[On May 18th, 1973, the nationally televised Senate Watergate hearings began. So for the 50th anniversary of that historic moment, this week I’ll highlight one telling detail each for a handful of the key figures in those hearings. Leading up to a weekend post on a few contemporary echoes of that moment!]
The Democratic
Senator from North Carolina who helped stop
Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s and bring down Richard Nixon two decades
later (the Senate committee which investigated Watergate was informally known
as the Ervin Committee
due to his central role) was also a lifelong defender of Jim Crow segregation,
often citing his legal training and the Constitution as justifications for
maintaining that racist system. That incredibly complex set of realities not
only sums up the layers and evolution of the Democratic Party in the South and throughout
the nation in the course of the 20th century, but also reminds us of
the inescapable and often quite fraught interconnections between historical
issues and debates. American political history owes Sam Ervin a substantial
debt, but he and his ilk also owe Black Americans and all those who care about
social justice a significant apology.
Next
Watergate figure tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What
do you think?
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