African American Legislators Pearl Burris, Dan Blue Vote for Resolution to Honor the late Jesse Helms, as 26 NC Lawmakers Declined to Cast Votes

Talk about another racist politician -- GOP's late Jesse Helms. Apparently 26 North Carolina legislators sat out a vote Tuesday on a resolution honoring the late U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, showing that the Republican remains a polarizing figure a year after his death. Another racist person connected to the right wing. Most of the holdouts were black Democrats such as Sen. Floyd McKissick. Helms opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act as a commentator and voted against its reauthorization once in the Senate. I don't blame these 26 legislators for their decision. How can you vote for a resolution to honor someone who has had such a divisive history and strong anti-civil rights principles. In all that I have read, I cannot find one good thing that Jesse Helms did for anyone, perhaps except people who shared his views. To think that two African American legislators, Rep. Pearl Burris and state Sen. Dan Blue, embraced this resolution as though Jesse Helms' civil rights record was second to none is an affront to blacks in this country.

Here's what unnerved me in this resolution, the comments of a black Republican. "He stepped forward when this country needed an anchor," said Rep. Pearl Burris-Floyd, R-Gaston, the Legislature's only black Republican. Must we always have an turncoat in the midst. Jesse Helms was an anchor? To whom? This is the same person who led a filibuster, thankfully an unsuccessful one, to stall efforts to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a national holiday. Wait, there's more. One more Uncle Tom in the midst. Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake, voted to honor Helms despite being "diametrically opposed" to the GOP icon on nearly every political issue. He said that "it's about the people Jesse Helms represented. Once he's gone and he's dead, it stops being about Jesse Helms."

Sixteen out of the state House's 20 black members and five out of nine black senators skipped the vote that came after speeches praising Helms' integrity, honesty and patriotism. They were joined by a handful of white Democrats and the only American Indian, a Democrat. The Senate voted 41-1 for the Helms resolution, and the House 98-0. The single dissenting vote came from Sen. Julia Boseman, D-New Hanover, the Legislature's first openly gay member. Source: Google News

I applaud those 26 legislators that took a stand for equality. How can you justify voting for a resolution to honor a man who had such a racist and divisive past?