Robert C. Byrd

barc0debaby - 6-29-2010 at 10:41 AM

Thank God this clown died. For those that don't know he was a senator from West Virginia who a high ranking member in the KKK before becoming a politician. He was the oldest living member of the senate, a title he took from segregationist Strom Thurmond.

Quote:

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 1944

Johnny_Whistle - 6-29-2010 at 11:14 AM

He also said:

"Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan. Don't get that albatross around your neck. Once you've made that mistake, you inhibit your operations in the political arena." In his latest autobiography, Byrd explained that he was a member because he "was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision—a jejune and immature outlook—seeing only what I wanted to see because I thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions."

And then he said this in 2005:

"I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times ... and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened."

Just sayin', there's a little more to it.

barc0debaby - 6-29-2010 at 12:19 PM

Strom Thurmond also voted to extended the Voters Rights Act in the 70's. If the social structure of our country had not shifted, I doubt either men would have apologized.

Quote:

Once you've made that mistake, you inhibit your operations in the political arena.

I think that part of the statement speaks volumes, it wasn't a matter of right or wrong, but maintaining power. If the Civil Rights Act had not been passed would he have regretted filibustering and voting against it? It was not until 2005 that he openly spoke on intolerance, after 40 years of questionably racist decisions.

random - 6-29-2010 at 03:35 PM

I really, REALLY hate it when anything political comes up on this board. It tends to ruin the nice vibe we have going on here. And I always feel a need to respond.

I'm not going to defend Byrd's membership in the Klan for one second, but it definitely needs some context. But is anyone genuinely surprised that white guy was racist in the US in 1944? America in 1944 was dominated by racist views and racism was codified into law far too many times to count.

Also, you should keep in mind that the Klan largely ran politics in many places for a long time, and you needed the backing of the Klan if you had any hopes of holding elected office in those places. Again, not saying it was a good thing, but it was the reality of the time.

Byrd actually distanced himself from the Klan by the early 1950s. His voting record on civil rights was mixed. He voted for some early civil rights legislation, but he did vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (well, actually, he filibustered for 14 hours), claiming it was an encroachment on states' rights. Funny enough, Rand Paul ran into trouble recently for taking the same position based on his strict libertarian ideology.

To add a bit more context to the race-politics mess, it's good to remember George "Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" Wallace. I could describe the situation, but Wikipedia does a better job:

Quote:

He was defeated by John Patterson in Alabama's Democratic gubernatorial primary election in 1958, which at the time was the decisive election, the general election still almost always being a mere formality. This was a political crossroads for Wallace. Patterson ran with the support of the Ku Klux Klan, an organization Wallace had spoken against, while Wallace was endorsed by the NAACP. After the election, aide Seymore Trammell recalled Wallace saying, "Seymore, you know why I lost that governor's race?... I was outseged (segregated) by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outseged again." In the wake of his defeat, Wallace adopted hard-line segregationism, and used this stand to court the white vote in the next gubernatorial election. When a supporter asked why he started using racist messages, Wallace replied, "You know, I tried to talk about good roads and good schools and all these things that have been part of my career, and nobody listened. And then I began talking about niggers, and they stomped the floor."

I remember reading or seeing a video where Bob Miles (a leading figure in the American racist movements from the 60s up until his death in the early 90s) talked about working for Wallace. Basically, he said Wallace lost the election because Patterson had the support of the local Klan. So... Miles and Wallace's other people went out and started a new Klan group to compete in local politics.

The point with the Wallace example is that it has been very easy in the past - given Americans' attitudes towards race - for politicians to essentially be forced into adopting positions on race (pro- or anti-racist) that they don't necessarily agree with if they hope to get elected.

And just to throw in that controversial statement at the end... in 1944, I suspect the only groups that generally supported desegregation were blacks, the Communist Party (or whatever form it took at the time), and the various socialist parties that constantly split from each other. The communists and socialists (the political parties in the US and their platforms... not necessarily the USSR) really were on the right side of history when it came to a lot of political positions, especially race, gender, and workers' rights.

Just for the hell of it, I'll throw in some more stuff on Byrd and the Klan from Wikipedia, though it's all been reported elsewhere for a long time...

Quote:

Byrd joined the Ku Klux Klan when he was 24 in 1942. His local chapter unanimously elected him the top officer of their unit. According to Byrd, a Klan official told him, "You have a talent for leadership, Bob ... The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation." Byrd later recalled, "suddenly lights flashed in my mind! Someone important had recognized my abilities! I was only 23 or 24 years old, and the thought of a political career had never really hit me. But strike me that night, it did." Byrd held the titles Kleagle (recruiter) and Exalted Cyclops. In 1944, Byrd wrote to segregationist Mississippi senator Theodore Bilbo:

“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

In 1946 or 1947 he wrote a letter to a Grand Wizard stating, "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia and in every state in the nation." However, when running for the United States House of Representatives in 1952, he announced "After about a year, I became disinterested, quit paying my dues, and dropped my membership in the organization. During the nine years that have followed, I have never been interested in the Klan." He said he had joined the Klan because he felt it offered excitement and was anti-communist. In 1997, he told an interviewer he would encourage young people to become involved in politics, but to "Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan. Don't get that albatross around your neck. Once you've made that mistake, you inhibit your operations in the political arena." In his latest autobiography, Byrd explained that he was a member because he "was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision—a jejune and immature outlook—seeing only what I wanted to see because I thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions." Byrd also said, in 2005,

“I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times ... and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened. ”
— Robert C. Byrd

Johnny_Whistle - 6-29-2010 at 03:35 PM

I don't know what he would have done, I only know what he did. I don't go for strawman arguments. He fillibustered in '64 and '65, and voted in favor of the '68 bill. He now says he regrets his earlier actions.