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By Mike Cuenca | December 27, 2002
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Trent Lott's accidental truthfulness should be no surprise to anyone.
He and Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, the Bush family and many other
anti-civil rights politicos have patiently and determinedly worked for
more than 40 years to undo the accomplishments of the '60s civil rights
movement. Trent Lott is not an anomaly. Bill Frist is not unlike Lott.
Sam Brownback is not unlike Lott. Most of the congressional Republicans
are not unlike Lott. The modern GOP is dominated largely by politicians
who fled the Democratic Party when Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. Ever since, the GOP has been the party of elitism,
division and exclusion, fighting fervently against social programs and
civil rights laws.
For at least 14 of the past 22 years, those people have controlled the
appointment of judges to the federal courts and appointments of
chairmen of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (one of whom
was named Clarence Thomas.) During that time, they have guaranteed that
civil rights laws would have little effect or impact. They have made
sure that the nation's employers would be protected from the legal
consequences of their ongoing racist employment practices. They all
fall back on an indignant cry of "victimization" by those who would rob
them of their entitlements by making an issue of nothing (race).
Sorry,
Mr. Simons. The explosive issue that you referred to on Dec. 21 as the
"race card" is not a passing irritant. It's a burden perpetuated by the
denial of those in power.
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Originally published by the Lawrence Journal-World.
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