the unfinished civil war

Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) and others have often claimed that the key political dynamic in Washington is less about Left and Right and more about a replay of the Civil War. In Jackson’s view, the cynical defenders of “States’ Rights” are lined up against those who argue for a “more perfect union.” I find this to be a helpful frame for looking at contemporary American politics. The Republican “Southern Strategy”- essentially paring off traditionally Democratic voters in white, rural areas by appealing to racialized fears and prejudices still forms the core of the Rove doctrine. Throw misogyny, hatred of lesbians and gay men, as well as the scapegoating of Arabs and Latinos to the mix, and you have a fair construction of the Republican strategy.

The fact is that we never really finished the job in the Civil War. We ended slavery, stopped succession, but too quickly abandoned the process of Reconstruction of Southern society. As a result, Civil Rights activists were forced to demand the remobilization of Federal power, including the armed forces in defense of human rights in the South throughout the 1960’s. And, to this day, rural America remains fertile ground for racist appeals, whether symbolic (save our Confederate flag!) or material (Willie Horton!). In the South itself, there has been some superficial reckoning with the past. Tourist boards and chambers of commerce are desperate to cleanse the region of its lingering association with flag burnings and Klan marches. Thus there are loads of “respectable” politicians and civic leaders who are always out front on symbolic gestures designed to recast the South as hospitable, genteel but newly enlightened. Outside of the old Confederacy, however, particularly in the West, old-fashioned racist politics are fair game.

Witness the happenings in the Senate last week, as a bipartisan coalition proposed a resolution apologizing for that body’s unwillingness to ever pass a law banning lynching. Take a second to process that. From 1882 to 1968, 4,743 people were lynched in the U.S. 72% of them were black. Of the whites lynched, many of them were anti-lynching activists or people accused of aiding black citizens. During that time, though several anti-lynching bills were proposed, the United States Senate failed to pass a single piece of legislation punishing white mobs for murdering black Americans.

Earlier this month, two Senators, one from each party, proposed a resolution which formally apologized on behalf of the Senate for this gross failure to protect the lives and rights of victims of mob murder. The Republican leadership blocked efforts to hold the vote by recorded roll-call, so that individual Senators would not be held accountable for their votes. In response, most of the Senate signed on to the bill as co-sponsors. Sixteen did not.

Because Senators can add their names to a bill after it has been passed, the following list may be slightly inaccurate. It has been somewhat hard to find a fully updated list. With the exception of the good gentlemen from New Hampshire and Oregon, these folks come from heartland and Confederate red states. Making the decision to defy a purely symbolic, non-binding, non-legislative, revenue-neutral clear-cut statement of moral position can mean only one thing. For a considerable number of their constituents, a purely symbolic, non-binding, non-legislative, revenue-neutral clear cut statement against racist murder is unacceptable. For the rest, it is a non-issue. Such is the state of the Party of Lincoln, defenders of the Republic.

ALEXANDER (R-TN)
COCHRAN (R-MS)
CORNYN (R-TX)
ENZI (R-WY)
GREGG (R-NH)
LOTT (R-MS)
SUNUNU (R-NH)
GRASSLEY (R-IA)
CRAPO (R-ID)
THOMAS (R-WY)
BENNETT (R-UT)
HATCH (R-UT)
HUTCHINSON (R-TX)
KYL (R-AZ)
SHELBY (R-AL)
SMITH (R-OR)