I'm sorry, but let's face the facts. Mr. Helms was a bigot, a racist and, along with Strom Thurmond, a Dixiecrat who had no problem fighting against desegregation, even though I bet the hypocrisy of his best pal Strom having had a child by his black maid would not bother him. He resisted integration and his political campaigns were nothing more than race baiting. I, as a white North Carolinian, have always felt ashamed by him. He sullied our state's reputation and I hope he has much to apologize for in the afterlife.