wow, bring up a dead person who was in the Klan in the 40s, left the group in 1952, and tirelessly supported civil rights throughout his senate career.
http://www.snopes.com/clinton-byrd-photo-klan/
Biased snopes, just as bad as politi fact!
Yesterday, the media was pushing hagiographic narratives about the redemptive story of Robert Byrd’s past on race relations. The moral of the story is that you can always make up for being a racist son-of-a-bitch. But the real subtext of the story is: being a Democrat means that you can promote segregation, join the KKK, vote against both black Supreme Court nominees, and use the word “black” on national television — and still be remembered as a promoter of black interests.
Robert Byrd’s KKK membership is dismissed by his worshipers as youthful indiscretion. It wasn’t. It was the beginning of a long and sordid history filled with hatred and bias.
Highlights of Robert Byrd’s history of race relations include:
– 1942: Joins the KKK; eventually rises to the rank of “Exalted Cyclops.”
– 1945: Writes “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.”
– 1947: Says in a letter that the Klan is needed “like never before” and declares that he is “anxious to see its rebirth.”
– 1964: Attempts to filibuster the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It wasn’t out of principled libertarian support for property rights. Cites a racist study claiming that black people’s brains are statistically smaller than white people’s.
– 1967: Votes against Thurgood Marshall’s Supreme Court nomination. Went to J. Edgar Hoover to see if Marshall had any Communist ties that could ruin his nomination.
– 1968: Tells the FBI that it’s time that Martin Luther King, Jr., “met his Waterloo.” FBI ignores him.
– 1991: Votes Against Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court nomination. Becomes the only senator in the body to have voted against both black Supreme Court nominees.
– 2001: Refers to what he called “white blacks” on national television. Try to imagine, say, Haley Barbour being given a pass after calling someone a “white black.”
Take a look at those DNC emails that were just released! Very sad!
