Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Haley Barbour Update: Mississippi's GOP Governor Backs Down in KKK Controversy

Haley Barbour keeps playing with historical fire, pretending that the legacy of racism in the South really wasn't all that bad.  

The latest such incident was Barbour's support for an official state license plate honoring a Confederate leader who was a founder of the KKK.

The Mississippi governor, a Republican, has appeared to have a case of historical amnesia about the glorious days of the Jim Crow South, before all those outside agitators (read: civil rights workers) messed up the Good Ole Boy system of racial discrimination and segregation.

But even Barbour has now had second thoughts, as we read today at Think Progress:
Under pressure to address racial issues swirling around a potential presidential bid, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) finally said he won’t sign a bill to honor a former KKK leader with a state-issued license plate. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee had defended his fellow Republican on the issue this weekend before Barbour backed down.
Barbour, as some Okies will recall, was a guest of then-candidate Mary Fallin when she was running for governor.

The website Politico has the details here. 

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