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.
"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. "
He also worked for peaceful integration, of course that isn't something some want widely known at this time.