Talk:John C. Stennis
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In some ways, Stennis' record on civil rights is similar to those of Goldwater, Robert Byrd, Sam Ervin and J. William Fulbright — all of whom opposed many federal civil rights bills not out of racism, but because they felt the bills gave the federal government too much power over the states.
This seems questionable. This may be true of Goldwater, who has a pretty decent record to show that he was not a racist, in spite of his opposition to the 1964 civil rights act. But even for him, and certainly for the others, this really smacks of apologetics. It is certainly true that someone like Stennis or Fulbright was not as virulently racist in his rhetoric as the Jimmy Eastlands and Strom Thurmonds of the day were. They certainly talked about states' rights, and such, as their reason for opposing civil rights. But we really oughtn't to treat their public statements as though they are transparent explanations of their positions. Political expediency seems like the most important motivator of the civil rights opposition of most of these guys. Racism also oughtn't to be dismissed - just because you're not as bad as Jimmy Eastland doesn't mean you're not a racist. john k (talk) 19:48, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
