University of Virginia Library

Confirms Southern Loyalty

Near the end of 1965, Byrd
firmly established his position
among the Southern ranks
when he delivered what many
have considered to be some of
the most racist oratory ever
presented before the Senate.

At a time when violence
was flaring in the nation's cities,
Byrd lashed out, "The ghettos
are blamed; yet, people of all
races have lived in the ghettos
in the past; but they have not
rioted. Poverty is blamed for
the riots; yet poverty- stricken
whites outnumber
poverty-stricken Negroes in
America, but they are not
rioting... We can take the
people out of the slums, but
we cannot take the slums out
of the people."

After the murder of Martin
Luther King,Jr., he suggested,
"If it requires the
Army,Navy,Air Force, Marines,
we should put the
troublemakers in their places."

Again Byrd utilizes the
fundamentalist, law-and-order
tack which has kept him
ever-popular in West Virginia.

His appraisal of the anti-war
demonstrators who marched
on Washington in the late
sixties and early seventies won
him more fame as a hard-nosed
law-and-order proponent.

He called the
demonstrators, "hypocritical,
self-centered,selfish, long-hair
know-it-all students and
pseudo-intellectuals"

Although his oratory is a
bit reactionary at times, Byrd
is known for his coolness and
candor under fire. He rarely
commits himself to a position
on either side of the political
fence. His diplomacy has
helped develop his career, as
much as his intense,
hard-driving ambition.