Speaking Out. Helms fighting against the tobacco tax.

Eighty-year-old senator Jesse Helms of Monroe, North Carolina closes the book this fall on his career as Senator for the same state. Mr. Helms holds honorary Degrees from many colleges one among them being Bob Jones University, a school which was brought once again to national attention when it finally ended its ban on interracial dating after then presidential hopeful George W. Bush visited the campus on a campaign stop in March of last year. Understandably, many liberals welcome his departure, sighting his positions as far more than straight-line republican ideology, but rather as racist propaganda. Regardless of one’s personal degree of affinity for him, it would be wrong to ignore the impact that Mr. Helms has had on contemporary political discourse.

For almost thirty years Mr. Helms position has been that of a back door conservative waste pit, where everything putrid and distasteful is allowed to air. In 1988, in regards to the Kennedy-Hatch Aids Bill which addressed the monetary problems of AIDS research, Mr. Helms had this to say: “There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy.” In 1993 Mr. Helms sang “Dixie” in an elevator to Carol Moseley-Braun, the first female African American senator, with the hope of making her cry. He was over-heard claiming: “I’m going to make her cry. I’m going to sing Dixie to her until she cries.”

A good question would be to ask why mainstream media has insisted upon glossing over Mr. Helm’s despicable legacy. Instead of calling him the bigoted, sexist, homophobic, curmudgeon that he is, the majority of mainstream media characterize him in a more flattering light. According to ABC news Mr. Helms is nothing more than a “conservative icon.” In 1995, this icon was praised on CNN’s Larry King live when a caller praised Mr. Helms for “…everything [he has] done to keep down the niggers.” To some conservatives Helms is a staunch opponent of big government, a good god-fearing good ‘ol boy who watches out for the little guy. Compared reality, the previous description is a stark contrast. Helms “voted to slash school lunches for impoverished children, medical care for the disabled veterans, prescription drugs for the elderly, and wages for working families.”
Amazingly, Mr. Helms has never won by more than 55 percent and when he has been seriously challenged often just barely squeaks by. Helms wins on fear; the fear of the non-white and the fear of the supposed “non-Christian.” According to Larry Sabato, professor of government at the University of Virginia “Jesse Helms understood before anyone else that the proverbial angry white male feels the most aggrieved, and is therefore the most likely to vote.”

Over the years, Mr. Helms’ notable oppositions to U.S. Sanctions on South Africa due to Apartheid, turned many heads as well as his objection to Martin Luther King Jr. Day being deemed a national holiday, this move even made many in his own party do a double-take. And, who could forget the election of 1990 where Helms with the aid of Dick Morris, ran the infamous “white hands” TV spot that depicted two white hands tearing up a rejection letter from an employer who is implied to have chosen not to hire him because he is white.
One of Mr. Helms’ most recent in devours involves yet another opposition, this time against allowing homosexuals to participate in Boys Scouts. Mr. Helms, who has been known to think of gay individuals and their lifestyles as sinful, has been quoted in July of 1995 that “…We’ve got to have some common sense about a disease transmitted by people deliberately engaging in unnatural acts.”

Many may think of Mr. Helms’ ideals to be quite antiquated. Most likely, they are correct to believe that. Nevertheless, his mere presence suggests the continuation of the Grand Old Party’s glory days where a Negroe’s place is shining a White man’s shoes, or cleaning a white person’s home. His decision to retire comes at a time when the very foundation of the Republican Party, has been rocked by several dramatic changes. The surprising departure of Vermont senator James Jeffords’ from the Republican Party and also quite recently senator Strom Thurmond -the 98-year-old senator from South Carolina- hints that this may be his last term in office. And now, senator Phil Gramm at 59 years of age has made the decision to retire. The decisions of both Thurmond and Helms was of course pre-empted for several months by various reporters speculating that these party elders may, due to their multiple ailments, be looking at their final terms. Seemingly, Helms’ choice to retire has released behind him a floodgate of senators who are doing just the same.

One now cannot help but to ask where this puts the GOP in regards to seasoned leadership. Orin Hatch perhaps? Many Republican are left wondering who will lead them into this next era, while many Democrats are just glad he’s finally gone.