From the statewide paper in Mississippi today
comes this proposal for proud Lynch Mob member Thad Cochran:
If Sen. Cochran is so opposed to apologizing for what the Senate did not do when given the chance, I'd like to offer up a suggestion.
Turns out that even though now 87 senators have signed on to the Senate's apology for not passing anti-lynching legislation, the legislation itself has still, to this very day, never been passed. There is no existent federal legislation outlawing the practice of lynching.
While it may be 50 years since Emmett Till was dragged from his cousin's house and brutally murdered by an angry mob in Money, Miss., it's been less than eight since James Byrd was lynched in Jasper, Texas.
Rather than apologizing for what "someone else did or didn't do," which we know he finds so distasteful, maybe Sen. Cochran should see to it that the Senate does indeed -- finally -- do the right thing and actually pass some federal anti-lynching legislation.
It's a good column all in all.....though the original had many more, and much sharper, teeth.
If I do say so myself. The full text of the column is posted at my archive site, but I'm glad the Clarion Ledger had the courage to print it at all, despite cuts made to the content.
If you're interested, the full text is available here. A few of the omissions:
The Senator seems to be implying he's standing by some sort of principle by not signing on to this measure. If the typical Washington script is followed, he will probably soon be spouting the standard Republican talking points of "personal responsibility" being the important thing, always trumping some misplaced "collective guilt."
Which I found particular relevant, since not only have those phrases been thrown around ad infinitum by the GOP, two days
after the column had been written and delivered, there was
this Letter to the Editor in the Clarion Ledger:
Though you claim to believe in equal justice under law and the Constitution, these clearly do not apply, in your view, to "defenders of the Southern way of life" who fought outside revolutionaries "fire with fire" in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, in a second War of Northern Aggression, these barbarians invaded the South, warring to overthrow and destroy European, Christian civilization in America.
You believe in "collective guilt" and want every loyal white in Mississippi to publicly recant and apologize for believing in racial segregation and white rule.
Decent people of all races reject this blatant, endless, deeply offensive propaganda and rather than converting people to your warped views it is having just the opposite effect --at least on people with moral fiber and integrity.
You long ago crossed the line between reporting news stories into manufacturing them to obey the "New World Order's" conspiracy to destroy Western civilization.
Umm. Yeah. You see the mindset such framing is meant to appeal to, while trying not to offend the rest.
Other omitted and/or heavily edited sections:
While it may be fifty years since Emmett Till was dragged from his cousin's house and brutally murdered by an angry mob in Money, Mississippi, it's been less than eight since James Byrd was lynched in Jasper, Texas. Rather than apologizing for what "someone else did or didn't do,' which we know he finds so distasteful, maybe Sen. Cochran should see to it that the Senate does indeed--finally--do the right thing and actually pass some federal anti-lynching legislation.
There's well over two-hundred failed bills from which to draw language and framing, or if the Senator would rather, he could put pen to paper and draft his own legislation from scratch. Since he was not, as has been theorized of the thirteen remaining hold-outs, trying to avoid offending any sort of "pro-lynching" segment of his constituency, preferring action to apology, let's see him put his money where his mouth is...
...Senators who make up the group of anti-anti-lynching refuseniks and show their displeasure with apology while trying to hide their resistance to action. They've earned themselves a distasteful nickname, these thirteen; they're now referred to widely as "The Lynch Mob." You'd think that alone would be enough to move these Senators to act, but sadly that's not the case. They remain silent or simply make feeble, rehearsed, and quite obviously hollow excuses to cover their true motives.
Senator Cochran could prove this writer wrong in a heartbeat and in the process show the entire world that Mississippi is committed to moving forward toward a brighter tomorrow, that Mississippi herself is spearheading progress. He told the Associated Press after all that he's "more concerned with the actions of the Senate here and now," than with apologizing for the past. Will the Senator stand up--right here, right now--and do the right thing? It would gladden the heart immensely if so, but I, for one, won't be holding my breath.
I'd say this issue--and by that I mean the wider pandering by Cochran and Lott to the racist radical right, not just this specific lynching-apology-measure, which can somewhat arguably be dismissed as an "empty gesture"--should be reiterated and hammered home as often as possible between now and Nov. '06. By publicly calling on Cochran to do something rather than hiding behind this "excuse" he gives, we can force him to take a stand, having to just as publicly make a choice between that "pro-lynching" constituency, and the rest of the
sane residents of the state. I think that's a choice he should be forced to make, and I think some of the strength of the progressive movement--both here in Mississippi and nationwide--should be leveraged to force his hand to do so.
And, oh yeah, if you think that this is a worthwhile effort, do a brother right and click that Recommend button. Peas.