the Constitution protection against the presumption of white privilege.” . . . USA Today poll shows 54 per cent of blacks approving Thomas choice, 17 per cent disapproving. . . . Among the 17 per cent, movie producer Spike Lee, quoted in Newsweek as calling Thomas “a handkerchief-head, chicken-and-biscuit-eating Uncle Tom.” . . . Sen. Sam Nunn’s statement that he will be proud to introduce his fellow Georgian to Senate Judiciary Committee is big plus for White House. It was the desertion by the generally more conservative Southern Democrats, led by Howell Heflin (Ala.), that turned the Robert Bork hearings into a rout. The only Southern Democrat who voted for Bork, for the record, was Fritz Hollings of South Carolina.

“Is this beach leaded or unleaded?”

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■ The Mystery of the Missing Votes: When Congressional Black Caucus voted on Clarence Thomas’s nomination to the Supreme Court, its spokesman, Khalil Munir, announced the vote was 24 to 1 against. Gus Savage (D., Ill.) was absent and did not vote; Gary Franks (Conn.), the lone black Republican in Congress, voted for Thomas. But, hey presto, the next day, word was that Black Caucus vote against Thomas was 19 to 1, meaning that five black congressmen had somehow dissociated themselves from the original action and were now listed as not voting. “Instead of following black public opinion (which is supportive of Thomas),” commented Evans & Novak, “the [Black Caucus] congressmen want to lead it”—minus the five nameless defectors from the original vote. . . . This is not insignificant. Black reaction to Thomas’s nomination is mixed and, when opposed, far less violently so by and large than reaction of white liberal community. NAACP’s Benjamin Hooks asks: “If we decide to oppose him, what is the alternative?” . . . John Jacob’s (National Urban League) first reaction was a sober: “I think we have come out of it a lot better than we expected.” Subsequently, he announced that the Urban League would be neutral on the nomination, neither supporting nor opposing it. . . . Racine Winborne, senior editor of Baltimore Afro-American, said what many rank-and-file blacks are thinking: “If the nomination of Judge Thomas gets thrown out, what we run the risk of symbolically is losing the nomination of a black, losing the one black voice on the Court.” . . . Columnist William Raspberry of Washington Post quotes a friend’s reaction to Thomas’s nomination: “Given a choice between two conservatives, I’ll take the one who’s been called ‘nigger.’ ” Raspberry goes on to say: “Thomas is sufficiently acquainted with racism to recognize it when it comes before him on the Supreme Court . . . and smart enough to find in the Constitution protection against the presumption of white privilege.” . . . USA Today poll shows 54 per cent of blacks approving Thomas choice, 17 per cent disapproving. . . . Among the 17 per cent, movie producer Spike Lee, quoted in Newsweek as calling Thomas “a handkerchief-head, chicken-and-biscuit-eating Uncle Tom.” . . . Sen. Sam Nunn’s statement that he will be proud to introduce his fellow Georgian to Senate Judiciary Committee is big plus for White House. It was the desertion by the generally more conservative Southern Democrats, led by Howell Heflin (Ala.), that turned the Robert Bork hearings into a rout. The only Southern Democrat who voted for Bork, for the record, was Fritz Hollings of South Carolina.

“Is this beach leaded or unleaded?”