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State Leaders Speak out in
Support of Lott
By CARL HULSE
Sen. Strom Thurmond, seated, with Sen.
Trent Lott, left at the White House.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, The comments of
Senator Trent Lott (R-MS), praising fellow
Senator Strom Thurmond, were the topic
of discussion at the 54
th
annual American
States Leadership Conference meeting held
in Washington, D.C. this weekend. Many of
the participants voiced concern that Lott’s
critics were rushing too quickly to find
racial meaning in what was said.
Lott came under fire last week after
remarking at Thurmond's 100th birthday
party that Lott’s home state of Mississippi
was "proud" to have backed Thurmond's
presidential bid -- "and if the rest of the
country had followed our lead, we wouldn't
have had all these problems over all these
years, either."
Some have interpreted these remarks as
an endorsement of the segregationist
messages of Thurmond’s 1948 campaign.
Thurmond’s Dixiecrat Party’s platform
declared in part: "We stand for the
segregation of the races and the racial
integrity of each race." He carried
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and his
home state of South Carolina, of which he
was governor at the time.
Thurmond eventually distanced himself
from this segregationist position, and went
on to the longest career in Senate history.
Now a Republican representing South
Carolina, he is retiring from the Senate
when his term ends in January.
While Lott’s comments have prompted
some calls for his resignation, many of the
leaders gathered in Washington this
weekend argued that the comments were
taken out of context.
Frank Wright, an assistant district attorney
from Richmond, Virginia said that Senator
Lott’s comments were simply a
“lighthearted celebration of the 100th
birthday of legendary Senator Strom
Thurmond and not an endorsement of
Senator Thurmond’s positions of over 50
years ago, but of the man and his life.”
A.J. Jefferson, a Congressman from
Alabama also defended Lott's statements
and said that he was most off put by
accusations that Lott’s comments were
“somehow racist.”
"There are a lot of times when he and I go
to the mike and would like to say things we
meant to say differently, and I'm sure this
is one of those cases for him as well.
Senator Lott is a good man and although
he may have misspoke to label him a racist
is wrong," Jefferson said.
Although Lott has since apologized for his
comments, he has not indicated any
intention to step down from his senate
seat.
Convention