As most readers already know, John McCain opposed establishing a federal holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in 1983. Most Republicans (including Cheney and Gingrich) supported it at the time, but Arizona seemed dead-set against it. The holiday became official in 1986, but only 27 states and D.C. recognized it initially. The governor of Arizona at the time (a Democrat) declared the holiday through executive order, but it was later repealed by a Republican governor.
Around that time, in 1990, McCain was given a chance to change his mind, and eventually did. Though he initially supported the Republican governor’s controversial action to repeal the holiday, he later changed his stance and supported the recognition of the holiday. The governor continued to oppose the holiday, saying “I guess King did a lot for the colored people, but I don’t think he deserves a national holiday.” In 1992, the citizens of Arizona voted to recognize the holiday.
I wasn’t around at the time, so I don’t really know first-hand how important Martin Luther King Jr.’s contributions to civil rights, to our country, and to humanity as a whole were. I have, however, studied many of his speeches in school, and though I’ve only scratched the surface of his work I feel comfortable in saying that he was one of the most influential and important people of the twentieth century. To oppose naming a national holiday in his honor is absurd.
McCain also voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1990 (specifically, he voted to uphold President Bush’s veto of the 1990 Civil Rights Act), which lost by only one vote. To this day, he refuses to apologize for his vote. When asked earlier this year, he defended his action and claimed that the bill would have set up racial “quotas,” but that simply isn’t true. The bill had nothing to do with quotas, and everything to do with restoring laws regarding employment discrimination that had been put in place nearly two decades prior, and had only been recently overturned by supreme court cases that made it harder for minorities and women to win discrimination suits:
The act was a response to a series of controversial Supreme Court decisions made the year before. In those decisions, the court overturned a 1971 ruling that required employers to prove a “business necessity” for screening out minorities and women in its hiring practices. That burden of proof, the 1989 court said, should instead be placed on the plaintiff who alleged that his or her client had been unlawfully screened.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate, deeming this unjust, passed bills that would restore the old law. But the Bush administration objected, insisting that a reversion to the old way would amount to forcing employers to have hiring quotas. It was a controversial and somewhat dubious claim, one that the New York Times editorial page called “an unjustified charge.”
McCain continues to justify his vote by claiming somehow the bill would have required “quotas,” and refuses to apologize for it. He has, on the other hand, apologized for his votes regarding the MLK holiday — while the fact that he initially opposed it remains, I like it that he was at least willing to change his mind. In this case, hoewver — when combined with his opposition to civil rights legislation — saying “I changed my mind” just isn’t enough.
I’m not planning on accusing McCain of outright racism, but I will keep his voting record in mind when I hear him talk about civil rights and MLK, as I think all voters should.
More proof that McCain is unfit to be president. He has a reputation as a “straight talker” or whatever the hell that means, but he’s further right than most people think.
He apologized already. He made a mistake, and he admitted it. Get over it already.
McCain’s an old racist windbag.
This is one of the major problems with McCain’s campaign, and I don’t see why it isn’t talked about more.
The media seems to spend all their time drooling over Obama, and ends up not talking about McCain much at all. While this is probably good in the long run, it means that we don’t get much coverage of all the stupid things McCain has done and said.
If you really studied his speeches and works you would know that he is one of the worlds greatest plagiarists. almost everything he did from his college thesis to the “i have a dream” speech contain almost no material written by the man himself. Even though his use of other peoples works was so extensive he never gave anyone credit…he was a big fraud…do the research yourself…
jahbone: He built upon the ideas — not words — of others (Thoreau, etc), but he acknowledged those influences and it’s ridiculous to call that plagiarism.
jahbone: It is also important to know that within African American literature, allusion is very prevalent and is very important in capturing the emotions that go along with the alluded work by using them.
also jahbone i think the bible has stolen more ideas from past religions and plagiarized than any man’s speeches could.
Obama is the one who said he hated his mothers race. I do think racism will play a big part in the election, most Blacks, over 90% are voting for Obama and when polled 48% of those said the only reason they are voting for Obama is because he is black.
I just don’t see anyone declaring that they are voting for Johm McCain because he is white. He is polling around the same as any other republican that have run in the last few decades. There are people voting for Obama thought because of his skin color.
Barak is the only racist in this race.
“Obama is the one who said he hated his mothers race.”
Uhh, when? Where? WTF?
“I just don’t see anyone declaring that they are voting for Johm McCain because he is white.”
You don’t need a declaration to know that a whole lotta white folk are going to vote for McCain because he’s white. A whole lotta, buddy.