Discussing Civil Rights Era, a Governor Is Criticized
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
Published: December 20, 2010

WASHINGTON — In an interview that set off a new round of debate on Monday about racial attitudes and politics, Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a potential Republican presidential candidate, recalled the 1960s civil rights struggle in his hometown, Yazoo City, saying, "I just don't remember it as being that bad."

In a profile published Monday in The Weekly Standard, Mr. Barbour also talked about the White Citizens' Councils of the late 1960s, which opposed racial integration. Mr. Barbour, a teenager and young adult during the 1960s, said that in his town, they were a positive force, praising them as "an organization of town leaders" who refused to tolerate the racist attitudes of the Ku Klux Klan.

The comments came as Mr. Barbour, 62, is actively considering a bid for the White House, and the governor's political opponents and some civil rights groups quickly seized on the remarks.

Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi N.A.A.C.P., told The Huffington Post, "It's beyond disturbing — it's offensive that he would take that approach to the history of this state to many African-Americans who had to suffer as a result of the policies and practices of the Citizens Council."

More recently, Mr. Barbour came to the defense of Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, who had omitted any mention of slavery in his office's annual declaration of April as Confederate History Month. Interviewed on CNN, Mr. Barbour dismissed the incident.

"To me, it's a sort of feeling that it's a nit, that it is not significant," he said, adding that it was "trying to make a big deal out of something doesn't amount to diddly."