Quote:
Originally Posted by vegasbobby
This is a Democrat and a KKK member, died in office 2010. The Democrats like him and never kicked him out of the Party.
Ask yourself why????????? |
Wanna know why? Because he moved on and he changed. My cousin was one of Byrd's staff members, he wasn't like that anymore.
You have to remember Byrd was a old school guy in WV, everyone in politics back then was KKK. It would be like a Republican saying he didn't support the NRA, that's the way it was then. When he was in the KKK it was before the 60's most likely every old politician back then was a member..
No excusing him for it in anyway, but he was one of the few who was strong enough to admit he was wrong and did something about it. For the record, The NAACP gave him a 100% rating on their issues during the 108th Congress..
Byrd later called joining the KKK was "the greatest mistake I ever made."[20] In 1997, he told an interviewer he would encourage young people to become involved in politics but also warned, "Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan. Don't get that albatross around your neck. Once you've made that mistake, you inhibit your operations in the political arena."[21] In his last autobiography, Byrd explained that he was a KKK member because he "was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision—a jejune and immature outlook—seeing only what I wanted to see because I thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions."[22] Byrd also said in 2005, "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."