Why Should The Senate Have to Apologize For Past Lynchings?

Better question is, why shouldn't they?

For decades, people were drug out of their homes, out of their vehicles, picked up off the street, brutally beaten and murdered by angry mobs. Many of these instances were treated like festive occasions, with members of the mob openly posing for photographs, smiling, pointing at the dead human being(s) swaying from the tree behind them or charring in the nearby bonfire. You'll even see children in some of these old time photographs. I can't imagine what parent would involve their small children in such horror, but there they were. And it hasn't been long enough, there are likely still some old timers you pass in the mall or at the grocery who remember those times and maybe even participated in them, and it's also likely that you might encounter some people who wish they could go back to the "good old days." All because the Senate blocked passage of anti-lynching bills that were passed by the House and supported by several presidents of the day and there wasn't a federal law to stop (or at least slow down) the lynchings from happening.

Historians record thousands of lynchings between the 1880's and the 1960's, with my home state of Mississippi leading the pack. A shameful record indeed, but Monday we had an opportunity to atone for it. A purely symbolic gesture, that could never bring those lives back, but it was nevertheless a step out of Mississippi's dark past into a hopefully better future. And what better timing too, with the spotlight shining on Mississippi as the Emmit Till case is reopened and justice is finally pursued.

Except for one small problem. Or rather, two.

Mississippi's two Republican senators, Thad Cochran and Trent Lott, would not sign on for support. There were other Republicans who held out, sure, but these are my senators, representing me. Even though the Republican-controlled Senate held a voice vote presumably so those who weren't going to commit were protected by anonymity, the list of names came out anyway. I haven't read if Lott had an excuse yet, but after the Strom Thurmond fiasco that cost him his majority leadership role, maybe he thought it best to stay completely mum. Cochran on the other hand, said he wouldn't sign on because he hadn't personally done anything to apologize for. Well guess what, Senator, it ain't about you! You're up there to represent ALL of us, not yourself personally. Besides, that's just an excuse anyway, because your supporters won't put up with you apologizing for them either lynching blacks or wishing they could. Same with Trent Lott, whatever his excuse eventually turns out to be. What kind of people are they beholden to that they can't make this symbolic gesture against racism and lynching? And why do all these friggin' "values voters" keep electing them? Bunch of hypocrites, the whole lot of them.

The last time Trent Lott paid tribute to Mississippi's racist past, it cost him his leadership. Hopefully this time it will cost him his job. With any luck, he'll be holding the door for Thad Cochran on the way out as well. Mississippi deserves better, and until these relics of the past are gone, we're never going to be able to move out of the redneck joke books and forward into the 21st century.