Resolution of the Green Party County Council for Riverside County, California

Concerning the recent comments of Trent Lott

12/21/02

The Riverside County Green Party County Council (RCGPCC) praises the public outcry that led Senator Trent Lott to resign from his majority leader-elect post due to his remarks made recently in praise of retiring senator Strom Thurmond's run for the presidency in 1948. These which gave immediate focus to Mr. Lott's long career as a segregationist and opponent of civil rights. Mr. Lott should also strongly consider resigning from the Senate, in light of his lack of respect for significant portions of the American citizenry.

The RCGPCC notes that the makeup of the US Senate itself fails to reflect the diversity of the US, comprising primarily wealthy white citzens. The RCGPCC hopes that the events surrounding Trent Lott's resignation will lead all members of the Senate to examine their own voting histories and the laws they propose and put into

place.

By way of background, the RCGPCC notes that in 1948, Strom Thurmond ran on a staunch segregationist platform of the Dixiecrat ticket. The Dixiecrats were formed directly in opposition to the civil rights movement.

Mr. Lott's malicious statement that the United States would have been "better off" had Thurmond won that election cannot be excused, particularly in light of his long record of anti-civil rights voting, combined with his association with groups such as the Council of Conservative Citizens.

Americans cannot tolerate callous statements that mock the rights so many have fought and died for. Rather than celebrate and build off of our advances, Sen. Lott chose to stir the pot of hateful bigotry with these divisive comments. The public outcry made clear these attitudes are no longer acceptable in the public discourse.

Mr. Lott's views have unfortunately been consistent and well documented. He, along with fellow Senator Bob Barr has spoken numerous times before gatherings of the white-supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) whose newsletter, the Citizen Informer features a regular column penned by Mr. Lott. In 1992 he told a CCC gathering in Mississippi, "the people in this room stand for the right principles and the right philosophy. Let's take it in the right direction and our children will be the beneficiaries."

The RCGPCC also notes that Mr. Lott has consistently supported Clinton's Welfare Reform bill as well as the drug war, budget cuts in education and budget cuts in health care, all of which have disproportionate adverse effects on people of color in the United States. The RCGPCC does not abide racism and we regard anyone with such open disregard for the principles of racial equality and equal civil rights for all to be demonstrably un-fit for the role of U.S. senator, let alone Senate leader. We also note that Mr. Lott has consistently supported inequitable foreign trade policies and IMF / World Bank loan strategies that have had damaging effects in Africa, Central America and Asia.

The RCGPCC is firmly committed to equal rights and justice for all people. We abhor racism and discrimination and are glad to see that the public response has led to the resignation of Senator Trent Lott from the majority leader-elect post.

The RCGPCC believes that a strong statement must be made consistent with Green Party principles reaffirming that bigotry will no longer be tolerated in the United States. Mr. Lott should accordingly leave office with the relic he so much admires, Senator Thurmond. Naturally, it will be up to the citizens of Mississippi to

determine whether Mr. Lott belongs in the Senate. We hope that they will at last see he does not.

County Council of the Riverside County Green Party

You may contact us as follows: riverside @ cagreens.org; or green @ fastbk.com