The Mississippi Governor and the White Citizens’ Councils.
Former GOP head couldn't remember what Martin Luther King had to say.
Haley Barbour was at one time the head of the Republican Party. Now he’s the governor of Mississippi.
He’s catching some hell these days.
The NY Times reports:
In a profile published Monday in The Weekly Standard, Mr. Barbour also talked about the White Citizens’ Councils of the late 1960s, which opposed racial integration. Mr. Barbour, a teenager and young adult during the 1960s, said that in his town, they were a positive force, praising them as “an organization of town leaders” who refused to tolerate the racist attitudes of the Ku Klux Klan.
Yep. That’s the thing about groups called the “White Citizens’ Council.” They generally refuse to tolerate racism. That’s pretty much why they have the “White” in their name.
The Times continues:
Mr. Barbour had little to say in the interview with The Weekly Standard about the broader struggle for civil rights that played out during those years. In the article he recalled once seeing The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in his town, but said he did not remember what Dr. King had said.
I’m not sure it would have helped Barbour. But maybe he should have listened to King a little more and should have tried to remember at least some of what he said. The guy is 62, the same age as me. What the hell was he doing in Mississippi in 1964 that you didn’t have time for Martin Luther King? Hmmm.
The White Citizens’ Councils in fact were nothing more than the Klan without sheets. If the former head of the GOP thinks otherwise, maybe he has a good reason. Maybe there’s a membership card somewhere.
The French have a saying I heard as a child from my family. It clearly describes the verbal delusions and out right prevarications — especially when it comes to matters of race,
a level playing field, and diversity — attributed to too many public figures including the current governor of Mississippi, Trent Lott, and the Orange County Republican politician who in mid-April 2011 mailed her constituents a photo of a family of monkeys with President Obama’s picture superimposed on the child’s head. The French saying is:
The more things change the more they stay the same.
I am first generation born in the North, a native Californian and Los Angelean. The remaining 6 generations of my family were born and reared in the South — Louisianna, and identified as a Black sub-group, Creoles. The terrorism and violence — physical and verbal — that accompanied the racism and segregation that were inescapable and palpable — since my family began — remain profound and transformative features of our social and cultural history. Forged through pain and fire — formed great strength and equal limitations.
People who have little if any exposure to the enrichment and education of a life of diversity such as mine can often be swayed into accepting and do not think beyond statements such as Haley Barbour’s remarks regarding his view of the role and function of the White Citizen’s Councils during the 1960′s. I intuitively sense the attempted deception in such remarks and am quickly reminded of another lesson from my youth: People will always tell you who and what they are if you only listen to them.
I might add to your remarks that Gov. Barbour had no clue what it meant to live the real life of Black folks then and today. If he were an effective political office holder he would know he is limited in this area by dent of his being white and would have so taylored his remarks. Further, he would have gone some where and learned something over the last 40 years.
It is apparent he had no discernment then to open his mind and heart to the greatness of
Dr. King — nor does he consider it important today when our country is fast on the march to
even greater heterogeneity. And, this man is someone his party would even dare consider as a potential leader of the free world? Wasn’t George W. Bush’s insular elitism enough for all time for these people?
Thank you for explaining the facts as you did in this blog. I too came of age as the events of the 1960′s unfolded. Many of my peers were fascinated by that era. I unfortunately was a serious child with an old soul, and I was utterly racked with fear — fears so deep and hidden it has taken these last 40 years to transform them into courage. That is a waste of human productivity. And, finally, that wasted time and effort speaks to me of the motivation of Rev. Billy Graham’s comments on the run up to 2000 — he was asked what he believed to be the most pressing issue America faced at the turn of the century. His answer was race. I believe it remains so today as Americans persist in a national inability to transform issues of color and ethnicity into gratitude for and inclusion of diversity toward the betterment of us all.
Color refers as much to skin and eye color and texture of hair, as it refers to the color and amount of wealth an individual possesses. We have come a ways as a nation, but we had a long way to go and there remains much work yet to be accomplished.