[Gemini Cricket]

An op-ed surfaced on CNN.com this morning.
This is a quote from it:

Death has a way of sanitizing the most virulent and despicable aspects of prominent lives, especially those who trafficked in racial bigotry.In the last several years, notorious racists such as former Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox and Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina left this Earth, and in efforts to show the humanity of both, tributes poured in, speaking to their Christian faith and unyielding conservative values.
Vice President Dick Cheney spoke warmly of Thurmond at his 2003 funeral, citing his run for president in 1948. But Cheney failed to mention that he ran as an ardent segregationist.
I recall former Sen. Zell Miller holding up a Bible belonging to Maddox as he told the world about Maddox's wonderful faith, never citing how he used that same Bible to deny African-Americans basic rights.
Oh, such good Christian men Maddox and Thurmond were.
Now they are joined in the conservative wing of heaven by former Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, who died July 4. I'm sure a freedom-loving man such as Helms wouldn't have it any other way: meeting his maker on the same day the United States celebrates its independence.
The tributes were endless and laudatory, hailing him for being a "conservative champion," according to a piece in USA Today. Some mentioned his opposition to various issues of race, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Even the Rev. Billy Graham, often called "America's pastor," honored Helms in a 174-word statement, ending it by saying that folks "honor his legendary life and extraordinary legacy."
But to recognize Helms properly in his totality, it's important to add to the list of words and phrases to describe the unapologetic conservative Republican: unabashedly racist.

Source