Archive for December 5th, 2002
Meet the worldview desktop v0.9. For those who really like to see what’s happening, at any given moment, all over the world.
Today is Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday. When the inevitable happens and he passes away some day, I’ll be interested to see how history remembers him. His legacy will reflect the last half-century’s dynamic change in Southern (and American) race relations: his infamous 1957 filibuster of civil rights legislation was simply wrong, but he is, by all accounts, a kind and caring man who has since changed his racial views.
As Matt Stearns notes in this excellent article, Thurmond once said, “There’s not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the Negro race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches.” But, Stearns says, “Years later, the civil rights battles lost, Thurmond hired black aides, supported civil rights legislation, and voted for the creation of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. In 1996, his last campaign, Thurmond got about 22 percent of the black vote.”
I just came across the DC Metro Blog Map, which is a cool representation of Washington-area bloggers.