Lott has been saying things like this for years, and no one stepped
forward; he just did it in too public a place.
The failure of the South to have meaningful school desegregation might
suggest that there is greater "offical" racism that you are willing to
admit. The harassment of black voters by the Florida state police in
the 2000 election is another example. The documented differences in
sentencing, especially in imposing the death sentence, for blacks and
whites illustrates that official racism is on-going in our society.
Paul Finkelman
[log in to unmask] wrote:
> A small clarification. My statement was about officially
> sanctioned racism, which I think is largely a relic of the
> past. Official organs of our government, and with a few
> exceptions, spokesmen in public life, decry racism. This is
> a good thing, and a wholesome development.
>
> Private racism is another thing entirely. Clearly, racism
> as a private phenomena is still present in our country.
>
> The Jaspar murder is an excellent case in point. Unlike
> early 20th century lynchings, which were publicized,
> elaborately staged, and at which entire local communities
> were present, the Jaspar murder took place on a deserted
> stretch of road, and can hardly be described as having the
> public support of the local community. Moreover, once it
> became clear that a racial murder had taken place, it was
> universally condemned as such. Government and public
> figures universally condemned it. To my knowledge, there
> exists no public defense of the murder--no public argument
> that racial murder was legitimate or appropriate. That is
> an enormous contrast with the early 20th century.
>
> Senator Trent Lott's remark that Strom Thurmond would have
> made an excellent president in 1948 is another good
> example. It is the exception which proves the rule. Sure,
> Lott is a public figure. But how many other public figures
> stepped forward to support him? What was the aftermath of
> the remark? Did it enhance Lott's standing as a public
> figure whose opinions on race deserve to be taken
> seriously? Lott emerged diminished from the episode--which
> again supports the claim that as a society today, we do not
> tolerate public racism. Racism is no longer officially
> sanctioned in our law, nor do we tolerate its expression by
> our law makers. When they express private thoughts in
> public, as Lott did (he was speaking, if I recall correctly,
> at a eulogy for Thurmond), they get slapped down.
>
> Finally, I do not doubt that some people who display the
> flag are racists. However, I have never claimed the
> contrary.
>
> If we wish to take this back to its original context, the
> claim I originally advanced was that we should not *presume*
> ahead of time that all, or even most, of the people who
> display the flag are racists. Rather, I suggested that we
> should listen to what they actually have to say, and take
> their statements seriously. Moreover, I claimed that when
> we analyze the statements of actual Confederate heritage
> groups, or at least some of them, what we find is a rather
> different rhetoric than that which characterized the
> statements of Progressive era heritage groups (as described
> brilliantly by Fred Arther Bailey). And further, I
> suggested that in my personal experience, which I emphasized
> was limited, most of the folk in Confederate heritage groups
> were not racist.
>
> These claims are rather more nuanced, and I trust rather
> more reasonable, than those which Professor Finkelman
> attributes to me below.
>
> Warm regards,
> Kevin
>
> ---- Original message ----
>
>>Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 23:59:34 -0600
>>From: Paul Finkelman <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: Re: VA-HIST Digest - 10 Mar 2004 to 11 Mar 2004
>
> (#2004-33)
>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>
>>true enough; and I do not take this as a criticism. It is
>
> a valid
>
>>obsservation. But of course, my point, in its context was
>
> in response
>
>>to the assertion by a professor at James Madison univ. that
>
> southern
>
>>whites rejected (at least in public) any racism and that
>
> those who used
>
>>the flag had not racist intent; my point was that many
>
> people who have
>
>>the flag on their trucks or elsewhere are racists and it is
>
> intended
>
>>tobe a racist symbol, just as it was in the 1950s when the
>
> southern
>
>>states added it to their flags to protest integration. [I
>
> see now I am
>
>>being pulled back into this discussion, alas].
>>
>>Judy Baugh wrote:
>>
>>
>>>From: Paul Finkelman
>>>
>>>Subject: Re: Debate Topic, Confederate Flag
>>>
>>>I never saw the truck
>>>of the two men who dragged a black man to death in Texas a
>>
> few years
>
>>>ago, but I would not be totally surprised to see the
>>
> Confederate Flag on
>
>>>the back of that truck.
>>>
>>>
>>>Nor would it be totally surprising to see Confederate
>>
> iconography on the vehicles of most of the Jasper, TX
> residents who served on the jury which convicted John
> William King of the murder of James Byrd Jr. That's *not* a
> criticism, merely an observation based upon personal
> familiarity with the region.
>
>>>Rgds.,
>>>Judy Baugh
>>>Austin, TX
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see
>>
> the instructions
>
>>>at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>>>
>>>
>>
>>--
>>Paul Finkelman
>>Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law
>>University of Tulsa College of Law
>>3120 East 4th Place
>>Tulsa, OK 74104-3189
>>
>>918-631-3706 (office)
>>918-631-2194 (fax)
>>
>>[log in to unmask]
>>
>>To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see
>
> the instructions
>
>>at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
> Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
> Department of History
> James Madison University
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
> at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 East 4th Place
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-2499
918-631-3706 (office)
918-631-2194 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
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