Politics
Race and Trent Lott
My comments about Senator
Trent Lott (R-MS)
and his plight over his
comments about Strom
Thurmond (R-SC)
brought hundreds of
e-mail comments. Half of
those contacting me
criticized me for
attacking Trent Lott.
The other half said that
I should not have
defended him. Many
conservative blacks who
receive these updates
expressed outrage.
Actually I neither
defended nor criticized
Lott on his comment
about Thurmond. My
commentary last week
went beyond the race
issue to explain why
conservative leaders in
Washington were not
defending Lott because
of other problems with
his leadership.
Let me continue this week by saying
that the problems caused
by Senator Trent
Lott’s comment at the
100th birthday party of
Senator Thurmond are not
going to go away because
a great social divide in
our nation’s politics
was exposed. The nation
is more divided along
social issues than in
any other way. The race
issue, the abortion
issue and religious
issues are the real core
problems for Americans
before economic or even
defense issues.
Let me address the race issue first.
Like most whites in
America I do not think
in terms of race. I
never think about being
white. I do not vote
based on race. I vote
for the social
conservative candidates
regardless of race or
gender. I am the
chairman of a political
action committee called Government
Is Not God. (because
I believe government is
not God and should not
try to be God). In the
last election cycle my PAC
backed eleven candidates
for the House. Of
those eleven, three were
black, one was Hispanic,
and one was Jewish. Five
of the eleven ,or almost
50% of the social
conservative candidates
I gave money to, were
minority candidates who
believe in the same
values I believe in.
When Trent Lott first made his comment
that Thurmond would have
made a good President
back in 1948 I did not
even think of it in
racial terms. In 1948 I
was two years old and
Trent Lott was seven
years old. I only knew
Strom Thurmond as a
Republican who stood for
a strong defense and a
balanced budget. The
Strom Thurmond I knew
had a multiracial staff
that included blacks. I
never knew or even read
about the Strom Thurmond
who was a racist
Democrat who would have
barred blacks from
colleges and even
restaurants back in
1948. During the time I
was growing up Thurmond
changed as did many in
the South, both black
and white.
That is my view, the white view. On
the other hand according
to polls most blacks
think in terms of race
in virtually everything
political. It is
generally accepted that
80% of blacks vote
primarily on the issue
of race. In the
Thursday, December 19th
edition of the Wall
Street Journal, John
Harwood and Shailagh
Murray wrote, "Race
is the social issue
burned most deeply in
the American psyche, as
the beleaguered Mr. Lott
can testify. And the
partisan divides over
race are the
accumulation of decades
of political posturing
and legislative votes by
both parties - with many
leading Democrats
consistently advancing
causes embraced by
blacks, and many leading
Republicans opposing
them."
The Wall Street Journal front page
story went on to say
that what began as a
minor gaffe by Lott
could well
"...undercut George
W. Bush’s agenda only
weeks after the
Republicans’ mid-term
election triumph."
The Journal pointed out
that in the last
presidential election,
while Bush received only
54% of the white vote,
Gore received 90% of the
black vote. Again a
clear indicator that
whites do not vote along
racial lines, while most
blacks do.
Which brings us back to Senator Lott.
I think he may be toast.
The White House is
reaching out to blacks
with strong Republican
social issues such as
the faith-based
initiative and school
vouchers to get kids out
of failed inner-city
schools. Trent Lott’s
perceived racial
comments will cause
millions of blacks to
forget the issues on
which the President
hopes to reach them as
long as Lott remains as
Majority Leader. Trent
claims he has the
support of the
President; I seriously
doubt that.
We will find out where Lott stands on
January 6th when the
Senate Republican caucus
will hold the American
equivalent of a "no
confidence" vote.
He needs only 26 votes
in the caucus to keep
his post as Majority
Leader and he may have
that many close friends
in the Senate. On the
other hand virtually
every Republican Senator
now knows that if Lott
does keep his high
office the Republican
agenda of the next two
years could well be
tainted by his presence.
A final note on the Senate ... many
black leaders have
stated that a
"racist" such
as Trent Lott should not
be number four in line
for the Presidency in
time of war. Actually,
as Majority Leader, Lott
is not in line for the
Presidency should there
be a disaster that would
cause the death of the
President, the
vice-president and the
Speaker of the House.
The President pro-tem of
the Senate is fourth in
line. Who is that? It is
Senator Byrd of West
Virginia, the only
member of the Senate who
was actually a member of
the Ku Klux Klan. (Just
prior to the actual
e-mail release of this
update Senator Lott
announced that he would
not seek to be reelected
as Majority Leader. He
also stated he would
serve out the remaining
four years of his Senate
term.)
William
J Murray, Chairman
Religious
Freedom Coalition
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