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louis c

(8,652 posts)
Sun Aug 28, 2016, 09:09 AM Aug 2016

NAACP Explains Robert Byrd's Transformation [View all]

A sickening response from many bigots is that "Hillary is a bigot, too". Donald Trump and many other racists like him, point to Hillary Clinton's embrace of Robert Byrd, who once was an organizer for the KKK. I like to point out that Byrd renounced that allegiance 40 years before his death and voted in the Senate as a progressive on race issues. he apologized "a thousand times, and will continue to apologize" for his involvement in that organization. He rejected, apologized and spent a life time atoning. That position is what Hillary and the Democratic Party embraced, certainly not his misspent youth in that hateful group. I like to use Pope Benedict as an example. Benedict was a Nazi soldier in 1945. that certainly didn't define him. When people change and spend their lives contrary to the cause that one got involved 80 years before their death, in Byrd's case, we take them at their word and judge them by their actions.

Here's what the NAACP says on the subject:


<snip>“Senator Byrd reflects the transformative power of this nation,” NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous was quoted at the time of his death in June 2010. “Senator Byrd went from being an active member of the KKK to being a stalwart supporter of the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and many other pieces of seminal legislation that advanced the civil rights and liberties of our country.”

Senator Robert Byrd, by all accounts, had shifted away from the group after becoming “disinterested” in 1952 and had completely rejected the Ku Klux Klan by the time of his death, on several occasions, as reported by Snopes.

“I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times… and I don’t mind apologizing over and over again. I can’t erase what happened.”<snip>

Link:
http://www.inquisitr.com/3458749/naacp-robert-byrd-clinton-kkk-mentor-reflects-the-transformative-power-of-this-nation/

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Isn't Redemption a big part safeinOhio Aug 2016 #1
Playing it up for the rubes is important...kind of. graegoyle Aug 2016 #3
Rightwingers and many republicans fear the idea that people can change. forgotmylogin Aug 2016 #17
EXCELLENT reply. nolabear Aug 2016 #22
Byrd should be slammed for what was real. Not this imaginary "support for the Klan." Archae Aug 2016 #2
Love matters; keeping my third eye open read profile GummyBearsRYummy Oct 2020 #25
Byrd is ok in my book. 90-percent Aug 2016 #4
I loved Senator Byrd; he babylonsister Aug 2016 #5
Man, who's chopping onions? lillypaddle Aug 2016 #6
I know, me, too. nt babylonsister Aug 2016 #8
thanks for this. mopinko Aug 2016 #11
"I weep for my country" Martin Eden Aug 2016 #18
Amen, Babsis. He achieved greatness. Hekate Aug 2016 #19
I don't think tRump has ever apologized ... for anything. . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Aug 2016 #7
Trump has never apologized for stirring up fear and racial animus in 1989 ... napkinz Aug 2016 #9
The GOP is tRump and they are filth SHRED Aug 2016 #10
Isn't it strange? gratuitous Aug 2016 #12
Get a pass from who? loyalsister Aug 2016 #24
Although it's almost impossible to do, Byrd all but made up for his racism early in his life... George II Aug 2016 #13
"Misspent youth"? He was 24 when he joined the Klan and recruited 150 people into it. Nye Bevan Aug 2016 #14
Is 27 too old to turn one's life around? Unit 001 Aug 2016 #15
No. But I wouldn't describe a 27-year old as being a "youth". (nt) Nye Bevan Aug 2016 #16
Byrd redeemed himself, long before he was middle aged. He was still young. Hekate Aug 2016 #20
I'm 63 Years old. 24 and 27 is youth louis c Aug 2016 #21
He did redeem himself on race dsc Aug 2016 #23
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