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Remembering Jessie Helms

A few months ago — July 4th, to be exact — former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms died.

Across the country, many politicians spent days fawning over Helms and his “devotion, kindness and faith” they missed a good portion of the man’s life.

They told touching stories.

They talked about Helms love of his fellow man.

But they left a few things out.

They didn’t talk about Helms’ entire career in the United States Senate.

Now, please, don't think I'm going to sit in judgement of the former Senator's soul. That's not my job, I'll leave that for the Almighty.

But I do think we should look at Helms' work as a public servant.

And in that arena, Helms failed miserably.

Sure there were all sorts of tributes to Helms, praising him for his conservative credentials and Christian values.

In fact, according to CNN, the Rev. Billy Graham, said folks “honor his legendary life and extraordinary legacy.”

But as honorable as the Rev. Graham is, he failed in his eulogy.

Because Jesse Helms was a bigot.

A product of the segregated south, Helms, for years, opposed laws that gave African-Americans the right to vote.

Sure, he hired several African Americans for his office, but only after public pressure grew too big. Throughout his career, policies toward the African American race were, in my opinion, racist.

And he was mean spirited.

Once when he was on an elevator with former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, Helms started to sing “Dixie.”

Now, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past several decades, you know that signing “Dixie” to a black woman is the equivalent to a racial taunt. Instead of public policy at the time, Helms was more concerned about the Confederate Flag.

Later he even admitted he sang the song so he could make Braun cry.

This from a man honored for his "Christian" values.

I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t call that Christ-like behavior.

Helms didn’t like people of color.

He worked to block the appointment of African Americans to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals during the Clinton administration.

And then there were his campaigns.

Remember the race between Helms and former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt in 1990 and again in 1996?

During the 1990 race, Helms ran an ad which showed a white hand destroying a job application, while in the background, an announcer says that person needed the job but it was given to a minority.

Yeah, Jesse was a bigot.

The ad worked, he got reelected and we, American, were worse for the effort.

Funny thing, now today, we see the almost exact same spin, only this time it’s directed at Hispanics and undocumented workers.

So Jesse Helms died.

God caught up with him.

And, for the record, I do believe we should all remember the famous senator from North Carolina.

But I believe we should also remember his full record and work to pray that something like it never happens again.

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