Consider This...

12/21/02

OUR OWN TRENT LOTT

The firestorm surrounding Sen. Trent Lott's comments about Sen. Strom Thurmond's 1948 presidential candidacy has done more than cost Lott his post as Senate Majority leader. It has unveiled the thinly disguised racism of other politicians as they react to Lott's remarks and reveal their own prejudice.

Rep. Cass Ballenger from North Carolina did that in Friday's edition of the Charlotte Observer when he was asked about Lott's comments. Ballenger brought up outgoing Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, an outspoken African-American from Georgia. Ballenger said that he disliked McKinney so much that "I must admit I had segregationist feelings….If I had to listen to her, I probably would have developed a little bit of a segregationist feeling….I mean, she was such a bitch."

Those comments may be even more offensive than Lott's offhand remarks two weeks ago. State Democratic Party Chair Barbara Allen's reaction was exactly right. Allen told the Associated Press that, "It's beyond insensitive for Cass Ballenger, a sitting member of Congress, to hearken back to the days of segregation when he finds himself at odds with an African-American colleague."African-Americans should not be threatened with our nation's inglorious, brutal history every time Cass Ballenger disagrees with them."

Of course, since the article's publication, Ballenger has beat a quick retreat, going on a Charlotte radio program Friday morning to do damage control. But in an eerie and profoundly disturbing parallel, Ballenger is proving that he paid no attention whatsoever to Lott's painful and slow self-immolation.

Ballenger used the exact same phrase Lott used in one of Lott's early apologies that have brought so much derision. Ballenger told WBT radio that his own comments represented "a poor choice of words," precisely the same phrase used by Lott in his second published apology.

Ballenger's comments come amid rumors that he plans to resign his seat to become an ambassador to a Latin American country. Only one of those things should happen.

He should resign.

His racism makes him unfit both to represent the people of North Carolina in Congress and the people of the United States anywhere, especially in a country populated by people of color.