Last Monday on June 28, 2010, Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) passed away. He was 92 years old. He had served a very long career in politics dating back to the 1940's in West Virginia state politics. Robert Byrd ran for his first House of Representatives seat in 1952. In 1958 he ran for the U.S. Senate for the first time and won that race. He won every successive race since until his death last Monday. Robert Byrd at one time was racist towards blacks. He even was a member and a recruiter of the Ku Klux Klan in his 20's and 30's. He was very involved in that racist organization at one point. Even when he supposedly lost interest in that organization, he made a statement back in 1946 that the "Klan was needed now more than ever." In 1958 when he ran for his first Senate seat he defended the Klan. Even after Byrd stopped participating in the Klan's activities he still was racist in his beliefs. He supported segregation at one point. In 1964 he was one of the Senators that led a filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He also voted against both of the black Supreme Court justices appointed to the Supreme Court (Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas). A few years after he led a filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Act he had a change of heart and admitted he was wrong in his attitudes towards blacks. He admitted he was wrong to have ever been involved with the Ku Klux Klan and that racism was wrong. He said he would apologize a thousand times for it. He repented of it.
I don't hold anything against former Senator Byrd because he admitted he was wrong and apologized for it. The Bible says that if a person asks for forgiveness we should forgive them. That's not where the problem lies. What bothers me is that in the case with Robert Byrd the news media will downplay his involvement with the KKK and say that's all in the past but if somebody calls themselves a conservative or a Christian and they oppose President Obama because they don't agree with his agenda then they're labeled a racist, for example. That's hypocrisy. How can you prove that because a person is opposed to President Obama's policies that means he/she's racist. You can't. However, if a conservative or a Republican says something against a minority or supports Arizona's new immigration law, then it means they're racist. Any statement that's made that could possibly give the slightest hint of racism, the media will jump on that bandwagon. Why the double standard? Robert Byrd was a Democrat and liberal on several policy issues. The Left wing controls the Democrat Party. It's unfathomable. Many civil rights leaders, politicians, and news outlets will use race baiting as a technique to push for some agenda or to marginalize their opponents when it comes to promoting an agenda. Politics is crooked. The Left has used race baiting on a number of occasions to promote their agenda.
I have two examples I want to use concerning the media's hypocrisy on racism. The first example took place on December 5, 2002 at the 100th birthday of retiring Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC). Strom Thurmond was once a segregationist and racist himself. He eventually repented from racism a few years after the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed. He ran as a third party candidate in the 1948 presidential election as a Dixiecrat. He was originally a Democrat at that point but he believed in segregation. At Thurmond's birthday party, then Senator Majority Leader Trent Lott had a lighthearted moment and said that Mississippi (state Lott represented) voted for Thurmond in 1948 and said if Thurmond had been elected America wouldn't have been a lot different. There was all kinds of media outcry against Lott over his comment. As a result of all the attacks Lott received, he was pressured to give us his status as Majority Leader and eventually did that. The media was trying to paint him as racist because of that statement. I agree that he should've stated his words differently, but to try to make him an overt racist because of that statement is stretching it. For your information, I'm no Lott fan and I'm glad he eventually resigned from the Senate. However, the media wants to blow the statement Lott made out of proportion but ignore somebody like Byrd who once was a recruiter for the Klan. If Lott was a recruiter for the Klan, he would have been crucified. However, he wasn't a part of the Left wing so he was fair game for criticism.
The second incident I would like to point out is last Fall when President Obama was giving a speech before Congress about his healthcare bill that he was trying to push. In the midst of Obama's speech South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson shouted "You lie!" As true of a statement as that probably was Wilson was wrong in yelling that while Obama was addressing Congress. I didn't approve of Wilson's shouting that while Obama was speaking. What was disturbing was a statement that former president Jimmy Carter said concerning Wilson's outburst. He stated that Wilson's statement was indicative of the belief of some in America that a black man shouldn't be president. In other words, Carter was stating that Wilson was racist. How can you squeeze racism out of Wilson's outburst? You can't. It's just a means of marginalizing those you disagree with. President Obama and Congress had an agenda to pass healthcare legislation and many critics decided to marginalize Wilson by saying that he was indicative of some in America that a black man shouldn't be president. This is hypocrisy. The media will overlook politicians who are progressive that once were blatantly and obviously racist at one point but use race baiting against anyone that opposes the Progressive agenda. I stated last year that if the media or a politician is going to make the charge of racism, they must provide ample evidence of why they think those they oppose is racist. This double standard is appalling.
I was listening to Glenn Beck on Fox News and he was mentioning the headlines of the New York Times at the deaths of both Strom Thurmond in 2003 and Robert Byrd a couple of weeks ago. The first headline read, "Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100." The second headline seven years later read this for Byrd, "Robert C. Byrd, A Pillar of the Senate, Dies at 92." The truth is both Senators were once racist and both eventually denounced racism towards blacks. However, Thurmond wasn't a Democrat nor Progressive. Therefore, they didn't mind stating on its headline that he was once a foe of integration. However, Byrd supported many liberal or Progressive ideas. That's why they didn't mention in the headlines that he was once a recruiter for the Ku Klux Klan. When it comes to politics, there's no such thing as fair play. It's a battle. There are two sides fighting for power. Each side will utilize whatever means necessary to marginalize their foe to gain an advantage. That's why race baiting is used frequently. However, racism is racism. If it's wrong for a conservative to be racist, it's wrong for a Progressive to be racist. An ace is an ace and a spade is a spade. The media's portrayal of racism on both sides of the aisle is an example of their hypocrisy.
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