Death of a Klansman

I must admit that I am enjoying the coverage or should I say lack of coverage of the death of the so-called ex-Klansman, Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Senator Byrd handed out so many federal dollars that I understand there are plans to rename the entire state after him because all of the highways and federal buildings have his name already. The liberal media has once again come down with a severe case of selective memory. While it’s routine for them to find racism in places where it doesn’t exist like in the Arizona immigration law or in Don Imus’s women’s basketball jokes, somehow they always seem to fail to notice the racism that exists in front of their eyes. 

While I think that is bad practice to insult the dead, I am only going to give an accurate account of the legacy of the late Sen. Byrd because the media won’t. The media will create a narrative that paints him as a champion of the working man (code for unions) who fought hard against George W. Bush’s commitment to protect our country from terrorists. During their recollections, they will either fail to mention or gloss over his association with the KKK by positioning it as youthful indiscretion.   

As media watchdogs and Americans fed up with the media being serving as the Democratic Party’s propaganda machine, we must make sure that Robert Byrd’s legacy is accurately portrayed. While he may have only been an active member of the KKK for a year (1942-43,) his views were left intact after his departure. During the 1960s he was a fierce opponent of civil rights legislation and filibustered for more than 14 hours in an effort to bury the legislation. “Men are not created equal today, and they were not created equal in 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was written,” Mr. Byrd proclaimed during the filibuster. “Men and races of men differ in appearance, ways, physical power, mental capacity, creativity and vision.” Having a (D) next to his name spared him from the usual attacks of the race profiteering community that mercilessly shakedown anyone that make such remarks at any point in their life. His immunity from their predatory instincts allowed him to continue to make what they typically brand as “racially insensitive” comments throughout his life. 

While Al Sharpton and pals may have ignored Byrd’s obvious racism in order to stay in good graces with their masters and to focus on conjuring racism in Arizona, I won’t. Now that the Byrd has passed on, the Democrats must be breathing a sigh of relief because they don’t have to hear conservatives talk about how in 2010 we still have a Klansman serving in the United States Senate. While the Liberals may think the albatross is no longer around their neck, we have to remind them that while Byrd’s body may no longer be with them, his racist spirit is alive and well in the Democratic Party. There is a reason he was so revered and served them for so long. That reason is because he is the Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party are him. 

Andre Harper is the founder and president of The Knowledge Movement, LLC and author of Political Emancipation: Observations from a Black Man Who Rejected Liberal Indoctrination. He can be reached at www.AndreHarper.com.