Seems to me I read that when he was in college Lott did nothing to protest his fraternity's (Sigma Nu?) policies on race. I was in college back in the early 60's--and some "recruiters" for the sorority I had joined made some really IGNORANT comments concerning allowing "Jews and Negroes" to join. The comments were--paraphrasing--"we must stop the cancer from spreading". My "soror" and I sat there--and after a few seconds we looked at each other and basically said "we're outta here!!!" And we--I can't even remember the right word--maybe de-activiated??--but we left that sorority then and there. We weren't "activists"--but like a lot of "white folk" back then we could not for the life of us figure out why some people had to look down on other people for the color of their skin or the place where they were born or anything they had absolutley no choice in.
We were also--being young--very idealistic--and Democrats! But, as you point out--people can mend their ways--and now as a Conservative, who respects the hell out of someone like Clarence Thomas--I just cannot overlook Lott's remarks. They stem not from stupidity--but ignorance! The same kind of ignorance those sorority "sisters" voiced. And that ignorance --and all the "isms" it creates--must not be IGNORED. It must be faced and fought--and hopefully this time--defeated!
Did you know that Lott was a former Democrat too? Not a crime; so was Ronald Reagan.
The only thing that matters is that Trent Lott was never a good Republican leader, and for that, he is going down. I would think he is writing his resignation at this very moment.
It goes even further than that. Seems ol' Chester was a persistent voice for segregation in his fraternity, and an activist for its continuation. As a young lawyer, he hosed a friend, working for a segregationist gubernatorial candidate which won. Later, he wooed people from segregationist groups and the probably neosecessionist SCV. He made an interesting statement at one time, calling the GOP the true intellectual heir to the principles of Jefferson Davis. Apparently, there was a small brouhaha in 1980, when he'd made similar remarks about Thurmond's candidacy.
He seems to show a pattern of apologizing and saying the right thing, then going back to his roots. He's a chameleon, and utterly untrustworthy. Frankly, I'm disgusted that he was selected for a leadership position.
Here is something else - if he doesn't understand why people would be angry about Strom Thurmond's 1948 candidacy, or why black might despise the Confederacy and its symbols, then he has a problem that goes beyond mere bad manners.