Memphis, TN — Sen. John McCain may face questions about his civil rights record as he visits Memphis Friday to participate in a number of events commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination.
Scheduled to address the Southern Christian Leadership Conference–which King headed up for more than a decade–as well as lay a wreath at the National Civil Rights Museum, McCain’s initial opposition to a holiday commemorating the slain civil rights leader could be among the issues that come up during his trip.
In his first year in the U.S. House, McCain voted with the minority and opposed the 1983 law creating the national holiday to honor King, but reversed his decision around 1990 after he says he “learned” more about King’s achievements. As he fought for an Arizona state ballot measure to recognize MLK Day in 1990, McCain successfully pushed former President Reagan to endorse the referendum.
McCain has said on a number of occasions that he regrets his original 1983 vote and told reporters this week that he is “very proud” of his record of support for King.
“I voted in my…first year in Congress against it and then I began to learn and I studied and people talked to me. And I not only supported it but I fought very hard in my home state of Arizona for recognition against a governor who was of my own party,” McCain said during a media availability aboard his plane Monday (video above). “I had not been involved in the issue. I had come from being in the military to running for Congress in a state that did not have a very large African American population and it had not been in issue. It just simply had not been.”
In a February 2000 interview with ABC News, McCain said his initial opposition to a holiday was based on his belief that “it was not necessary to have another federal holiday, that it cost too much money, that other presidents were not recognized.”
Asked on Monday why he shifted his position and later supported a state measure creating a holiday, McCain told reporters that he “learned (that King) was a transcendent figure in American history. He deserved to be honored and that I thought it was appropriate to do so.”
“In my home state of Arizona, I was not proud that we were one of the last states to recognize Dr. King’s birthday as a holiday and I was pleased to be part of the fight for that recognition,” McCain said, who also profiled King in his book, “Character is Destiny.”
Arizona voters eventually approved a measure in 1992, making it the second to last state to recognize the holiday. New Hampshire came in last in 1999.
But among other issues critics raise are McCain’s vote against the 1990 Civil Rights Act, which sought to curb discrimination in the workplace (and eventually passed as the 1991 act), as well as his short-lived support for South Carolina’s right to fly the confederate flag over the statehouse during the 2000 primary. He later reversed his position on the flag and called for its removal, referring his initial position an “act of cowardice.”
During his conversation with reporters Monday, McCain cited his time in the U.S. Navy as further evidence for his support for civil rights, calling the U.S. Armed Forces “the greatest equal-opportunity employer in the nation.”
“John McCain has an extraordinary admiration for Martin Luther King Jr. and his enduring impact for equality in America and around the world,” said campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds.
See the video: http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/04/03/mccain-reversal-on-mlk-holiday-an-issue-as-he-visits-memphis/#more-1846
Sounds like closet racism to me when he now panders to minorites. How vile..
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