Last Sunday's New York Times Magazine featured a cover story on Trent Lott, the Republican Senate majority leader from Mississippi, in which Lott is described as "gracious and conservative," though the writer warns that he may have trouble managing his more partisan colleagues. Lott may not have the ideological fire to satisfy the right wing of his party; instead, he is perhaps better characterized as a pragmatist.

The image of Lott as a moderate may be challenged by his actions during the 1960s. Lars Erik Nelson's editorial in the Jan. 29 New York Daily News describes a pending lawsuit that is forcing the release of the names of people who were involved with the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. This commission was a racist organization that was created in the 1950s to defend states rights and white purity against desegregation. It members included redneck sheriffs and snitches, and it financially aided White Citizens Councils, another perversely racist organization whose members wore suits instead of sheets. One of the Commission's agents informed the Ku Klux Klan of the license plate number of the car which the Freedom Summer martyrs James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were driving. The car was stopped by Klansmen all three were murdered.

Nelson claims that Trent Lott aided the Sovereignty Commission during the 1960s and is probably classified in the lawsuit as a state actor, a member or informant who served as a source of information. If these allegations are true. Trent Lott is a white supremacist--or at least he used to be. The Times article states that as late as 1983, Lott opposed the creation of a national holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr." The Daily News editorial says that Lott "praises--as [he] is warmly praised by--the Council of Conservative Citizens, widely regarded as the successor to the White Citizens Councils and the nation's leading defender of the Confederate flag."

However, even if Trent Lott's association with a hate group is proved, his image as a genial, even "gracious" politician will probably not suffer much damage, at least not in the South. The early, Klan membership of Sen. Robert, Byrd (D, W.Va.) has not hurt his career. The Sovereignty Commission agent who is indirectly responsible for the murder of the three civil rights activists in 1964 is now a staff member for Rep. Mike Parker, another Mississippi Republican. Even the two old and grizzled, foes of racial equality, Jesse Helms (R, N.C.) and Strom Thurmond (R, S.C.), continue to infest the Senate.

The double standard that black politicians and leaders face is stunning. Jesse Jackson has never completely lived down his unfortunate "Hymietown" remark during the 1984 presidential campaign. Louis Farrakhan is widely considered a dangerous extremist for various comments he has made over the years. However, as bizarre as some of the Nation of Islam's rhetoric may be, this organization has not caused any direct or appreciable harm to anyone. The same cannot be said for organizations such as the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission or the White Citizens Councils.

Another example of the intensive scrutiny that black politicians face is the tragic character assassination leveled against Lani Guinier, after President Clinton nominated her to be the deputy attorney general for civil rights. Because of controversial articles about alternative voting systems that she wrote in law school, she was dubbed a "quota queen," and her nomination was sabotaged.

Why is there no media outcry about Lott's shady past? He has not been challenged for his alleged associations with a group that promoted racism and segregation. And now, as Senate majority leader, he has the power to affect national policy on issues such as affirmative action and welfare reform, areas which directly impact millions of black Americans.

If Lott were held to the same standard as Guinier, he would be driven from office. Yet, Lott will probably escape from this scandal unscathed, perhaps without even being forced to mouth an insincere apology. The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission was disbanded in the 1970s. But the legacy of white supremacy continues to poison out society and to infect national politics.

David W. Brown's column appears on alternate Wednesdays.