Did he? And if he did, when did he? I think part of the problem many Non-democrat minorities have is the lack of similar scrutiny when the perpetrator is a Democrat.
Yes, it is true that Byrd many times denounced or claimed he regrets his associates with the KKK. In his memoirs he himself claimed it was something he "joined for excitement and because he thought it opposed communism."
He claimed he was in it briefly and has haunted him ever since. He has claimed he was in it for just a short while btw in 1941 and left it in 1943 when he moved to Baltimore.
However there are letters of his addressed to other KKK members long after he claimed he had left. For example his letter from 1945 to a Kkk Senator whining about integration
Here is what he wrote:
"I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.”
That does not sound like the words of a man who lacked conviction or was looking for an opposition to communism.
You'd have to forgive me if I struggle to find an adult who says this somehow miraculously changed. Especially, when the claim of his change itself is a half truth.
Well, he said he was wrong about Trump. And he gives ample evidence why he believes he was wrong.
Aw for Byrd on the other hand seemed to have changed his mind because being a racist wasn't commensurate with his political aspirations once he was outside the cesspit that was W. Virginia at the time.
It is almost certain that his political career in West Virginia was launched on the backs of KKK support, and inspirations.
As a letter from 1946, long after he claimed he had left the KKK, youwhere he wrote to the Grand Wizard:
"the Klan is needed today as never before, and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia."
This years after he claimed 'technically' left the clan. Soon after he organized and ran for office in WV and won and kept doing so until he became a Senator.
It seems it was when being a racist stopped being a career advancement track, that he himself began to recalibrate. Or so it would seem to anyone who gives his history an honest look over rather than the hand waving of "He changed his mind and the Liberal blacks of the NAACP who he allocated money gave him a pass."
Yes, this is often how Left reframe Byrd. He was young man who made a mistake joining the clan, changed his mind and felt bad or guilty and was later supported by the NAACP. This all is forgiven.
In reality his history is way more complicated. And an explanation of self preservation is far more sensible and plausible than the whitewashed version Democrats like telling themselves.
Byrd has the sole distinction of being the ONLY Senator of all Seven who had the opportunity to vote on the confirmation of the first 2 black Supreme Court Justices. One from the Left and one from the Right. Who opposed both!
He also opposed the Civil Rights act of 64 and 65.
In 2001 8 years before be died and well into his 80s he had an interview where he said we have "White N-words" in West Virginia too. 2ice. As always he apologized and was quickly forgiven for the misstep. No one thought to inquire as to why a supposedly changed man was so comfortable using such language.
This is the kind of hand waving 'good' left minded people seem to partake in.
I can go on about the convoluted history of Byrd's race relations. Sure, he supported the integration of the Capitol force, supported a Martin Luther King holiday and gave the NAACP 10 million. Which is probably why they screwed black people and signed off on his transformation.
But his language late in his life, the lies in his KKK stories and when he left, his constant focus on how joining the KKK is an albatross for anyone trying to become politically important and his own timeline of when he changed, all suggests he was a full blown racist longer after Democrats want us to pay attention.