The organizers of last week's speaking events entitled "One America? Ethnic Conflict in 2002" and "The Reagan Legacy and its Enduring Impact on the American Psyche," conspired to provide excuses too tempting to turn down for drinking and staying out late...

On Tuesday, May 14, "Ethnic Conflict in 2002," presented by the Donald and Paula Smith Family Foundation, brought Roy Innis, National Chairman & CEO of the Congress of Racial Equality, to spar with Hugh Price, President and CEO of the National Urban League, before a near-capacity audience (and a Black Entertainment Television camera crew) at the auditorium of the CUNY Graduate Center.

Price said that the National Urban League was the prism through which he viewed the civil rights movement. He described it as a social service movement whose focus included good citizenship and the obligations of citizens and society, education and counteracting anti-achievement messages (an essential goal when 85% of the job market consists of skilled jobs), and accountability for schools. He stated that, despite tremendous strides over the years in integration at America's campuses, corporations, and even sports teams, society "must not be let off the hook" for its obligations. Those obligations included resolving racial gaps in the educational system -- not only funding gaps, but also gaps in the achievement expectations of students and teachers. America, he said, must also address a criminal justice system "rife with racism," predatory lending, the high cost of healthcare, and the high unemployment rate for blacks. "America is racially a work in progress," said Price.

It is hard to conceive of how Innis's view of the civil rights movement could differ from Price any more than it did. Innis described it as one of the most successful movements in history when measured against the English, French, and Russian Revolutions, implicitly viewing the movement as comparable and to some degree as sharing in the nature of those revolutions. And like other revolutions, said Innis, the civil rights movement today suffers from a deformation by following the path other revolutions have taken: the setting-in of orthodoxies and the viewing of all those who question it, in this case, as racists whites or "self-hating Negroes."

Starting with the premise that all societies started inherently racist, and that therefore racism is universal, Innis emphasized for clarity that vestiges of racism do exist in America despite the victories of the movement. But he noted that there exists in our culture a "hypersensitivity" towards allegations of racism -- not just a sensitivity that has increased over the past quarter-century. He repeatedly blamed this hypersensitivity for a chilling effect on the dialogue on race, crime, opening the field for demagogic race hustlers and baiters, intensifying guilt amongst whites, aggravating even decent blacks, and potentially threatening to destroy the movement itself. At one point, he apologized for sounding like a broken record.

Innis cited infamous and more obscure public trials, for example, to illustrate the hypersensitivity at work when juries have cut loose criminal defendants, in one case without any evidence and even inciting the defendant to say "Wow, this is crazy!" Innis cited also the Tawana Brawley case of false allegations of rape -- which he said is still an open question to many -- to back up his claims, as well as the O.J. Simpson case, comparing that mostly black jury's cutting him loose to a 1960s Mississippi local jury's acquittal of the murderers of three workers for the Civil Rights Movement. And, as Innis noted, Howard Law School students jumped for joy at the injustice of the O.J. Simpson trial.

Price countered Innis's claims with claims of extreme right-wing race baiting and hypersensitivity, listing raw radio, Pat Buchanan and the angry white male, The Bell Curve and its authors, numerous hostile books suggesting nothing can be done for the poor but make them "sweep sidewalks," and the Dartmouth Review and other similar papers spreading to other campuses as examples of this phenomenon. [Editor's note: Price called the Dartmouth Review in particular "scurrilous".]

Innis said he would not apologize for right-wing bigots, but said left-wing bigots were much worse whether intentional or not who hurt America and the black community itself. For example, he said, it was their hypersensitivity and an "invidious censorship in the press" that were responsible for the fact that, after he announced that the Brawley case was a hoax, it took six months for the press and the courts to reach the same conclusion. When last, Innis asked the audience, has the press shown reasonable, intelligent people talking about race, instead of the Reverend Al Sharpton or "Emperor Jesse Jackson the First"?

He noted in the end that "white America knows diversity." After George W. Bush won the election, he gave an eloquent speech and the opposition later gave an equally eloquent speech -- why could the black community not enjoy the same diversity of opinions in its own media? While not denying Price's point that there are black conservatives such as Thomas Sowell, Colin Powell, and Condelezza Rice who have no problem getting media attention, he challenged him: "Prove to me that Jesse Jackson is not heard disproportionately by the black community." "Censorship is the problem," reiterated Innis.

Postscript: After the debate, a self-described regular bar drinking buddy of Innis and professor at Columbia University said Innis is an opera connoisseur, and enjoys spending time at a bar called Taci that offers some kind of operatic musical fare....Dan Mahony, a trustee of the Dartmouth Review, said he had invited Price after the debate to a friendly discussion about his comments about that publication, but Price declined. The photo at right shows Dan (far right) with Rick Rubinstein (whose sage insight into Jewish achievement was noted in a recent Dawn Patrol) and Dawn Eden.

Also enjoying the post-lecture reception were the backbone of OpinionJournal: assistant Elizabeth Crowley (who helps editor James Taranto compile Best of the Web Today and assistant editor Brendan Miniter, who recently debuted his weekly column "The Western Front. Here they are flanking the ubiquitous Miss Eden.

The Reagan Legacy lives on, and a large roomful of people turned out for the Manhattan Republican Club's panel on "The Reagan Legacy" at the Women's National Republican Club on Wednesday, May 15. (At right is one of the attendees, Center for the Digital Future head Thomas H. Lipscomb, who is an advisor to the New York Young Republican Club.) The size of the crowd prompted John Fund, currently on leave from the Wall Street Journal to write a book on voter fraud, to connect the number of paying attendees to Reagan's comment that, if one did something well, one should get paid for it. Clearly, Reagan did very well, if people were still paying to hear about him. Fund also joked that, from his research, he thought Reagan might have won Minnesota after all.

Fund was filling in for Grover Norquist, founder of the Reagan Legacy Project, the only scheduled panelist who was unable to attend. The panel was moderated by syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock [a frequent Dawn Patrol subject, you'll find his photo here -- Ed.]. The Women's National Republican Club's Lisa Pinto, one of the event's organizers, served as emcee.

Arnold Burns, former Deputy Attorney General, said he thought that, despite Reagan's detractors who might criticize him for cutting social programs, Reagan would go down in history as one of our greatest presidents. He cited Reagan's great accomplishments, such as defeating Communism -- for which people all through Eastern Europe credit him -- and ending the threat of nuclear Armageddon.

Ed Rollins, the national Reagan/Bush '84 campaign manager, who was described by Burns as having practically lived with Reagan, said that people thought Reagan was going to be a one-term fluke, and that anyone could beat Carter.

Reagan, Rollins said, was a man without a large ego. Rollins told the story of how he visited New York City with Reagan back in 1983 or 1984. Arriving in Newark, he and Reagan took a helicopter to the 43rd street heliport in New York City. From there, both men traveled by limousine, but were soon surrounded by what seemed like millions. "I asked him: 'Does this ever get to you?' " Reagan responded, said Rollins with: "Just wait -- in half a block someone will flip the bird."

Rollins also reminded the audience that Reagan began the tradition of saluting military officers regularly. In fact, at an Air Force Academy commencement, in Colorado Springs, Reagan turned to the superintendent of cadets and asked if he could give them their first commission and salute them, about one thousand altogether. Reagan was at first told no, and that only salutes from military to military personnel were allowed. According to Rollins, Reagan responded by saying that he would be President for the next four years and if a regulation at the Pentagon prohibited it, then change it. In the end Regan did salute each and every cadet, hugging some, while others had tears in their eyes, said Rollins.

Driving back from the commencement, Reagan told him, said Rollins, that he did it for himself, not for the cadets, because if he won the upcoming election he might have to order those same cadets into combat.

A sizeable party followed the panel. Robert Hornak and Richard Rubinstein of the New York Young Republican Club guided a group of attendees to Medi, where idle banter continued late into the night in sight of classic cars and roadsters from bygone eras, which would be auctioned a few days later at Christie's.

Jonathan Leaf, who showed up with Jonathan Funke, said he had just met the inventor of PCR -- polymerase chain reaction -- which makes DNA analysis possible for a wide variety of purposes. He said that the man had been paid a small sum, on the order of $10,000, some twenty or so years ago, while the company he worked for sold it for $300 million.

Deroy Murdock, who was present, was one of the first to say "What's that?" referring to PCR. I only expressed surprise that Leaf got to meet the man who invented PCR.

Leaf questioned if I was pretending to know what PCR was. Perhaps he thought I had some ulterior motive. "Are you mocking me?" he asked.

"He really can't tell," I said to Deroy, half in disbelief. Eventually Leaf asked me what PCR is used for, and I answered. That 'A' in AP Biology back in high school finally paid off. (Don't hold me to that -- I don't really recall what I earned in AP Bio).

Both Leaf and Funke had to cut out early. Not long before Funke left, he was praised with asking the only real question all night -- too bad I missed it.

A new face, meanwhile, appeared at dinner and introduced himself to Deroy Murdock: Evan Coyne Maloney (right, with new NYYRC member Grace beaming in the background), who with his own Web site is a self- described editor, columnist, one who "rode the dotcom wave" until now, and past participant of four political campaigns that all lost. He said he had applied for a few positions in search of work but was still looking to apply to more. His own site is www.brain-terminal.com.

Editor's note: The subject of the photo at left, Ed Thompson (with a camera-shy waitress), isn't mentioned in Paul Torres' report, although he was at the Reagan Legacy event. We include the image simply for the pleasure of being able to publish those rare words, "Photo by Deroy Murdock."