The US Senate voted this week to officially apologize for sabotaging anti-lynching legislation for nearly 100 years. Mississippi was home to some of the worst incidents. unfortunately our senators couldn't even bother to show up, let alone vote the right way. Out of 100 Senators only 15 decided not to actually sign on as co-authors of the resolution. If you were wondering, they were all Republican. In case it doesn't get printed, what follows is my open letter to the Clarion Ledger:
The US Senate passed a resolution this week that would officially apologize for their refusing to pass anti-lynching legislation to protect our citizens from mob violence. It is with great shame that I see our US Senators avoid even showing up for the vote. Thad Cochran's claim (in this paper) that HE wasn't personally responsible for the votes and thus shouldn't be part of the apology rings both sour and hollow note. Our senators would do well to remember that this state's Senators worked hard to derail such legislation. We always lead the nation in lynching deaths and always worked to strip away any protection against mob violence. This fact is not on the rest of the nation. This refusal to act brings us BACK into that same, ill light. Senators, you reprent present day Mississippi in Washington--not yourself or the racists of the past. Sometime the children must take responsibility for the acts of their fathers. The two of you could not be bothered, it seems.
2 comments:
Good letter, jp! I hope it sees print. It's like Lott and Cochran were antsy that the Killen trial was actually going to make it look like MS had made some progress in the last 100 years--can't have that! Let's implicitly support lynching! That'll play great at the Neshoba County Fair!
Gah!
LA isn't that much more enlightened, in general, but at least we've got Mary Landrieu! Woo-hoo!
yup and it is important to note that Mary Landrieu is one of the 2 senators that originally came up with the idea!
it is doubly crappy that they did that crap on the opening day of the trial as well. the thing is this. it's sleazy because there's no need for the pander. there's not gonna be some uprising here that'd unseat them over this. if you are pandering to people when there's no political use to it...well, is it pandering? Thad is the one that disappoints me bc he's not that sorta guy...at least not like Lott. I can believe anything that moron pulls.
the running joke in MS politics is that we have 2 senators from Mississippi. One is a Statesman and One is a Son of a Bitch.
Thad is usually our statesman. Lott took over the James O. Eastland roll (if not the seat).
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