Jim's Mailings

14 Senators owe an apology

** 14 senators owe nation an apology ** Thursday, June 16, 2005 Sam Fulwood III *Plain Dealer Columnist* Better late than never, the Senate apologized Monday for its disgraceful history of doing nothing to stop the lynching of black Americans. The Senate resolution expresses "the deepest sympathies and most solemn regrets of the Senate to the descendants of victims of lynching, the ancestors of whom were deprived of life, human dignity and the constitutional protections accorded all citizens . . . ." Who can argue with that? Well, 14 conservative Republicans did. The Foolish Fourteen are Lamar Alexander of Tennessee; Robert Bennett and Orrin Hatch of Utah; Thad Cochran and Trent Lott of Mississippi; John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas; Michael Enzi and Craig Thomas of Wyoming; Chuck Grassley of Iowa; Judd Gregg and John Sununu of New Hampshire; Jon Kyl of Arizona; and Richard Shelby of Alabama. Though they didn't explain their failure to sign on, their cowardly inaction shouted resistance and opposition. They preferred to look the other way, just as their forebears did while black Americans were being lynched with impunity. Sen. Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, and Sen. George Allen, Republican of Virginia, pleaded personally with their colleagues to support the resolution. They hoped for 100 signatures. But the legislation arrived on the floor with just 80. The resolution was never in danger of failing. It passed under "unanimous consent," a procedure that doesn't require all of the senators to be present or to vote. After the resolution passed, other members quietly added their names to the list of co-sponsors. One of them was Ohio Sen. "Clueless George" Voinovich. Marcie Ridgway, Voinovich's press secretary, said the senator supported the legislation. But she struggled to explain why the senator wasn't among the original co-sponsors. First, she said, Voinovich didn't know about the anti-lynching legislation, even though it was on the docket for weeks. Then she said he was never asked to co-sign it, a fact contradicted by resolution supporters, who said they visited Senate offices to make the request. Finally, Ridgway said Voinovich wanted to vote during roll call, but wasn't allowed to do so. No, he wasn't, because Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist refused repeated requests to allow it to come up on the floor. Frist, Republican of Tennessee, was covering for GOP senators who didn't want their names attached to a vote on the only apology the Senate has ever offered to black Americans. The resolution makes clear what they were apologizing for: At least 4,742 people - most of them black men - were reported lynched in this country between 1882 and 1968. Nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced into Congress over the past century, but only three passed, and then only in the House of Representatives. Seven presidents, from Benjamin Harrison in 1890 to Harry Truman in 1952, petitioned Congress to outlaw lynching. In the past, the Senate looked away at every turn. On Monday, the Foolish Fourteen clung to that racist legacy. Mark Planning, chief counsel for The Committee For A Formal Apology, an organization that lobbied for the Senate resolution, said the senators knew exactly what they were doing by refusing to sign the resolution. "This was an absolute no-brainer," said Planning. "It was an act of active resistance for any senator not to be a part of this." To reach this Plain Dealer columnist: sfulwood@plaind.com, 216-999-5250 © 2005 The Plain Dealer © 2005 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved. <<<<<<
Sam gave you a heavy load there, and I don't see how anyone who grew up on the Civil Rights Struggle, or watched "To Kill a Mockingbird" can help but sympathize with the victims of these terrible tragedies. But you can see the 14 not as perpetrators, but as idealogues. If your grandpappy had been a Southern Lawmaker or even one of the Rebels, you would have a right to hold up family honor. Which brings us back to Terrorism of the Union Armies during the Civil War, and some of the atrocities they committed, in the name of rooting out the Rebs (read insurgents). In the past, American ladies organized the DAR to help mend the torn fabric of the nation, by pointing out that your ancestor, like mine, was a member of the Army of the Revolution, and should have your respect, no matter which side your people were on, during the 'late' war. I don't believe any of the 14 are 'racists' anymore than I am, but as an earlier article on these pages showed, you have to be 'politically correct' to avoid being branded as one, perceptions matter, ask Trent Lott. I do think he might have gone along with the other Republicans to mend fences, after all he was once their Leader when Clinton was President. Read the article above over again to see if makes more sense. I give George Voinovich credit, but then he didn't have a Grandpappy who was a Reb.

posted by James E. Opfell @ 7:09 PM