In 1957, Senator Storm Thurmond of South Carolina spent 24 hours and 18 minutes blabbering about how the Senate should “kill” the Civil Rights Act. He prepared by taking long steam baths and using a bucket as a toilet during his filibuster. But it was all for nothing; it was just one more of Thurmond’s failures when stopping Civil Rights efforts.
Weeks before the 1963 March on Washington, Thurmond attempted to derail the march by accusing main organizer Bayard Rustin of being a “draft-dodging communist homosexual,” and a “sex pervert.” This too failed, and an estimated 250,000 people rallied in Washington D.C.
Two years later, Thurmond tried to attack the movement yet again, this time trying to persuade the FBI to build a case against Martin Luther King Jr. who he said was “controlled by communists.” No case was ever built, and his accusations crumbled.
From embarrassing himself in the Senate to making bizarre accusations, Thurmond’s desperation to stop Black progress was almost pitiful. Almost.
Our pride in Cory Booker’s new record feels even sweeter now after knowing about the virulent racism of the previous record holder. Anti-Blackness can rant and rave all it wants, but our actions will always speak louder than words.