Jesse Helms, a former Republican senator from North Carolina and an iconic figure of American politics passed away almost a week ago. I did not post well wishes to him and I deliberately ignored the subject. After the outpour of support for him, I can’t help but shake my head in dismay. I do not enjoy speaking ill of the dead, but this has to be said:

Jesse Helms was a bigot.

The world is not better off without him. Indeed, the loss of any human life is a tragedy, but people die all the time. We lift up the memories of those special few who have come before us and made the world a better place. Jesse Helms was not one of those people. I mourn for his family and I remember him, but have no love for him.

Let Jesse Helms be remembered thusly:

His career began working for a series segregationist candidates who preached against “the mingling of races.” He worked as a television commentator during the civil rights movement where he ranted against “the Negro” and the inferiority of non-whites. He won his first senate seat by playing the race card against his Greek opponent. Once in the senate he opposed Martin Luther King Day, AIDS treatment, continued to air racially charged campaign messages against non-white opponents, and publicly heckled black members of congress.

Jesse Helms, we remember you.