Former KKK Member Honored by Sen Dems

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2004
Former KKK Member Honored by Sen Dems
6
Thu, 04-08-2004 - 1:26pm
This has outraged people of color from both parties. Here is a column from Armstrong Williams. I have also heard Juan Williams voice the same outrage. Of course I agree.

Sen. Byrd

Armstrong Williams

Thursday, April 8, 2004

Sen. Robert Byrd, the long standing Democrat from West Virginia, cast his 17,000th vote in the chamber last week. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., saw fit to mark the occasion with a rousing tribute, where he proclaimed, "There is no one I admire more, there is no one to whom I listen more closely and carefully when he speaks on any subject matter. . . ." than Sen. Byrd.

For obvious reasons, Dodd neglected to mention that Byrd is a former Grand Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan. Nor did Dodd dwell on the fact that Byrd voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or that Byrd broadcast his racial insensitivity by using the N-word during a 2001 appearance on Fox News.

Instead, Dodd simply praised the former Klansman from West Virginia as a gifted legislator and a stout defender of the constitution.

This seems at least somewhat puzzling considering that when Senator Trent Lott remarked that the country would have been better off if former segregationist Strom Thurmond had won his 1948 bid for presidency, the Democrats demanded his ouster. And rightly so.

Lott's racially insensitive remarks were indicative of his upbringing in "a time and a place" that regarded blacks as inherently inferior. Lott's remarks suggested that he just didn't get it, that he had no ability to truly empathize with what it means to be a minority in this country. The democrats understood this. Flanked by the Congressional Black Caucus, they pumped their fists at Lott and demanded that he vacate his post.

Yet they say nothing when one of their own praises a former Klansman. They haven't even asked Dodd to issue an apology. This is an outrage. Some things should not be explained away, like Byrd's affiliation with an organization that has a long history of hanging blacks from trees.

And yet, there is Dodd, on the Senate floor, demanding that Sen. Byrd "would have been a great senator at any moment. He would have been right at the founding of this country. He would have been in the leadership crafting this Constitution. He would have been right during the great conflict of civil war in this nation. .... "

Really? A former Klansman would have been great during the Civil War? Great for whom? I'm not aware of many Klansmen who fought to free the slaves, or to uphold the union, or to protect those basic rights we associate with happiness.


Had a Republican praised a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, the Democrats would have been up in arms. But when one of their own makes racially insensitive remarks, they squinch their eyes. Some things should not be ignored. Some things should not be subject to the whims of partisan politics. When our elected leaders spew racist remarks, they need to be held accountable-regardless of their political affiliation.


It would be nice if the party that demanded Sen. Lott's ouster for praising a former segregationist could be equally outraged when one of their own praises a former Klansman. But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the Democrats to end their double standard on race.


www.armstrongwilliams.com

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/4/8/93953.shtml

Avatar for goofyfoot
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 04-08-2004 - 1:31pm
<>

That's it in a nutshell.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 04-08-2004 - 2:50pm
>> But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the Democrats to end their double standard on race. >>

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for many of the Democrats to end their double standard on ANYTHING.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-25-2003
Thu, 04-08-2004 - 3:15pm


<>

Hey! Cut that out! We were the first ones to bring it to the media's attention and call for his resignation!

Let's just sit back and see how well sanctimonius Democrats are at policing the own.

Renee

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2004
Sat, 04-10-2004 - 5:36am
I am outraged that a former member of the KKK is even IN the senate! Much less a former Grand Kleagle of the KKK who USED THE N WORD ON NATIONAL TV JUST LAST YEAR is allowed to stay. This is intollerable. This proves how sincere the Democrats are about civil rights.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Sat, 04-10-2004 - 8:29am
Where is the outrage from the mainstream media? IMO they are too busy trying to pin the blame of 9/11 on the Bush administration and totally ignored this. Although, I somewhat doubt that they would have made it a big deal anyway, since it was a democrat who did it.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2004
Sat, 04-17-2004 - 11:37am
Did anybody see Hannity and Colmes the other night when they had Armstrong Williams, Eleanor Clift, Sean Hannity, and Alan Colmes discussing this issue??? I was furious. The three white people agreed that this was no big deal and that we should just get over it. They wouldn't even let Armstrong Williams talk - talking over him, etc.

Hannity and Colmes both agreed that this was not important but that congress needed to be consistant and they shouldn't have been mad a LOTT either! Clift said that Lott deserved to be scorned, but not Dodd. Armstrong Williams said that he profoundly disagreed with them and they all started talking at once trying to drown out his points. It was disgraceful.

This is how I feel about it. I'm outraged. Dodd apologized the other day by saying that he wasn't thinking about the fact that Byrd had been in the KKK or that he voted against the civil rights movement. SORRY MR. DODD, THAT DOESN'T HELP!!! Anybody, I repeat ANYBODY who truly cares about civil rights cannot FORGET that Robert Byrd was in the leadership of the KKK. Every time I look at him I can't help but think about it. It's the first thing that comes to mind. For Mr. Dodd to have been ABLE to forget about it shows how uncaring and insincere he is about the rights of people of color.

I'm sorry, but I have a hard time just "getting over it". It's funny how this issue is no big deal to those who's families didn't have to fear BEING LYNCHED by Mr. Byrd in the past. This is a disgrace.