One less former member of the KKK in washington.... In 1944, Byrd wrote to segregationist Mississippi senator Theodore Bilbo:[12] “ I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side... Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds. ” — Robert C. Byrd, in a letter to Sen. Theodore Bilbo (D-MS), 1944, [8][13] In fact, it was a KKK meeting that sparked the future senator to politics! How the hell did this guy keep getting elected? lol
Your "blunt honesty" seems a bit outdated. What you posted here was written in 1944. Sen. Byrd's ideologies and political positions changed over the decades along with the Democratic party and the nation. You need to ask yourself this question: Should an old man be judged by the words of his youth? Should a man's every mistake be written into his obituary? .
He spent the last 64 years regretting those harsh cruel words, and through positive action was forgiven a hundred times over again by the Black Leadership Forum, the NAACP, and the Urban League Hotwater
my point being that he was sparked to politics by the KKK - however long ago it may have been, that was the motivating moment behind his political aspirations. He may have spent years trying to overcome his mistakes, but it remains that this senator found his niche thru hatred. And yes, when you tie yourself to a hate group like the KKK, it doesnt go away - EVER. Sen Byrd admitted the very fact himself. So before you crawl me for using an old quote, keep in mind how it may be a truth to apply to today. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
I see you have come to grips with the fact that racism in government is at least partially acceptable, as long as they toe the party line. Some mistakes can be forgotten, washed away, but even senator Bryd talked about how those decisions never leave you, and that he would always have to answer for them. tell me, before he died, were you aware of his ties to the KKK? I wasnt, which is why I posted. I find it incredible that in the 21st century we have legislators who were active in hate groups over sixty years ago.
Byrd was still using the phrase white ****** in this decade. Let's not forget his views on same sex marriage when the defense of marriage act first came up Filibustered the civil rights act, and it took death to finally make him be not a horrible racist:
Under your icon it says you're from "the heart of Dixie,"which would be Alabama, but your profile says you're from Texas; you also leave off the year in your birthday. This makes it difficult to know which culture you grew up in. This is important because if you didn't grow up in the real South in the 40s and 50s you have no idea what it was like. My parents moved to Augusta, Ga. from N. Kentucky and Ohio in the early 50s and that's where I grew up. Although I'm Cherokee, I grew up in the white culture of the deep south. Neither of my parents had a racist bone in their body, but everyone around me did. A picture of my cousin and I can likely be found in the archives of the local newspaper, front row center, in a march to protest school integration. On several occasions I watched my friends throw rocks at the black kids as they rode their bicycles past our "white neighborhood." Although I didn't participate in this, I said nothing. My best friend's father was a leader in the KKK. While growing up I never went to school with a black person, never socialized with anyone but whites and was indoctrinated by the culture, like everyone else. That's the way it was in the 50s and early 60s. Culture shapes young minds, for good and bad. In my case, I went in the Navy after high school and moved to Cleveland Ohio after my discharge. Both experiences taught me that the culture of my youth was wrong. I found it easy to move on from those racist values because my parents had been a good counter-balance to those attitudes. I certainly haven't forgotten history, but my attitudes have changed, like those of so many millions of others who grew up in the same culture as I did. I don't want to be remembered for the actions of the boy I was in the 50s and 60s, I would rather be remembered for teaching 3 children that a man is to be judged by the "content of his character," and skin color is an indicator of nothing. I would like to be remembered for the man I became as an adult when I did stand up and say something. Sen. Byrd changed with the times and should be remembered for those changes, changes that many others found too uncomfortable to make. It's easy to adopt the attitudes of the culture, but, for most, it's difficult to change those attitudes. Maybe Sen. Byrd should be remembered as a man who overcame many of the shortcomings of his youth. No, it's not acceptable, but it was a reality. That reality has changed dramatically and so have many people, including our leaders. Yes I was, and he was only one of many. As you state, that was over 60 years ago. In that 60 years an entire nation of people have changed their values on race. Sen. Byrd's values changed as the nation's values changed, and I see that as a good thing. The term has a meaning for people of his age and background that you likely would not understand, although I wouldn't use it myself. A poor choice of words to be sure, but not necessarily racist. Did you miss his "yes" vote on the MLK memorial? .
Byrd's main saving grace is that since the 1980's he actually had tried hard to make amends for his terrible actions of the past, but he still spent 1/2 his time in congress being a racist, homophobic douche.
I guess it all comes down to whether you want to celebrate the progress of the second half of his life, and that of the nation, or continue to dig up the bones of the past. As to the homophobia, he shared that with the entire Republican party and many Democrats. That's an issue we are still working through. .
It seems you have gone to alot of trouble to make him less of a bigot and more of a hypocrite. Where I am from or how I was raised doesnt enter into it. He learned his trade by being in the Klan. If bygones were bygones they wouldn't still hunt nazi's and continue to prosecute hate crimes like the Birmingham Church Bombing. You somehow made it thru all that (the Old South, the 1960s, etc) but still didnt learn to give people younger than yourself the benefit of the doubt, accusing me of not knowing what it was like simply because I wasnt there when Jackie joined the Dodgers. Its just that kind of thought process that keeps former KKK leaders in Washington on both sides of the aisle.
No trouble at all, but you missed my point. I can read, study or watch documentaries till the cows come home about the culture in which you grew up, but I will never have the intimate understanding of it that you do. The observer can never understand an event as it is experienced by the participant. This has nothing to do with age or "benefit of the doubt." You choose to focus on one aspect of Sen. Byrd's life and see only hate. I choose to look at his entire life and I see the ability for a person to change. It appears that he repented for the indiscretions of his youth, was forgiven by the black leadership and that's good enough for me. I don't think it serves any purpose to beat dead horses, or Byrds. .
What I didnt miss is that you were admonishing me for speaking up about a national politician who had his roots in the KKK, while you yourself admit to silence in the face of prejudice. You chose inaction, but regret it - thats your hangup. Dont pin it on me when I post because I was amazed that a person like Byrd was able to con votes out of those who are afraid to speak up. Some of us learned from the mistakes of the past, even without being there.
Sorry your feelings got hurt; I was only expressing my opinion in much the same as you were. I'll be sure not to post a view counter to yours in the future. I would suggest, though, that if you can't take criticism, you might want to stay away from controversial topics. After all, this is a discussion board, isn't it? And, you still missed the point. .
To be fair I guess my opinion of senator Byrd is skewed by my age of birth and generation, considering he came of age back in the 1930's in West Virginia. Personally I think there should be an age limit on the senate/house(maybe this is one thing the Catholic church got right, cardinals can't vote in papal elections past 70 or 75), when you're in your 90's and can barely speak anymore(I saw a video of Byrd in the senate from earlier in the year and it's kind of sad to say the least) it gets to the point where your being able to relate with the the good deal of the population is becoming more strained, at least normally. Take Ted Stevens, more than 10 years Byrd's junior who thought the internet was a series of tubes. But that argument is for a different thread.
Maybe I can make my point a bit clearer. The Civil Rights movement was a success. We've come from separate neighborhoods and throwing rocks to an almost fully integrated society. This is something to celebrate. Certainly, some of us came along kicking and screaming, but most of us have made it; and, not to criticize anyone, when a die-hard racist has changed his views, the future looks a little brighter for solutions to other social problems. Or another way: If you grew up with good attitudes toward people who are different from yourself, you had to make no changes in your life; but, people like Sen. Byrd had to make enormous adjustments to their personal world views of people and culture. In my very humble opinion, I think this deserves some recognition. .
Even when I was a child in the 50s I often heard phrases like "****** lover" and your a "traitor to your race." Businessmen who hired blacks were boycotted and put out of business. Women who even talked to black men were shunned as "dirty disease carrying whores." The culture demanded segregation and accepted nothing less. At 23, can you really understand a time when you would have been beaten and shunned from your culture for having a black friend? To this day there is still the occasional body of a WHITE civil rights activist pulled from a lake or river in the South. And, don't think for a second that this was only the Klan doing this. Sure, you can understand this history, but can you feel the fear of having your home burned to the ground for having a black person over for dinner. Can you feel the anxiety of a woman who lives in fear of being seen talking to a black man. Can you feel the fear of a child being beaten by his own friends for giving a glass of water to a thirsty black kid. Then there was the overriding fear that the entire culture, and even humanity itself, would be destroyed if blacks were allowed to "mix" with whites. God himself, in the Biblical story of Ham, even demands segregation. These are the cultural influences that had to be overcome to get where we are today. So, the fact that a U.S. Senator evolved from this to the point of voting to erect a memorial to MLK is a fascinating evolution to have witnessed. To you, this is history, to me, it was part of my life experience. .
i understand your point, i just dont think i agree with it. Anyone can approve of a memorial to martin after hes dead, and no politician with any hopes of staying in that line of work would vote against it. Real strength would be to have spoken up and been more active before martin was murdered. I applaud sen Byrd for knowing that his association with the Klan would be something that he would always have to answer for, and not dodging it. There are plenty of politicians who DONT have "grand cyclops of the KKK" on their resume, so I guess he deserves respect for overcoming that to be such a long tenured legislator? No, I just dont get that part..... were you were one of those folks who supported George Wallace when he said he wasnt racist anymore? From schoolhouse standoff to affirmative action, politicians will say anything to get elected and Wallace is a prime example. This same concept applies to Strom Thurmond - I dont know how these old timers keep getting elected after all the stupid things they have supported in public, even as platforms. also, this has been a very pleasant venture into the politics forum for me, I appreciate getting a nice convo on the topic, everyone has interesting points
