Well so far as I can tell... Lott views a meaningless day to honor the Mississippi trio of Schwerner, Cheney, and Goodman as something he couldn't support in 89. He has voted twice against extending the 65 civil rights act, once against the 64 act being extended. His political mentor was on the dixiecrat slate. He fought to keep his fraternity segregated, he voted against the MLK Jr day, then later tried to pull funding for it. In a state that has the highest black population in the entire country(36.6% as compared to the 12.3% nationwide) he has 1 black person working in his mail room, from a staff of 65. He has twice now spoke publically about how he wanted Strom and the dixiecrats to win. He lied to Sean Hannity about his involvement with the CCC. His own Uncle, a lifelong member of the Citizen's Councils, has called him on it, by stating that Trent was a dues paying member. He did not meet with them "just once". He said that they had "the right views". He filed an amicus brief to support Bob Jones' policy of banning interracial dating and marriage. He called the Civil War the "war of aggression" in Southern Partisan Magazine, while trying to re-instate the citizenship of Jefferson Davis.
Coming against this background... he has to be prodded for nearly a week, to just state the words "segregation was wrong". What in the heck am I supposed to think until he honestly tells us something otherwise other than the fact that his dad was a milkman sharecropper?
Yes. He has some good company on those, including many Democrats.
Voting against a particular bill without knowing what amendments were added tells me nothing. Did the Civil Rights Act set quotas?
Ronald Reagan initially opposed the MLK holiday. Why? Because he thought we had enough federal holidays. Trent Lott was among MANY who opposed the MLK holiday.
As to blacks on his staff, I'm not sure that proves anything either. Clarence Thomas didn't have any blacks on HIS staff until three years ago.
Could you post a link where Lott's uncle said that Lott was a dues paying member of the CCC? That and the refusal to sponser the honor to the three murdered freedom riders are the biggest points I think.
The extension of the application to the south of the voting rights monitoring of the Civil Rights Act (there was no vote regarding extending the Civil Rights Act itself; that has no sunset clause), can be defended I suppose because there may not have been any evidence by then that blacks were still being disenfrancised, or more so in the south than in the north, and thus it was discriminatory, and should be ended or applied nationwide. The merits of that are fact driven arguably, not principle driven.
Again, I caution against weakening a case by overstating it. Your two solid bullet points may well be enough to put a stake in his heart, particularly if it can be substantiated that Lott was a dues paying member of the CCC, and has been lying about it. I fear that one, if true, will cause him to exit from the senate. That one is on a whole different level. I hope it proves to be untrue.
In fairness, his background also includes fighting for a peaceful integration of his university.
When James Meredith came to Ole Miss Lott fought for a peaceful integration of the university. That required a bit of fortitude.
"An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962,"
"As dawn came on Oct. 1, 1962 – this has never really come out before, and there is a bit of a mystery to it – there was a horrible riot that had just occurred. There were 375 injuries. There were hundreds of civilian arrests. There was pure chaos in the town of Oxford, on the campus of the University of Mississippi and this enormous military invasion of Oxford, Miss. Troops were dropping in by helicopter and convoy. What's one of the first things they do? They conduct a lightning surprise raid on the fraternity house that Trent Lott is the president of. They discover, and seize and remove from the fraternity, 24 weapons – shotguns, rifles and a pistol.
... he (Lott) spent the night before rounding his boys up and keeping them out of trouble. So he was a leader that night. It's documented. "
His behavior during integration was not exemplary, but he did exhibit responsible leadership to support it.