Jesse Helms "Hands" ad

Jesse Helms still lives on in plenty of Republicans as evidenced by some comments on youtube

Disgusting pieces of shit who deserve to be killed, no other way around it

Jesse Helms just a disgusting human

We can only hope people like Jesse had painful deaths and the realized what pieces of shit they were in their final moments

He may not have made racist ads but he was a racist himself as he was a staunch bully to Carol Braun by singing the racist "Dixie" song and intimidating her ethnic heritage.

Look at his voting record; opposed MLK holiday, opposed Voting Rights, Opposed Affirmative Action as we see here. I'm a democrat, I'm black and I'm not racist, but Helms was a racist bigot, an idiot and an arrogant self-centered curmudgeon. I know Republicans who believe the same.

And, CazK88, do you really think MLK was more worthy of a holiday more than George Washington? Seriously? And you think anyone who disagrees must be a racist??

@ncdave4life
I don't think anyone who disagrees is a racist. Hell, I disagree that whites were and still are superior. That doesn't make me racist. And George Washington DOES have a holiday. That's July 4th!

And Yes I do believe MLK deserved his own holiday because he, unlike bigots, lead a peaceful movement for the civil rights of not just African Americans but all people. It ended the legal segregation of all minorities that were being discriminated against up to that point.

CazK88, you've been lied to. Helms was no racist.

"Dixie" has nothing to do with slavery. There're no references in it to slavery or race. Plus, there's no hard evidence that Helms ever sang Dixie to Mosley-Braun. Plus, Helms was known for courtliness, and it is certain he was never crude & rude to her.

Helms was crusading to save black babies in Africa from HIV/AIDS, while liberals were ignoring their plight. Bono says Helms saved 2 million lives.

You think THAT was the act of a racist?

@ncdave4life
Yeah, and I'm sure you say the same thing about Strom Thurmond not being one. If you want to be a person who looks at things with evidence, factually, HELMS has a racist record being Senator. Read it. He opposed many progressive policies regarding race such as school integration, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Therefore, in my book and others, he is a racist! Not just of MLK holiday, because of his record. He favored the Dems when the party favored segregation!

@ncdave4life
Dixie was a racial epithet of slavery because at least 10% of Southerners who were considered as Dixies owned slaves.

What do you mean hard evidence? Sen. Orrin Hatch confirmed he did in fact say that to her when they were in an elevator with her. He then said he wanted to oppose her nomination for being the Ambassador to New Zealand at the time and his record shows he didn't vote for her.

You're wrong because Helms said AIDS didn't exist. He voted against Ryan White Act.

I may be a Republican, but Jesse Helms was one of the most vile and depraved politicians of the second half of the twentieth century. There's a special place for people like him.

Jesse Helms was a god.