Editing Condoleezza Rice (section)

===Views within the Black American community===
[[File:RiceRatings.png|thumb|right|Rice's [[approval rating]]s from January 2005 to September 2006]]

Rice's ratings decreased following a heated battle for her confirmation as Secretary of State and following [[Hurricane Katrina]] in August 2005. Rice's rise within the [[George W. Bush administration]] initially drew a largely positive response from many in the black community. In a 2002 survey, then National Security Advisor Rice was viewed favorably by 41% of black respondents, but another 40% did not know Rice well enough to rate her and her profile remained comparatively obscure.<ref name=Tilove>{{cite web |first=Jonathon |last=Tilove |url=https://jonathantilove.com/black-america-powell-rice/ |title=For Black America, The Thrill of Powell and Rice Is Gone |work=Newhouse News Service |date=March 11, 2004 |access-date=June 26, 2011 |archive-date=August 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823023037/https://jonathantilove.com/black-america-powell-rice/ |url-status=live }}</ref> As her role increased, some black commentators began to express doubts concerning Rice's stances and statements on various issues. In 2005, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' columnist [[Eugene Robinson (journalist)|Eugene Robinson]] asked, "How did [Rice] come to a worldview so radically different from that of most black Americans?"<ref>{{cite news |first=Eugene |last=Robinson |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/24/AR2005102401370.html |title=What Rice Can't See |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=October 25, 2005 |access-date=August 16, 2018 |archive-date=August 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823023044/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/24/AR2005102401370.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Rice and Downer at the Reagan Library May 23, 2007.jpg|thumb|Rice and Australian Foreign Minister [[Alexander Downer]] participate in a news conference at the [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library]] in [[Simi Valley]], California, 2007.]]

In August 2005, American musician, actor, and social activist [[Harry Belafonte]], who served on the Board of TransAfrica, referred to blacks in the Bush administration as "black tyrants." Belafonte's comments received mixed reactions.<ref name=Tilove />

Rice dismissed these criticisms during a September 14, 2005 interview when she said, "Why would I worry about something like that? ... The fact of the matter is I've been black all my life. Nobody needs to tell me how to be black."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/rm/2005/53155.htm |title=Interview with Bill O'Reilly of the O'Reilly Factor on Fox News |via=state.gov |work=[[O'Reilly Factor]] |date=September 14, 2005 |access-date=June 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022055436/http://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/rm/2005/53155.htm |archive-date=October 22, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Black commentators have defended Rice, including [[Mike Espy]],<ref>{{cite news |via=[[Mmegi]] |url=http://www.mmegi.bw/2005/October/Tuesday25/825547845951.html |archive-date=March 3, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303100627/http://www.mmegi.bw/2005/October/Tuesday25/825547845951.html |title=Mrs President |date=October 25, 2005 |access-date=August 16, 2018 }}</ref> [[Andrew Young]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=CNN.com - Transcripts |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ip/date/2005-01-25/segment/01 |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=transcripts.cnn.com}}</ref> [[C. Delores Tucker]] (chair of the National Congress of Black Women),<ref name=":0" /> [[Clarence Page]],<ref>{{cite news |first = Clarence |last = Page |url = http://jewishworldreview.com/0106/page011006.php3 |title = Why Condi's star is rising |website = Chicago Tribune |date = January 10, 2006 |access-date = July 29, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060506181555/http://jewishworldreview.com/0106/page011006.php3 |archive-date = May 6, 2006 |url-status = live }}</ref> [[Colbert King]],<ref name = "King, WashingtonPost2006">{{cite news |first = Colbert |last = King |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27818-2005Jan21.html |title = Why the Crass Remarks About Rice? |newspaper = The Washington Post |page = A17 |date = January 22, 2005 |access-date = August 29, 2006 |archive-date = August 23, 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200823023046/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27818-2005Jan21.html |url-status = live }}</ref> [[Dorothy Height]] (chair and president emerita of the [[National Council of Negro Women]])<ref name = "King, WashingtonPost2006"/> and [[Kweisi Mfume]] (Congressman and former CEO of the [[NAACP]]).<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/auntjemima1121 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625034918/http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/auntjemima1121 |archive-date=June 25, 2008 |title=NAACP: Calling Rice 'Aunt Jemima' is wrong |date=November 22, 2004 |access-date=August 17, 2018 }}</ref>