There's a new book coming out by Senator Robert Byrd (D) West Virginia. The book chronicles Byrd's life growing up in the coal mines of his home state and his rise to power in the United States Senate.
To its credit the book discusses Byrd's turn in the Ku Klux Klan during the early 1940s. Byrd even credits his time in the KKK as his catalyst for entering politics. He won his local election to be "Immortal Cyclops" and was known as one of the best recruiters in the state.
When Byrd ran for office in 1946 he was called on to the carpet for this time in the white hood. He claimed to have only spent parts of 1942 through 1943 in the group but there is evidence to suggest he hung around longer.
What really got me on this one was Byrd "spinning" the Klan as a sort of "Southern Rotary Club" and full of upstanding citizens like doctors and lawyers. That may be all well and good but calling the Klan a Southern Rotary club is like calling the Irish Republican Army a recreational paint ball team. It is just all a bunch of nonsense.
Hawk's View: Byrd was in the Klan and why I don't condone that one bit he claims he was not part of any violent acts. There is no evidence to suggest he was and I don't think he ever did. But what is a complete sham is his suggestion that it was more of a social club than a place to promote hate. Byrd's decision to leave the Klan was the moral choice, period. What is not moral is trying to sell us all on how the Klan was "different" back then. No it wasn't and all Byrd had to say was he realized his life was taking him down a path he didn't want to go and that's why he made the change. People can understand that reason, but like The Hawk, they can't understand the reason he gave.
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