The present day image of Senator Robert Byrd as the born again Christian, kindly old grandfather shedding tears for his friend Ted Kennedy is not the image that comes to my mind when remembering him at his passing today. For much of my life, Senator Robert Byrd was a segregationist who stood along side the likes Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, Trent Lott, Tom DeLay and George Wallace, to name a few.
He is said to have repented his racist feelings, apologizing over and over. Well, apology accepted. However while all may be forgiven, It will never be forgotten.
Robert Byrd in his own words:
“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.” -Klansman and not yet Congressman Byrd-quote taken from letter written to another segregationist Congressman about Truman attempting to desegregate the armed forces..
“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.” -1947 letter to the Grand Wizard KKK
Byrd claims to have renounced the Klan in 1952 when he became a Congressman, however his racist views continued well in the 1960's when he helped filibuster the 1964 Civil Rights Act arguing that the Declaration of Independence..
“did not intend that these words should be taken literally to be true” when they wrote that “all men are created equal.” “Men and races of men differ in appearance, ways, physical power, mental capacity, creativity, and vision,” Byrd said. “One man is born blind. Another is born lame. Geniuses are not made; they are born. Between two individuals, as between two races, there are broad differences.”
Byrd went after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, attempting to cajole the FBI into a more aggressive investigation of the civil rights leader. The FBI declined..
As late as 2001 Byrd was caught up in trying to express his feelings, when he was interviewed by the late Tony Snow and asked about race relations in America....Byrd said:
"They're much, much better than they've ever been in my lifetime ... I think we talk about race too much. I think those problems are largely behind us ... I just think we talk so much about it that we help to create somewhat of an illusion. I think we try to have good will. My old mom told me, 'Robert, you can't go to heaven if you hate anybody.' We practice that. There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time. I'm going to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I'd just as soon quit talking about it so much."
Rest in Peace, Senator
When i was a Freshman, i was telling a seminary student how much i loved MLK's letters from prison. He waved his hand and dismissively said, "He was an adulterer."
ReplyDeleteI don't think we should forgive people like Byrd for obstructing justice; however, i still think it's a mistake to dismiss someone's entire life because of a fault, no matter how huge or small. People are complicated; they do good things along with evil things. People are not good OR evil-- people are both.
I don't doubt that Mr Byrd was a racist, perhaps until his death. But he also voted against the Iraq War, when no other senator did. Most important to me, he set up a scholarship that paid for my entire undergraduate studies (my family was poor enough to not be able to afford to pay for college otherwise).
Here is another quote about his stance on racism that seems pretty pertinent:
"It's a lesson to the young people of today, that once a major mistake has been made in one's life, it will always be there, and it will be in my obituary."
Hi,
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I like this post.
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Interesting post - I linked here from Field Negro.
ReplyDeleteByrd is ....um, not easy, is he? I appreciate that he was one of the few that stood up to Bush. Appreciate that he brought his tired, creaky, old butt to the senate floor to vote on the health care bill.
But I will always feel queasy thinking that this man was part of an organization whose major purpose was to terrorize people that looked like me.
Oh - and good luck getting the Cincinnati municipal government to listen to you about the neighborhood. In Atlanta, GA, when tearing down low-income homes (projects), they essentially handed out section 8 vouchers that effectively moved everybody to Clayton & DeKalb Counties. Clayton shortly thereafter killed it's public transportation system.
Yay!!! Poverty is fun.
My post on Washington Park was like spitting into the wind. The approved the proposal as written.
ReplyDelete