In the Valley, people are glad Lott's going

One woman said Lott likely expressed views that other leaders believe, but hide.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Local minorities say Sen. Trent Lott's decision to resign as Senate GOP leader is in the best interest of the country. But some say he should leave the Senate all together.
Lott announced Friday he would be stepping down after vowing earlier to stay and fight those lined up against him for comments he made at a birthday bash for former Sen. Strom Thurmond. Lott said the country would have been better off if Thurmond had been elected president in 1948. Thurmond had run on a segregationist platform.
Willie Oliver, president of the Youngstown chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he didn't believe Lott would step down, but his decision to do so is in the best interest of the country.
'The best thing'
"It disturbed me to think that a man in Trent Lott's position would make comments like that," he said. "The best thing, not only for Senator Lott, but for the country is that he step down."
Youngstown resident Louis Irizarry, 18, agrees. The apologies and television appearances by Lott following the now infamous comments did not seem to be genuine, he said. Lott appeared on Black Entertainment Television to explain the comments.
"People can change, but when you are in a position like Senate majority leader those views can have an effect on too many people, so he needs to go," he said.
Hubbard resident April Brown said Lott should not only step down as majority leader, but should leave the Senate all together. She said his comments make it clear that he cannot be trusted in any leadership position. His forced removal from the Senate, she said, is the only way to send a clear message that such comments and attitudes will not be tolerated.
Youngstown resident LaShawnda Bunsie looks at the situation a little differently.
Her view
Bunsie says Lott's comments were awful and unmasked how he truly feels about race matters, but he shouldn't be pressured into leaving the Senate for saying exactly what more government officials probably feel but are afraid to say. She said blacks and everyone else will at least know what they are dealing with in Lott, unlike with other individuals who vote and feel the same way, but hide those feelings behind a smile.
"Everybody has an opinion and I just think he spoke his mind. You are never going to change a person's opinion," she said. "There are others worse than him not saying what they truly feel."
As for reports that Ohio's two Republican senators accepted Lott's apology and said he should not be ousted as majority leader, Oliver said he is not surprised. He said Sens. Mike DeWine and George V. Voinovich have a poor record when it comes to voting on issues important to blacks. Showing support for Lott, he said, is as if the two senators are saying racism is OK.
Senators' reactions
Ohio's two Republican senators, meanwhile, had opposite reactions.
In a sharp reversal from his earlier position, Sen. George V. Voinovich applauded Lott's announcement.
On Monday, Voinovich spokesman Scott Milburn said the senator didn't think Lott should step down and didn't support the idea of a meeting to elect a new GOP leader.
Sen. Mike DeWine expressed similar sentiments, but unlike Voinovich and many other Republican senators, DeWine appeared to maintain his earlier stance even after Lott announced he would step down.
DeWine was not alone in expressing sadness and remorse about Lott's decision, but few, if any, other Republican senators did not qualify those statements by saying the decision was in the GOP's best long-term interests.