FORUM
Helms was a racist to the end
George
Curry
Guest
I Columnist
Jesse Helms, an unrepen
tant racist, died on July 4.
When most racists die, public
discussions generally center
on other aspects of their life
and their racial views are
thrown in as an afterthought.
In the case of Helms, the for
mer North Carolina senator,
he was such a virulent racist
that his unrelenting attacks on
civil rights could not go
unnoted.
Writing in the Charlotte
Observer, columnist Jack
Betts observed, "He used the
language of the Jim Crow era
to fight for a culture that kept
public schools segregated,
public accommodations white
and that regarded any govern
ment attempt to wipe out dis
crimination as un-American."
He referred to UNC - the
University of North Carolina
- as the University of Negroes
and Communists.
Helms incorrectly claimed
Dr. Martin Luther King was
influenced by the Communist
Party and credited that for
everything King did, fi*bm
leading protests to opposing
the war in Vietnam. Prior to
entering the Senate, Helms,
then a television commenta
tor, said, "Dr. (Martin Luther)
King's outfit ... is heavily
laden at the top with leaders
of proven records of commu
nism. socialism and sex per
version, as well as other curi
ous behavior."
He dismissed the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 as "the
single most dangerous piece
of legislation ever introduced
in the Congress."
Passage of the Civil Rights
Act in 1964 and the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 were cer
tainly dangerous to the politi
cal careers of White Southern
Democrats who rose to power
and seniority on the backs of
disenfranchised Black voters.
They ascended to power by
blocking African-American
access to the polls and fight
ing for what Jesse Helms lov
Jesse Helms was laid to rest this week.
ingly called "the Southern
way of life." Translation:
White supremacy.
Helms sought to frame his
opposition to civil rights in
another context.
"I felt that the citizens of
my community, my state and
my region of the country were
being battered by this new
form of bigotry. I simply
could not stay silent in the
face of this assault - and I
didn't."
Senator No, as he was
called for his obstructionist
tactics, got it backward. It was
African-Americans who were
battered, pulverized by vio
lence, retaliation, bogus liter
acy tests, poll taxes and
racists such as Helms.
When Helms retired from
the Senate, Washington Post
columnist David S. Broder
called him, "The last promi
nent unabashed white racist
politician in the country."
Helm's record reflected
just that.
He blocked the nomination
of federal judges with whom
he disagreed, held up funds to
the United Nations as chair
man of the Foreign Relations
Commitee, conducted a 16
day filibuster against estab
lishing the Martin Luther
King federal holiday, opposed
the 1964 Civil Rights Act,
voted against the Voting
Rights Act of 1965, railed
against AIDS as a gay disease
(he later softened his view on
AIDS) and in 1990 boycotted
Nelson Mandela's address to a
joint session of Congress.
Even other Southern seg
regationists moderated their
views over time. South
Carolina's Strom Thurmond,
for example, admitted that his
past positions on race had
been wrong and became the
first Southern Congressman to
add an African-American to
his staff. After his famous
"Stand in the Schoolhouse
Door" at the University of
Alabama, Gov. George C.
Wallace asked Black voters
for forgiveness and made a
direct appeal to Black voters.
Over the years. Helms
moved in the opposite direc
tion.
In 1966, he mailed
125,000 fliers to heavily
Black districts in North
Carolina saying African
Americans would be impris
oned if they voted. When
challenged by former
Charlotte Mayor Harvey
Gantt in 1990, the incumbent
unveiled an overtly jacist tel
evision ad. It showed the hand,
of a White man balling up a
rejection letter as the
announcer intoned, "You
needed that job. And you were
the best qualified. But they
had to give it to a minority."
Helms won the election.
As a native Southerner, I
often think about how far the
South would have advanced if
it weren't for the likes of
Jesse Helms. I think about all
the talented people that
migrated North in search of
employment or a better educa
tion. 1 think about some brave
Whites who stood up for fair
ness in my native Tuscaloosa,
Ala., only to be socially ostra
cized or threatened with
death. If Jesse Helms had his
way, Blacks woulcPstill ride in
the back of the bus, we would
be barred from the polls and
we wouldn't be able to live
anywhere we could afford.
Seeing Barack Obama
march through the South,
including North Carolina,
during the primaries reminded
me that an openly racist Jesse
Helms probably could not get
elected in North Carolina
today. And it is only fitting
that Jesse Helms died know
ing that a Black man has a
credible chance of becoming
the next U.S. president. That's
in spite of Helms, not because
of him.
George E. Curry, former
editor-in-chief of Emerge
magazine and the NNPA News
Service, is a keynote speaker,
moderator, and media coach.
He can be reached through his
Web 9 site,
www.georgecurry.com .
Organized labor taking blacks for granted?
Marc
Morial
Guest
Columnist
There is no question the
civil rights and labor move
ments have shared a public
commitment to issues of pari
ty and justice affecting
African Americans and work
ing people over the years.
Forty years ago. Dr. Martin
Luther King embodied that
partnership when he led his
last march for justice in sup
port of the striking sanitation
workers of AFSCME Local
1733 in Memphis.
But, it is also true that the
union movement has been
?flow to practice what it
preaches when it comes to
equality within its own ranks.
In the early years of the
labor movement, African
Americans were systematical
ly excluded from major
unions, which led to the for
mation of separate Black
labor unions. A. Philip
Randolph founded the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters in 1925 and waged a
12-year fight to gain recogni
tion by the American
Federation of Labor. He went
on to become a national leader
in the fight against racism
within unions, in the work
place and throughout
America.
Those early barriers have
slowly fallen and now Blacks
represent about 14 percent of
American union workers. But,
at a Jime when African
Americans are an increasingly
important part of the organ
ized labor's future, they are
still not adequately represent
ed at the top echelons of the
American labor leadership.
But don't take my word for it.
Listen to what William
Lucy, AFSCME Secretary
Treasurer and the highest
ranking African American in
American labor has to say. In
remarks to a 2005 national
summit on labor and diversity
in Chicago, Lucy said that at a
time when the vast majority of
new union members are
women and people of color,
"a majority of people of color
still encounter barriers to
gaining leadership positions
within their union and even
where they have reached lead-,
ership positions, they face
additional challenges."
Lucy recommends mentor
ing support, education, train
ing, and other pro-active
efforts to achieve opportuni
ties and equality within the
union movement. The
National Urban League
agrees. Organized labor must
not take African American
support for granted.
As the presidential elec
tion of 2008 draws closer, the
American labor movement is
mobilizing to represent the
interests of working people on
issues like universal health
care, the elimination of pover
ty and the right to organize.
Let's hope they apply that
same vigor to increasing
diversity in union leadership
and in the continued fight for
equal opportunity throughout
America.
As A. Philip Randolph
reminded us, "Salvation for a
race, nation or class must
come from within."
Marc Morial is president
and CEO of the National
Urban League.
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