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State Leaders Condemn
Lott’s Comments
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
comments amounted to an endorsement of
racial segregation.
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 some have argued that Lott’s
comments were taken out of context,
many of the leaders gathered in
Washington this weekend have called for
Lott’s resignation.
Frank Wright, an assistant district attorney
from Richmond, Virginia said that Senator
Lott’s comments were a "callous,
calculated, endorsement of racial
segregation that has no place in the halls
of Congress."
A.J. Jefferson, a Congressman from
Alabama also criticized Lott's statements,
saying Lott's remarks were "divisive" and
fit the "definition of a racist comment."
"To say that the problems that we have in
America today stem from not electing a
segregationist candidate for president ... is
fundamentally racist," Jefferson said.
Although Lott has since apologized for his
comments, he has not indicated any
intention to step down from his senate
seat.
Convention