As a student at Colorado College in 1988, Liz Cheney penned an op-ed for the campus newspaper in which she outlined her opposition to divesting from South Africa.
In the piece, unearthed on Tuesday by Mother Jones, the GOP Senate hopeful in Wyoming also argued that “nobody’s listening” to the Colorado College Community Against Apartheid. At the time, the group was lobbying the school to adopt a policy of divestment, wherein the college would not invest in companies with business interests in South Africa.
Although she called the South African government “racist” and acknowledged that it “oppressed South African blacks,” Cheney wrote that she divestment would be a futile effort.
“Reactionaries make statements. Conscientious and thoughtful people take action because they know moral statements will never change the world,” she wrote.
TPM has reached out to Cheney’s campaign office several times over the last two days to get comment on the apartheid era in South Africa, as well as the passing of Nelson Mandela. Cheney did not post a reaction to Mandela’s passing on her campaign website, Facebook page or Twitter account. The requests for comment have thus far gone unanswered.
Mother Jones isn’t the first to expose the Cheney family’s awkward history with Mandela. The Huffington Post noted last week that former Vice President Dick Cheney stood by his 1986 vote as a member of Congress against a measure to impose tough sanctions on the South African regime and release Mandela from prison.
