# Hillary gives black folk the Byrd **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 16, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329 "2005-11-16T16:30:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/1 "2005-11-16T16:30:19Z")
From [Newsmax](http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/11/15/185205.shtml) (Yes, yes, I know. Newsmax is wrong, and evil, and nasty, and sticky, but it doesn’t seem that many newssources are reporting this yet). > [@](#): > > New York Senate hopeful Jeanine Pirro is blasting 2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton for throwing a birthday party tonight for Ku Klux Klansman-turned-Senator Robert Byrd at the home of a civil rights pioneer. > > “It’s outrageous and shocking that Senator Clinton and her Democrat colleagues would choose Frederick Douglass’ house to honor Senator Robert Byrd, who has a history of involvement with hate groups and has used racial slurs publicly,” Pirro spokeswoman Andrea Tantaros told the Associated Press. The party at Frederick Douglass’ house? What. The. Fuck. [This is a man who said:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Byrd) _“with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.”_ [or this fact:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Byrd) Byrd later joined with other southern Democrats to oppose the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Byrd filibustered the bill for more than 14 hours, saying it abrogated principles of federalism. and even in 2001 he said: \*“There are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time; I’m going to use that word…We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I’d just as soon quit talking about it so much.” \* I seriously need to understand why anyone would think hosting a birthday party at Frederick Douglass’ house for this asshole would be an even remotely good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/2 "2005-11-16T16:32:30Z")
Maybe he meant what he said in his 2001 quote? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/3 "2005-11-16T16:36:08Z")
Byrd has repudiated and apologized for his racist past, and for the last 30 years has worked harder than anyone in the Senate to protect the rights of minorities and the disenfranchised. We can’t forgive someone who grew up in a town where everyone was racist for whom the scales have fallen from his eyes? I’d be curious to know if none of your political and moral views have changed in the last 40 years. I bet they have. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/4 "2005-11-16T16:41:47Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Byrd has repudiated and apologized for his racist past, and for the last 30 years has worked harder than anyone in the Senate to protect the rights of minorities and the disenfranchised. We can’t forgive someone who grew up in a town where everyone was racist for whom the scales have fallen from his eyes? I’d be curious to know if none of your political and moral views have changed in the last 40 years. I bet they have. > > –Cliffy I bet they haven’t. I’m 32. 😛 Still, given his past and how hard he fought against the rights of the minorities, you don’t think that a party at Douglass’ house is wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/5 "2005-11-16T16:45:58Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Maybe he meant what he said in his 2001 quote? What was his quote? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/6 "2005-11-16T16:49:41Z")
Really, before we all give Byrd the Trent Lott treatment, can I get a cite for the “white niggers” quote? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/7 "2005-11-16T16:55:33Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Really, before we all give Byrd the Trent Lott treatment, can I get a cite for the “white niggers” quote? > > Regards, > Shodan [Here ya go:](http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/03/04/byrd.slur/) West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd apologized Sunday for a slur he used during a discussion of race relations in a nationally broadcast interview. Top Senate Democrat apologizes for slur March 4, 2001 Web posted at: 2:21 p.m. EST (1921 GMT) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (CNN) – West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd apologized Sunday for a slur he used during a discussion of race relations in a nationally broadcast interview. > > In an interview taped Friday for “Fox News Sunday,” Byrd, 83, was asked about race relations in the United States. > > “My old mom told me, ‘Robert, you can’t go to heaven if you hate anybody.’ We practice that. There are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time. I’m going to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I’d just as soon quit talking about it so much.” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/8 "2005-11-16T16:56:37Z")
Oh, Lord. Byrd has publicly rejected his previous views, and apologized for same. We should take him at his word. This sort of nonsense is absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/9 "2005-11-16T17:09:56Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Byrd has repudiated and apologized for his racist past, and for the last 30 years has worked harder than anyone in the Senate to protect the rights of minorities and the disenfranchised. While he has apologized and repudiated his racist past, I disagree with his characteriation as a civil right pioneer since. Seems to me his chief energies in the past thirty years have been devoted to securing vast amounts of federal swag for his home state. Can you point out his noteworthy civil rights accomplishments, especially lately? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/10 "2005-11-16T17:57:08Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > I bet they haven’t. I’m 32. I believe that’s called proving my point for me. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/11 "2005-11-16T18:00:57Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > I believe that’s called proving my point for me. > > –Cliffy And since you quoted me and took the time to take out my question to you, should I consider that you proving my point for me as well. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/12 "2005-11-16T18:09:01Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > While he has apologized and repudiated his racist past, I disagree with his characteriation as a civil right pioneer since. Seems to me his chief energies in the past thirty years have been devoted to securing vast amounts of federal swag for his home state. > > Can you point out his noteworthy civil rights accomplishments, especially lately? Dunno if it counts as noteworthy, but I think it counts for “lately.” > [@](#): > > In the NAACP’s Congressional Report Card for the 108th Congress (spanning the 2003-2004 congressional session), Byrd was awarded with an approval rating of 100% for favoring the NAACP’s position in all 33 bills presented to the United States Senate regarding issues of their concern. Only 16 other senators of the same session matched this approval rating. > **[Robert Byrd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Byrd#Voting_record)** > > Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd also served as a U.S. Representative for six years, from 1953 until 1959. He remains the longest-serving U.S. Senator in history; he was the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress unti Byrd's ... Yeah, it’s the Wikipedia, but they link to the original NAACP pdf. I’m not in favor of his views on atheism or abortion, but anybody who would charicterize him as a racist is either ignorant, a liar, or an ignorant liar. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/13 "2005-11-16T18:11:56Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > I bet they haven’t. I’m 32. 😛 So the political opinions you have now, you had when you were one year old? ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/14 "2005-11-16T18:16:56Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > So the political opinions you have now, you had when you were one year old? And this is relevent to the OP how? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/15 "2005-11-16T18:19:22Z")
Thanks for the cite, **stpauler**. This kind of thing was stupid when they did it on Lott, therefore it is stupid now. He said something admittedly stupid. He has apologized. I don’t why this should make him a pariah for the rest of his political life. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/16 "2005-11-16T18:24:49Z")
I feel like the crux of my point is being glossed over here. Yes, Byrd has recanted his very shameful and racist history, not just as a youth but as a senator as well. That’s not the problem, the problem I find is that they honored this man at Frederick Douglass’ house. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/17 "2005-11-16T18:29:14Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > While he has apologized and repudiated his racist past, I disagree with his characteriation as a civil right pioneer since. Seems to me his chief energies in the past thirty years have been devoted to securing vast amounts of federal swag for his home state. Yeah, the real scandal would be if they held a party in Byrd’s honor at Alan Greenspan’s house. An even bigger shocker will be if Pirro gets more than 35% of the vote in next year’s Senate race. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/18 "2005-11-16T18:29:38Z")
Jeneanne Pirro is a disingenuous cunt just trying to stir shit for purely partisan reasons. Byrd renounced his racism a long, long time ago and Pirro’s complaint is just opportunistic baiting. Before anyone asks, I also thought the reaction to Trent Lott was overcooked and I said so at the time. I think Lott had a couple of scotches in him and was trying to say something nice to an old man at his birthday party and that he just didn’t think through what he was saying. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/19 "2005-11-16T18:31:19Z")
If he’s reformed, and has been a reliable supporter of civil rights since, why do you still object? Our culture places great store on redemption and forgiveness; on what grounds would you deny that to anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329/20 "2005-11-16T18:31:50Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > And this is relevent to the OP how? Well, it does point out how much political opinions can change over the course of several decades, doesn’t it? But if you’re that desperate for my opinion, here it is: Frederick Douglass worked to change a racist society into something better. As such, it seems entirely fitting to use his house to host a former racist, who has himself changed into something better. It strikes me as a perfect symbol for Frederick Douglass’s goals, and the extent to which we have managed to realize them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-gives-black-folk-the-byrd/331329.md?page=2)