O-mama - Opinionated Moms

Photo Reuters

No, nobody’s burning crosses on lawns in Mississippi, but we might have to hold Haley Barbour’s feet to the fire on this one!

The Governor of Mississippi and potential Republican Presidential candidate, Haley Barbour, told the Weekly Standard of the Jim Crow days that he doesn’t “remember it as being that bad.” He also said that the White Citizen Councils in those days kept the peace and kept the KKK out of his hometown of Yazoo City, MS.  Conventional wisdom has it that the Klan and the Citizens Councils in Mississippi might not have been the same in deed, but they were similar in purpose.  For example, the guy who murdered Medgar Evers, president of the NAACP in Mississippi in 1963 was a member of both.  The Citizens’ Council was a group viewed to be pro-segregationist that used economic and bullying tactics to discriminate against black citizens, whereas the KKK did the physically horrific.

Barbour’s team says that the media is “trying to paint the governor as a racist…and nothing could be further from the truth.”  Okay…so what we really need to focus on is why the former head of the Republican Party, who is possibly going to make a bid for the Presidency, would open his mouth and insert his foot.  Does anyone find it shocking that South Carolina is celebrating its 150th birthday of secession from the Union and the white, male governor of Mississippi is talking about the civil rights movement as not "that bad?" Maybe not for him, but for African Americans growing up in the South in the 50s and 60s, it was pretty bad, sir.  What is going on?  Why are we re-visiting this era of hate and division in our country?  Gov. Barbour might not be a racist, but he definitely stepped in it!  He had a moment of insensitivity to the struggles of the past and the courage of so many that stood up to inequality.  As a society, we must teach our kids to be empathetic to others.  Not to ignore or to dismiss injustice, but to try to understand it...and then affect change.  It's not about being "pc" it's about doing what is right.  We teach our KID-Os to think about "walking a mile in someone else's shoes."  There were so many who marched for freedom and equality in the country.  But, Gov. Barbour will have take the walk of shame on this one for his denial of the extreme hatred of that time, maybe because he was a child himself, so he remembers those times from a white child's perspective?  But, as a society we must never forget the truth of the past, otherwise, we will be doomed to repeat it.  So, we expect Gov. Barbour to extract his foot from his mouth, walk back those remarks and step forward to be a national leader in helping to move our country into a new, post-racial direction.  Big step?  Yep!

What are your opinions MAMAs?