Belated Regrets Dept.
The U.S. Senate has apologized for not passing anti-lynching legislation when it was really needed -- say, 70, 80, 90 years ago, when some of the 4700 lives that were taken in lynchings across the country might have been saved. For decades, Southern senators filibustered or otherwise blocked attempts to stop these mob killings, mostly of African Americans. Even now, there are reportedly 12 senators refusing to support the apology. According to John Aravosis, the resolution was passed via voice vote so the dissenters could avoid putting actual votes on the record.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and George Allen (R-VA) sponsored the apology, and 59 cosponsors signed up, meaning that a (filibuster-proof!) majority supported it. But some Southern senators still have a soft spot for the good old days. Only 11 of 26 Southern senators (42 percent) sponsored or cosponsored, compared to 50 of 74 non-Southern senators (68 percent).
Here are Senate Resolution 39’s Southern sponsors and cosponsors:
George Allen (R-VA) - sponsor
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Bill Frist (R-TN)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA) - sponsor
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
David Vitter (R-LA)
Here are the 15 Southern senators who did NOT sign on to cosponsor:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
Kay Hutchinson (R-TX)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
John Warner (R-VA)
Especially noteworthy is the fact that not a single senator from four of the top five lynching states -- in order, Mississippi (with 581 recorded lynchings from 1882 to 1968), Georgia (531), Texas (493), and Alabama (347) -- signed on. (Louisiana had 391 lynchings.)
Meanwhile, the family of Anthony Crawford, a successful black farmer who was lynched in South Carolina in 1916, is seeking an apology from the state and the town of Abbeville, S.C., as well. Crawford was beaten, mutilated, hanged, and shot by a mob because he rejected a white man’s offer to buy his cotton crop.
UPDATE 11 AM: Just before the resolution passed on Monday, 18 more senators signed on, bringing to 79 the total of sponsors and cosponsors (THOMAS lists Allen as a cosponsor, though some sources name him a sponsor along with Landrieu). Nine of these procrastinators were from Southern states:
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
John Warner (R-VA)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Leaving six Southerners who still did not put their names on the resolution:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Kay Hutchinson (R-TX)
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Five of these hail from three of the five states responsible for the most lynchings. By the way, my original count did not include Oklahoma, as, rightly or wrongly, the Institute has not usually considered Oklahoma a Southern state. But if you’re interested, Tom Coburn (R-OK) became a cosponsor in the past week, and James Inhofe (R-OK) signed on at the last minute on Monday.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and George Allen (R-VA) sponsored the apology, and 59 cosponsors signed up, meaning that a (filibuster-proof!) majority supported it. But some Southern senators still have a soft spot for the good old days. Only 11 of 26 Southern senators (42 percent) sponsored or cosponsored, compared to 50 of 74 non-Southern senators (68 percent).
Here are Senate Resolution 39’s Southern sponsors and cosponsors:
George Allen (R-VA) - sponsor
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Bill Frist (R-TN)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA) - sponsor
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
David Vitter (R-LA)
Here are the 15 Southern senators who did NOT sign on to cosponsor:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
Kay Hutchinson (R-TX)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
John Warner (R-VA)
Especially noteworthy is the fact that not a single senator from four of the top five lynching states -- in order, Mississippi (with 581 recorded lynchings from 1882 to 1968), Georgia (531), Texas (493), and Alabama (347) -- signed on. (Louisiana had 391 lynchings.)
Meanwhile, the family of Anthony Crawford, a successful black farmer who was lynched in South Carolina in 1916, is seeking an apology from the state and the town of Abbeville, S.C., as well. Crawford was beaten, mutilated, hanged, and shot by a mob because he rejected a white man’s offer to buy his cotton crop.
UPDATE 11 AM: Just before the resolution passed on Monday, 18 more senators signed on, bringing to 79 the total of sponsors and cosponsors (THOMAS lists Allen as a cosponsor, though some sources name him a sponsor along with Landrieu). Nine of these procrastinators were from Southern states:
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
John Warner (R-VA)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Leaving six Southerners who still did not put their names on the resolution:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Kay Hutchinson (R-TX)
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Five of these hail from three of the five states responsible for the most lynchings. By the way, my original count did not include Oklahoma, as, rightly or wrongly, the Institute has not usually considered Oklahoma a Southern state. But if you’re interested, Tom Coburn (R-OK) became a cosponsor in the past week, and James Inhofe (R-OK) signed on at the last minute on Monday.
7 Comments:
Can we please put this in the "who gives a crap" department? I mean, please. Aren't there bigger things Congress could be apologizing for? The Iraq war, for example?
LAW DORK has this update:
http://www.chrisgeidner.com/blog/archive/003419.html
John and Atrios mentioned earlier about how a dozen or so senators didn't want a roll call vote on a resolution apologizing for the lack of congressional action to stop lynchings. The resolution, introduced by Democratic Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, eventually passed Monday evening on a voice vote. The AP mentions nary a word about the fainthearted senators who didn't allegedly want to be on the record opposing lynchings.
Although the AP notes that "at least 80 senators signed on as co-sponsors," the Thomas Web site shows only 60 co-sponsors -- likely meaning several senators signed on at the last minute once they realized the resolution was going to come to a vote Monday evening.
Sens. George Allen (R-Va.), Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), Bill Nelson (D-Fl.), and Mark Pryor (D-Ar.) were the only co-sponsors of the bill from Southern states at its introduction in February. Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-Ark.) added their names as co-sponsors later in the month of February. Sens. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), Tom Coburn (R-Ok.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) only signed on as co-sponsors within the past week.
That leaves 14 Southern senators -- 13 Republicans -- unrepresented among the co-sponsors at the end of this past week. Here's the list: Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.); Richard Shelby (R-Ala.); Mel Martinez (R-Fl.); Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.); Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.); Thad Cochran (R-Miss.); Trent Lott (R-Miss.); Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.); James Inhofe (R-Ok.); Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.); John Cornyn (R-Tx.); Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tx.); John Warner (R-Va.); and John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).
So, the questions for Tuesday morning are: Who signed on only yesterday and who never signed on to a resolution "[a]pologizing to the victims of lynching and the descendants of those victims for the failure of the Senate to enact anti-lynching legislation"?
[UPDATE: Thomas has updated its co-sponsor list; the eight of the 14 who signed on to the resolution on Monday are the italicized names in the list above. The six in bold did not co-sponsor the resolution, even on Monday, and should be questioned as to what exactly they saw as objectionable in the resolution.]
[UPDATE II: Sens. Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning of Kentucky, both Republicans, signed on as co-sponsors on Monday.]
much too little, much too late
Who cares we in America truly wish they would have never stopped. True Americans that we are know how to run our country and kill those that need killin especially those that are not the right color
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