I personally knew Senator Robert C. Byrd. Senator Robert C. Byrd personally told me many years ago, that he was ashamed of his involvement with the Klan in his younger days. Bob Byrd renounced all of that, and tried to do right. It was this profound change of heart, that made the people of WV love him. Senator Robert C. Byrd repented of the racism of his youth. He tried to make amends for the sins of his youth in his senior years. This is what endears him to the people of WV. All mature people try to fix the dumb things that we did when we were young. At various times in his life, Senator Byrd represented both the worst, and the best in this state. I do not condone or justify what he did while in the KKK, as it was awful. I am simply saying that he tried to evolve beyond the hateful bigotry that he grew up with, as a mature man. I am offering an explanation, rather than an excuse, for his prejudices, because I knew the man personally. Most of West Virginia, and the entire south, were very bigoted at one time, and Senator Byrd lived during that time, when bigotry was commonplace. We are all works in progress trying to overcome our shortcomings. Some of the biggest liberals I know, were bigoted as hell thirty years ago. People change and evolve over time, and some far more than others. The case of Sen. Robert C. Byrd proves beyond any doubt that bigotry is a disease that can be cured. I only wish that all of the people of West Virginia, had the courage to evolve beyond the bigoted status quo, as Senator Robert C. Byrd surely did. We are all born, and we all eventually die, but it is the evolutions that we experience to grow beyond the values of our upbringing, that in the end defines our humanity. The people of West Virginia love to forgive a repentant sinner, because down deep in our own souls, we are all too aware that our own shortcomings are not small in number.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 02:25:00 +0000
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