What would America be like today -- to quote Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the next Republican majority leader and one of the most powerful political figures in the U.S. -- if "the rest of the country had followed our lead" in voting for segregationist presidential candidate Strom Thurmond in 1948?
This question, of course, is prompted by Lott's comments at the 100th birthday party for retiring Sen. Thurmond (R-S.C.) on Dec. 6. Lott's home state backed Thurmond in his third-party run against President Harry Truman and, according to the Republican senate leader, "we're proud of it." Why? Because "we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years" had segregationists reigned in the White House. Lott didn't specify what "problems" he was referring to, but the inference was clearly to the degree of racial equality that exists in the U.S. today.
Under criticism, Lott initially admitted he had selected "a poor choice of words" and apologized if anyone was offended. At the time, leading Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle said he accepted his counterpart's explanation, and leading House Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi did not issue a public comment -- but as Lott's remarks drew increasing fire, led by the Congressional Black Caucus, they both joined in. The White House also equivocated at first, with press secretary Ari Fleischer indicating that President Bush retains "confidence in him as the Republican leader, unquestionably," but by Dec. 12 the president had little choice but to declare that "Any suggestion that the segregated past was acceptable or positive is offensive and it is wrong." Lott, however, still retains his leadership post.
During the 1948 presidential campaign, Truman was under pressure from Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace to take steps to end the apartheid-like Jim Crow segregation that existed in the U.S. since the Reconstruction period after the Civil War. Fearing Wallace would attract liberal and left votes, Truman made the issue of civil rights an election plank. In the months leading up to the election he introduced the Fair Employment Practices Act and took measures to desegregate the armed forces. At the Democratic convention that year, the racist delegates from Alabama and Mississippi marched out behind a Confederate flag. The Dixicrats, as they were termed, held their own States' Rights Party convention and nominated Thurmond -- the governor of South Carolina at the time -- as president. He ran a hate-filled racist campaign scorning the "social intermingling of the races" and adopting the slogan, "Segregation Forever." The racist party won four Deep South states, gathering 39 electoral votes.
Regardless of his denials, Lott obviously still regrets that the American people rejected Thurmond's segregationist program. Well, suppose Thurmond had won -- how would the U.S. look today? Everything would be separate and unequal. This is not to say racism and inequality have been ended in our country, but there has been considerable progress, thanks to the struggles of the civil rights movement and its left allies, which forced the political system to legislate the end of formal segregation.
Had Thurmond's and Lott's ideas been accepted, the Civil Rights Act (1964), the Voting Rights Act (1965) and the Fair Housing Act (1968) would not have become the law. The schools would still be segregated. Employment would be segregated. Everything would be segregated -- and in all probability a monumental liberation struggle would (or at least should) have broken out by now. This is the world one of the most powerfully positioned political figures in America looks back upon with nostalgia and longing. His big mistake was in saying out loud what some other powerful politicians only think to themselves.
As a senator, Thurmond upheld the segregationist banner as long as possible, casting one racist vote after another to prevent black Americans from obtaining basic rights, including the longest individual filibuster in history. But when this notorious reactionary finally retired a couple of weeks ago, one (white) politician after another praised his record. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), characterized him as "a great man" who has done "great things" in his life. And it was no less a prestigious Democrat than Sen. Joseph Lieberman -- the party's vice-presidential candidate in 2000 and a contender for the top nomination in 2004 -- who said of one of the Senate's leading racists of all time, "He's a man of iron with a heart of gold."
Lott is fighting hard to retain his leadership position, even -- according to some sources -- privately threatening to resign from the Senate in retaliation should the White House engineer his removal. If he resigned it is likely the governor of Mississippi would name a Democrat to finish his term, a move that would reduce the GOP's 51-49 majority to a 50-50 split. The chances are Lott may well weather the storm. The ever-more-pius-than-thou Lieberman counseled his friend to "speak from your moral center," which Lott promptly sought to do when he publicly begged forgiveness from the American people Dec. 13, adding opportunistically that "segregation and racism are immoral."
Lott's voting record during his 16 years in the House and 14 in the Senate (including as Majority leader 1996-2001, a post he is to resume next month) is heavily weighted against legislation benefiting African-Americans, according to a survey by the New York Times Dec. 14. "Lott has voted consistently against measures that could be identified as civil rights legislation, and often was one of a small number of lawmakers to vote that way," the newspaper revealed. The NAACP has repeatedly ranked Lott at or near the bottom of its annual "People's Report Card" analysis of voting records. This is hardly surprising for a politician who until relatively recently was close to the racist Council of Conservative Citizens.
Civil rights activist Julian Bond, now a distinguished history professor and NAACP board chairman for the last four years, captured the moment of Thurmond's retirement and the praise heaped upon him by his political peers with crystal clarity: "Thurmond has spent his life trying to maintain the status quo of 100 years ago. He is a relic of America's shameful past who had long overstayed his welcome; And shame to his colleagues who confuse simple longevity with an illustrious legacy. Good riddance."