Jesse Helms 1921-2008
By The former North Carolina Senator has shuffled off this mortal coil.
All condolences to his family but — particularly given the media tendency to downplay these kinds of details when discussing Jim Crow politicians — like Matt I’m not inclined to pretend that he was anything but an unrepentant racist and someone who consistently opposed any kind of civil rights or racial progress. The symbols that stick most prominently in my mind are his use of the blue slip to prevent the integration of the Fourth Circuit and “whistling ‘Dixie’ while standing next to Senator Carol Moseley-Braun.” In fairness, he was consistent: he supported apartheid in South Africa almost as strongly as he supported it at home.
R.I.P.
…UPDATE: TBogg delivers a eulogy based on the man’s own words.