Friday, July 4, 2008

Jesse Helms is Dead


Jesse Helms died.

"America lost a great public servant and true patriot," someone said.

I'm not so sure about that. He was a someone who couldn't see change or a future. This man was the one who was known as "Senator No". He was given that title for his opposition against many liberal causes like, arts funding, Affirmative Action, gay rights, and a federal holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

But he was famous for his racial foolishness.
Like: "To rob the Negro of his reputation of thinking through a problem in his own fashion is about the same as trying to pretend that he doesn't have a natural instinct for rhythm and for singing and dancing."

Helms' referred to the University of North Carolina (UNC) as the "University of Negroes and Communists."

Soon after the Senate vote on the Confederate flag insignia in 1993, Sen. Jesse Helms (R.-N.C.) ran into Mosely-Braun in a Capitol elevator. Helms turned to his friend, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah), and said, "Watch me make her cry. I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing 'Dixie' until she cries." He then proceeded to sing the song about the good life during slavery to Mosely-Braun

And his ad against Harvey Gantt targeting Affirmative Action back in the 90s: Helms ran a television commercial that showed a pair of white hands crumpling a pink slip as the announcer said: "You needed that job, and you were the best qualified, but they had to give it to a minority, because of a racial quota. Is that really fair? Harvey Gantt says it is. Gantt supports Ted Kennedy's racial quota law that makes the color of your skin more important than your qualifications."

He's done more, but I will show some respect. His backward views made us fight harder. And while he soften up a little in his latter years, he was still firm in his beliefs. So, I hope his family learn from his antics, and maybe change his legacy into something productive and meaningful.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Softened up?"

Perhaps, but only because he met his goals.

kid said...

Like Prince says, "let it flow, let the vitals flow, I'm ready for the real".Happy Fourth.Seen you in the "batcave" looks like you're having fun,later.

Wonder Man said...

Helms soften a little about AIDS, but I think that was his sense of humanity

Butch said...

" My mamma said never to speak ill of the dead. Joan Crawford died. Good!" - Bette Davis

These are my sentiments regarding that bigot Jesse Helms. He has done more damage to equal rights than most of the Congress. If there is an hell, I'm sure he would be in it.

Jesse Helms - W.I.T.
(writhe in torment)

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.