Changes

====Association with Robert Byrd, KKK membership revealed====

====Association with Robert Byrd, KKK membership revealed====

In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'',  Graham Smith referred to a letter Bilbo received from the Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd when on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military.  

In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'',  Graham Smith referred to a letter Bilbo received from the Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd when on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military.  

{{Cquote|Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.}} He had earlier written Bilbo:  

{{cquote|Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.}}

{{Cquote|I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side}} Bilbo  told ''[[Meet the Press]]'' in an August 9th, 1946 interview: {{Cquote|No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that. Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux.<ref>[http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf Robert L. Fleegler, "Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938–1947"],''The Journal of Mississippi History'', Spring 2006.</ref>}}

 

He had earlier written Bilbo:  

{{cquote|I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side.}}

====1946 voter suppression, denial of Senate readmission, subsequent death====

====1946 voter suppression, denial of Senate readmission, subsequent death====

In 1946, after four white men beat a black Army veteran for attempting to register to vote, Senator Bilbo delivered a radio address urging every "every red-blooded American who believes in the superiority and integrity of the white race to get out and see that no n***** votes."<ref>"Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism," p. 20.</ref> Subsequently, violent voter suppression became rampant in the primary as white Mississippi Democrats formed mobs twice preventing a group of black veterans, including Medgar Evers, from voting in Decatur. In true Democratic tradition, Bilbo won the rigged primary election with 51% in a four way contest.

In 1946, after four white men beat a black Army veteran for attempting to register to vote, Senator Bilbo delivered a radio address urging every "every red-blooded American who believes in the superiority and integrity of the white race to get out and see that no n***** votes."<ref>"Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism," p. 20.</ref> Subsequently, violent voter suppression became rampant in the primary as white Mississippi Democrats formed mobs twice preventing a group of black veterans, including Medgar Evers, from voting in Decatur. In true Democratic tradition, Bilbo won the rigged primary election with 51% in a four way contest.

Southern senators successfully defended Bilbo against an [[NAACP]]-led effort to remove him from office for inciting violence against black voters. Despite having been re-elected, he was blocked from taking office. The Republicans won back control of the Senate that year in 1946 and refused to seat Bilbo as his inciting of Democratic [[voter suppression]] to rig the election became more widely known. He died 7 months later, unable to take his seat, while the Senate was still investigating.

Southern senators successfully defended Bilbo against an [[NAACP]]-led effort to remove him from office for inciting violence against black voters. Despite having been re-elected, he was blocked from taking office. The Republicans won back control of the Senate that year in 1946 and refused to seat Bilbo as his inciting of Democratic [[voter suppression]] to rig the election became more widely known. He died 7 months later, unable to take his seat, while the Senate was still investigating.