Critical Analysis on Senator Trent Lott s Statements at Strom Thurmond s 100th Birthday Celebration
On December 5 of last year former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott was full of emotion and praise when he and other prominent republicans including the President celebrated the 100th birthday of well-renowned Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. During his birthday celebration, Senator Lott made remarks of appreciation and gratitude of all the years that Thurmond dedicated to public service and the United States Senate. What Senator Lott didn’t know was that his remarks not only brought about controversy and anger to the American public; but it eventually forced him to resign his position as Senate Majority Leader. In the Mississippi Senator’s speech, one of Lott’s remarks was: “I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for President we voted for him. ... ” The utterance of these words and others made in Senator Lott’s speech outraged many Americans especially those in the minority community. Despite the fact that Strom Thurmond was famous for all the years he served in the U.S. Senate, Thurmond was also famous for being a true segregationist especially when he ran for President in 1948. Since Lott’s statement that our country would have been better had Thurmond won the Presidency was interpreted by the American public that our country would have been better if segregation still existed. ... What else in Lott’s remarks proved that this was his accurate feeling? ... In the ensuing paragraphs, I will discuss how the rhetor (Trent Lott) loses his credibility and the confidence of the American people through the procedures of Cluster Criticism, thus also determining the worldview of the speaker. ... Although Senator Trent Lott was the first senator to ever be elected Majority Leader from a southern state, a sign of his popularity in Congress, Lott has often been criticized for his very conservative ideals, especially in the area of equal and civil rights. According to an article in Time Magazine published in December of last year, Trent Lott helped lead a fight to keep African-Americans out of his national fraternity Sigma Nu after campuses in the Northeast were considering admittance to Blacks. At the time, Lott was president of the fraternity council at his alma mater the University of Mississippi in the 1960s (time.