Condoleezza Rice's Memoir Encourages Introspections

Condoleezza Rice is the first black woman to serve as both United States National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. Yet her memoir, "Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family," ends before she took those jobs. Instead she wrote about her childhood and her early career. While her work in the Bush administration is undoubtedly interesting, I think the lessons she learned while growing up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama are relevant to everyone.

Segregation creates demeaning reminders of oppression. She credits her parents and the black community for providing a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment. She writes, "They rigorously regulated the messages that we received and shielded us by imposing high expectations and a determined insistence on excellence." Even though they were barred from restaurants, hotels, and other public places, Rice and her generation where taught that there are no excuses for not achieving excellence.

As a parent, I admire her parents' dedication to raising their only child in a loving yet intellectually challenging atmosphere. This lesson can help other parents raise high-achieving children. It's possible to love your child but also demand that they work hard and excel in all aspects of life.

I also appreciate how her experiences shaped her political views. While I lean towards the Democratic Party, Rice has been a Republican since the 1980s. It was disgust for the Democratic Party's tendency to patronize women, minorities and the poor that underlies Rice's decision to be a Republican. She saw well-meaning people try to help in such a way as to send a message of inferiority, which led the recipients to live down to the lower expectations.

Rice is also an advocate of affirmative action, which was a factor in her hire at Stanford, but only if done the right way. She believes that there are qualified minorities, but that they live outside of the traditional hiring networks. For example, few minorities go to graduate school, which is the traditional pool for hiring assistant professors. For her the key is "not to lower standards but to look for good prospects where you wouldn't ordinarily find them."

Her memoir illustrates the specific events where she observed racism, both overt and well-meaning, and describes how those events influenced her. Reading about it made me think about how I approach issues of affirmative action and how best to help whom I see as disadvantaged. I haven't changed my party affiliation, but now I have knowledge of a different worldview to draw upon when I listen to political debate.