The NAACP & Trent Lott: A DNC Lust For Power

-Frank Salvato

Never before has it been so important for the NAACP and its leader, Julian Bond, to be forthright and sincere in their motives to advance the matter of equal rights and justice in the United States as right now. Of course I am referring to the Trent Lott controversy. Sadly, with such an opportunity at hand the NAACP falls directly back into the divisive nature that they have embraced over the past two decades by calling for his resignation.


Julian Bond, the chairman and voice of the NAACP, is noted in the media as saying that using Lott's staff to tout his record "demonstrated abysmal ignorance of the legal status of affirmative action." And was quoted as saying to the Associated Press, "He kept saying, 'I made a mistake, but he didn't make one mistake. His whole public life has been a mistake." All I can say is what a missed opportunity!

At this point in Lott-Gate (I am sure someone would have come up with it sooner or later) is there any chance that he would try to pass or support any legislation that would be able to remotely be considered racist or divisive? Not with the sharks of the mainstream media watching so closely. I put it to you that if Trent Lott ate the cream filling out of an Oreo cookie before the chocolate cookie parts the media would be all over him describing him as a racist because he favored the cream filling over the chocolate cookie simply because of the colors that they are. Simply put, at this stage of the political game Trent Lott would probably be the best person for the NAACP to have in the United States Senate on the Republican side.

Case in point; Trent Lott has spoken with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., about setting up a task force on reconciliation and with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, about setting up an African-American summit. Is there any chance that this would have happened without Lott-Gate? Absolutely not, but now because of the words he used at a one-hundred year old, former Dixiecrat’s party such a discussion will take place. Even Lewis himself, a veteran civil rights leader, said Lott appeared "sincere." "I'd like to come down on his side, giving him a chance. It's very much keeping with the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence to forgive and move on."

But then we have Julian Bond and his organization the NAACP calling for Lott’s resignation, which almost certainly will not happen. Even if Mr. Lott decides to step down from his leadership roll there isn’t any possibility of him resigning the Senate due to the fact that the Democratic Governor in the State of Mississippi would be able to appoint a Democrat to fill out Lott’s term causing the balance to return to a fifty-fifty split after the mid-term election win by the Republican’s and President Bush. Let’s be honest here, if there is anyone in the country who thinks that is going to be the choice of a Republican Senator from any state at this time in history then they are either sorely mistaken or they are politically daft.

I think people also need to be reminded of a few gaffs on the Democratic side, which were force fed down the countries throats under the guise of repentance that the NAACP and Julian Bond accepted openly and freely:

We have Jesse Jackson’s apology for his “Hymie-Town” reference, which was not only racist in the extreme sense of the word but demonstrated his lack of true commitment to equality for all that was embraced by the NAACP.

We have Bill Clinton’s apologies for blatant lies both under oath and to the American people about extra-marital affairs undermining the stature of the office of the President of the United States and the family values touted by the Democratic Party and the NAACP, again embraced by the NAACP.

We have the racial loaded comments by Senator Robert Byrd and his apology, embraced once again by the NAACP.

So as one can see, there have been people in the same position as Trent Lott, who have also apologized, who have been forgiven, embraced and even deemed educated in the delicate matter of race relations because of their miscues. So why is Julian Bond, the Democrats and the NAACP coming down so hard on Trent Lott for his vaguely racial statements? This is an easy question to answer; it’s the politics stupid!

Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic Party and the NAACP saw the mid-term November elections as a defeat. They are having trouble “rallying their troops” and they needed something to take the American peoples minds off the fact that they have no cohesive plan or agenda for how to make the country better. They are trying to come up with an economic plan for the future, one that offers an opposing view point to President Bush’s but the fact is even the Democrats know that the President, and for that matter government as a whole, don’t have that much control over the economy. They know that the economy is either spurred on or dragged down by how the marketplace goes and now after all the zero percent financing for just about everything over the past year and a half people have already purchased new cars and state of the art computers. They don’t need to buy new ones at this point so naturally the demand for these products is going to be low. So the economics argument is off the table.

They have tried to find fault with the War on Terror but that is truly a touchy subject with so many innocent people dead after September 11th, 2001. Even former President Clinton finds himself once again spinning like a top trying to make sure everyone knows that his administration had plans to bomb Iraq and North Korea even though at the same time his administration was cutting the military and intelligence budgets. To try to use the War on Terror as a point of debate for 2004 is a mistake and the Democrats know it.

So, with nothing else on the plate to choose from Terry McAuliffe and the Democratic Party find themselves once again creating a double standard and playing the race card as they try to suck the NAACP into believing that there isn’t some good to be had and an opportunity to be taken with regard to Lott-Gate. Plain and simple, this entire controversy, Lott-Gate, is fueled by one thing and one thing only; a lust for power no matter what the cost. With that said I ask you Mr. Bond, who is really looking out for the best interests of the American-African people and the best interests of our country as a whole? Somehow I fail to hear the bells of freedom ringing at the moment and their silence comes courtesy of ego. Pity.

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