The American Spectator : Of Senators and Segregation

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Of Senators and Segregation

By Aaron Goldstein on 6.30.10 @ 6:08AM

Robert Byrd, Strom Thurmond, and the usual double standards.

Shortly after I had learned of the passing of Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia I came across his obituary in the New York Times. The headline read:

Robert Byrd, Respected Voice of the Senate, Dies at 92

It is worth noting that Byrd died almost seven years to the day when Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina passed away. Naturally, I was curious as to what the headline in the New York Times read when he left this mortal coil:

Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100

It is also worth noting that both obituaries were written by Adam Clymer. Now in fairness to Mr. Clymer, it was very likely not he who chose those headlines. But the fact that Byrd and Thurmond were described so very differently in death strongly reflects the liberal bias of the Times. Had Thurmond remained a Democrat, would the Times have summed him up as a foe of integration?

Now there is no dispute that Thurmond was a foe of integration. Indeed, Thurmond once spoke on the floor of the Senate for more than 24 hours in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957 late in August of that year. Among many other things, Thurmond railed against Brown v. Board of Education; the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision which desegregated public schools. Thurmond described Brown as "the outstanding judicial blunder of all time." Understandably, this would deservedly earn Thurmond the enmity of African Americans.

Yet Robert Byrd could equally be described as a foe of integration. During the early 1940s, Byrd was not only a member of the Ku Klux Klan he recruited others to join their cause. Say what you will about Thurmond, but he never joined the Klan. In 1938, when Thurmond served in the South Carolina State Senate, he spoke out against lynching and said that the Klan stood for "the most abominable type of lawlessness."

Byrd would later oppose President Truman's integration of the Armed Forces. He made it clear he would not fight for his country "with a Negro by my side." But there was more:

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.

Although it was the integration of the Armed Forces that would in part prompt Thurmond to run against Truman in the 1948 Presidential election, he was never known to have uttered the vicious kind of language Byrd used to describe African Americans.

Seven years after Thurmond's filibuster, Byrd stood up and spoke on the Senate floor for fourteen straight hours against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Now Byrd might not have gone on the whole day like Thurmond did, but it was a filibuster against civil rights just the same.

Yet black civil rights leaders have been remarkably forgiving of Byrd. Upon learning of Byrd's death, Coston Davis, the President of the NAACP Branch in Charleston, said, "I realize that people make mistakes when they're young.… I think we've all done things we've regretted… these are one of the things I know he regretted."

Just like the time when Byrd twice uttered the phrase "white niggers" when he was a young man of 83 in a 2001 interview with the late Tony Snow on the Fox News Channel. He would, of course, later regret the remark and all was forgiven.

So why isn't the same forgiveness extended to Thurmond? He did hire an African American staffer named Tom Moss (the first Southern Senator to do so), supported the renewal of the Voting Rights Act and voted in favor of honoring the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. However, this would never be sufficient for liberal media elites. Following his 99th birthday, John Ibbitson of the Globe & Mail wrote of Thurmond, "Like a Nazi who changes into a suit, he began hiring blacks in his office, and supporting their causes."

The argument is that Robert Byrd repeatedly apologized for his involvement with the Klan and for his 1964 filibuster. Apparently, Thurmond's unpardonable sin was not having formally apologized for his past. Liberals like Timothy Noah of Slate can dismiss Thurmond's later outreach to African Americans as "shrewd accommodations" if they please. But what if Thurmond had made a formal apology? Would Noah, Ibbitson, or any other liberal have accepted it any more than they would have accepted his vote to establish Martin Luther King, Jr. Day? And here I thought actions spoke louder than words.

Yet when we come to the end of our lives we will be judged both by our words and deeds. Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond could both accurately be described as having been foes of integration. Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond, as the two longest serving members of the U.S. Senate, could also both accurately be described as having been respected voices of that body. Therefore, at the end of the day, Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond should be remembered for both bad and good.

About the Author

Aaron Goldstein writes from Boston, Massachusetts.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (33) | Leave a comment

Jerry| 6.30.10 @ 6:49AM

"I realize that people make mistakes when they're young.…" As a 40-year-old, it's good to know that I still have 6+ years to make such youthful mistakes as Byrd's '64 filibuster...or maybe that'd just be allowed if I carried a (D) after my name.

Lee| 6.30.10 @ 6:56AM

If you carry a (D) after your name, you can (and will) be forgiven almost anything. If you carry a (R) after your name, you're guilty until proven innocent, and even then you're still guilty.

txn4ever| 6.30.10 @ 3:12PM

Remember it's the seriousness of the charge that counts and not the facts.

Shamus| 6.30.10 @ 8:05AM

Being a leftist means never having to say you're sorry.

Gregory| 6.30.10 @ 9:09AM

Having a (D) after your name clears you from ever having to be consistent, truthful, or loyal to the US Constitution.

Obama could be shoveling babies into tree-chippers and those with (D) after their names would still be singing his praises and voting for him. With a (D) after your name you can do anything.

DaveS| 6.30.10 @ 5:54PM

Bingo. But Byrd proved he was useful to certain factions and therefore could be counted upon for present and future favors - which he obviously granted.

Alan Brooks| 6.30.10 @ 9:11PM

I met KKK guys in Carolina in the '60s, though they weren't as tough as Deep South ones, Chapel Hill wasn't like Mississippi. They used the 'n' word on a daily, hourly basis (today you can write the 'f' word, but you can't write the 'n' word. If I wrote the f word right now in this comment, the post would not be removed, but 'n'? the post would be removed quicker than you can say "sheets Byrd").
So the question might be asked: did Byrd ever admit that in his youth he used the 'n' word hundreds of times?
thousands perhaps?

Alan Brooks| 6.30.10 @ 9:16PM

I mean, saying "white nigger" once or twice is nothing-- and to some it would be a compliment!

Alan Brooks| 6.30.10 @ 9:20PM

PS
You see? you can preface the 'n' word with 'white' and get away with it;
but without 'white' it is impermissible.

Oh, the perverse joys of PC!

Bob K.| 6.30.10 @ 7:49AM

Byrd joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1942 when he was 24 years old. Why he never joined the Military in the fight against Fascism has never been explored.

He also has a son-in-law named Mohammad Fatemi. This has never been mentioned either.

ncatty| 6.30.10 @ 11:03AM

According to Byrd's obituary, he spent WW2 working as a welder building cargo ships in Baltimore and Tampa. Perfectly respectable - if true.

Northern Rebel| 6.30.10 @ 7:56AM

Robert Byrd's quote about seeing old glory's flag trampled, is all you need to know about this despicable human being.

He never loved this country, or it's Constitution. He was an expert on Senate rules, because that's all he cared about:

Senatorial power, and how he could wield it for his own benefit.

This Bigoted, nose in the air liberal did nothing in his life to make the world or our country a better place, and the sun shines brighter, and the flowers smell sweeter, without his breath sullying it.

As I said yesterday, my deepest condolences to his family, who had to endure 92 years of his condescending arrogance. I also said there is no truth to the rumor that his home state will be renamed West Byrdginia.

I have just provided the perfect eulogy for him.

May Pat Leahy, Jay Rockefeller, and the rest of these ancient evil politicians destroying the United States of America, follow the leadership of their esteemed colleague, and vanish from this planet as quickly as possible, so that the sun will shine even brighter!

DaveS| 6.30.10 @ 5:56PM

The citizens of Massachusetts (I was born there) have some empathy for you; still, they've got you beat (Teddy.)

Bill C| 6.30.10 @ 7:57AM

What's getting overlooked as well is that Byrd was also the leader of the Democratic party as Senate Majority/Minority Leader for 12 years in the 80's well after his filibustering Civil Rights. Can you imagine Reagan having such a history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.....ship_roles

Not sure if that was before or after the "apology" but they sure didn't apply anything remotely close to that standard with Trent Lott.

Melvin| 6.30.10 @ 8:28AM

People, this is why we need term limits. Elections are no longer like they were many years ago. Today voting districts, election rules have been so badly mangled by both parties that outcomes of whom is going to win is pretty much assured.
Also these two politicians at their age had no business being sitting politicians.
Like it or not being 90 plus years old cannot think with clear mind, and represent your constituency with any clarity or energy.

Qwilly| 6.30.10 @ 10:22AM

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen.

Brian Mc| 6.30.10 @ 10:26AM

Senator Byrd: the perfect example for why the 17th Amendment should be abolished.

Hespid| 6.30.10 @ 10:47AM

As there are (Ijust learned) some 50 structures in
West Virginia named for Robert Byrd or his wife,it is hardto think of a proper memorial. I suggest a Ku Klux Klan parade down Pennsylvania Avenue for Auld Lang Syne.

Gr0w1er| 6.30.10 @ 10:52AM

Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond... The poster children for term limit legislation.

Louis Jenkins| 6.30.10 @ 10:57AM

I never heard a joke about Bryd. I heard plenty about Thurmond, none very flattering. All I can say is may Bryd rest in peace. Thurmond's jokes lives on.

ncatty| 6.30.10 @ 10:58AM

Thurmond has Byrd beaten by a mile on the race relations issue. After all, he fathered a child by an African American woman! Could Byrd boast of the same? What a pair.

astorian| 6.30.10 @ 11:12AM

It isn't just Byrd, either.

The Senate has never had a more unrepentant racist than J. William Fulbright. But when Fulbright died, Bill Clinton euologized him and the newspapers sang his praises.

As long as you're reliably liberal on the other issues, racism can be overlooked.

steve p.| 6.30.10 @ 11:25AM

So true. This goes back almost a century. Few history books mention that Woodrow Wilson loved the movie "Birth of a Nation" and reversed Teddy Roosevelt's decision to integrate the civil service.

steve p.| 6.30.10 @ 11:25AM

So true. This goes back almost a century. Few history books mention that Woodrow Wilson loved the movie "Birth of a Nation" and reversed Teddy Roosevelt's decision to integrate the civil service.

Seek| 6.30.10 @ 11:16AM

The late Sen. Byrd's membership in the Klan implies no criminal acts of any sort on his part. The Klan has functioned as a shadow government and has practiced spontaneous coercion (i.e., crime), but individual members still must be proven guilty by acts, not by associations.

In any event, why are we conservatives so obsessed about fighting "racism," so long as it can be pinned on liberals? The irony is that we ratify the Left's worldview without knowing it.

Robert Byrd, R.I.P.

dcd| 6.30.10 @ 12:06PM

Thurmond loved blacks. He loved them in a very real, physical and reproductive way.

Steveo| 6.30.10 @ 2:39PM

Thanks. Got a good laugh out of that one.

David| 6.30.10 @ 1:07PM

Thurmond also hired blacks to staff his office - in fact, he had a black Chief-of-Staff to run his affairs. Can't recall the man's name, but he regularly appears as a commentator on the cable shows.

I don't believe Byrd ever hired any blacks, and I did hear him use the word "nigger" in recent years, but not in a derogatory way against blacks. I did hear Byrd say several times in an interview that he repented of his racism when he became a "born-again" Christian. The Lord our God can sure do a job fixing-up us sinners.

Big Elk| 6.30.10 @ 2:23PM

KKK Byrd was a dirty little racist-fascist-slave master democRAT; just like the rest of them. Dear God, I praay that Robert Byrd's soul burns in hell for all eternity, Amen.

David | 6.30.10 @ 2:43PM

Well, Big Elk, if we take Byrd at his word, the Word of God is clear, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins", and will remember them no more.

Now, Byrd may have to answer for a lot of things he supported as a politician, but the fact that he was once a racist is certainly not one of them.

P. Aaron| 7.1.10 @ 6:10AM

Apologies are easy for tday's lazy reporters to link to. To report 'actions' that display a GENUINE change of heart requires that lazy reporters get off their dead asses and do the field work. Y'know? That stuff in their job description.