Jesse Helms’ myths. The party was right before it was wrong.
Facing South says the collective reaction to Jesse Helms’ death speaks volumes about the state of race relations and social progress in our country. They set the record straight in three myths about Jesse Helms (and what they say about us):
To say Sen. Helms held deep prejudices against many — especially African-Americans and gays and lesbians — isn’t a matter of opinion; it’s all part of the historical record. As Gary Robertson of the Associated Press reported, Helms — unlike other hold-overs from the segregationist era — never changed his views in opposing civil rights. Up until his last Senate campaign, stirring up racial division — along with homophobia and anti-communism — was a centerpiece of Helms’ political M.O.
As the quintessentially-establishment columnist David Broder noted upon Helms’ retirement in 2001, the senator who up into the 1990s was giggling at the word “nigger” and saying that “homosexuals are weak, morally sick wretches” was “the last prominent unabashed white racist politician in this country.”
They go on to point out that Helms was neither the “straight talker” nor the “unique iconoclast” he was made out to be.
It is a deep irony that many of the political leaders and media commentators who praise Jesse Helms’ “honesty” so readily trade in myths, rather than facts, in remembering his political legacy. In a year when many are wondering whether an African-American man can win the presidency, we clearly need more, not less, honesty in confronting the state of race and social progress in our country.
Meanwhile we’ve got “a long-time, regular, sensible caller” to The Michelangelo Signorile Show claiming in all seriousness that the late senator was a cross-dresser. And I can tell you from personal experience that I’ve witnessed stranger truths in my day.
But for those in need of documentary evidence, Martin Lewis has gathered quite a bit of it. Not about cross dressing, but about the odious bigotry and prejudice that made him unworthy of the accolades he received — some of it as recently as this week when Liddy Dole proposed naming an AIDS bill after him. (That earned her #3 in Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Person In The World” countdown.)
RELATED: Crooks & Liars on Dems, Republicans, and the ‘party of civil rights’ – read through to understand the final line, “Ultimately, this isn’t much of a campaign pitch: ‘Vote Republican: The Party Was Right Before It Was Wrong.’”
2 Responses to “Jesse Helms’ myths. The party was right before it was wrong.”
It has beeen brought home to me with a bang over the course of this election how much we're NOT over our problem with race and other prejudices.
There is no denying the progress that has been made: a black man is the presumptive nominee for one of the two mjaor political parties. Some blacks do well as Republicans; they no longer see the Democratic Party as the only choice.
Simultaneously, however, there is an insistence, in some quarters, that the shortfalls never be mentioned or the past never be seen for what it was. When Jesse Helmes was eulogized, there were many references to his 'alleged” racism and prejudice against gays. That was so bizarre because Helmes himself never hid behind 'alleged'.
It's not right to judge people of a previous time or generation for not having insights ahead of their time. Neither is it right to expect that nothing good can be said about someone who has/had objectionable traits. The problem can be easily solved by not talking about he negatives when you want to bring up the positives. But 'alleged'? That's a deception.
I saw an article a few days ago about 'gay supremcy'. The same fear that elicits allegations that blacks are trying to 'take over', elicits accusations that gays are trying to destroy the lives of straights.
We're looking at the same screen, but we're not seeing the same movie.
And that's disturbing. Very disturbing.
There are still way too many in both parties who will only vote for a white Christian male. We have not overcome our issues on sex, race or religion–and it is a disgrace. Until we do, we are not truly a democracy.