'Diversity czar' takes heat over remarks

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By Amanda Carpenter

"There's nothing more difficult than this because we have really truly, good, white people in important positions, and the fact of the matter is that there are a limited number of those positions," he said.

"And unless we are conscious of the need to have more people of color, gays, other people in those positions, we will not change the problem. But we're in a position where you have to say who is going to step down so someone else can have power."

He added: "There are few things, I think, more frightening in the American mind than dark-skinned black men. Here I am."

Andrew Breitbart published the audio of the conference on his Breitbart.com Web site on Monday. Mr. Breitbart said the recording was made during a conference on media reform and racial justice in May 2005.

Other bloggers are questioning Mr. Lloyd's commitment to free speech based on a line in his 2006 book, "Prologue to a Farce: Communication and Democracy in America."

"At the very least, blind references to freedom of speech or the press serve as a distraction from the critical examination of other communications policies," Mr. Lloyd wrote. "The purpose of free speech is warped to protect global corporations and block rules that would promote democratic governance."

The FCC was asked about the passage, but a spokesman was unable to provide an explanation late Tuesday.

Rep. Greg Walden, Oregon Republican, asked FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski about Mr. Lloyd during a hearing last week.

"There are comments - video comments about Hugo Chavez," Mr. Walden said. "I mean, there's some pretty outrageous things being said, having been written in the past. And that troubles me that somebody that's that opinionated, to the extreme element that he is - from my perspective, is not going to bring balance to that diversity position that you've created."

Mr. Genachowski said Mr. Walden's worries were misplaced. "Mark Lloyd is not working on these issues," Mr. Genachowski said. "He's not working on Fairness Doctrine issues. He's not working on censorship issues. He's ... working on opportunity issues, primarily now on broadband adoption, focusing on making sure that broadband is available to all Americans."