Glen -
He in no way endorsed segregation in his comments. The Dixiecrat party under whose banner Strom ran in '48 opposed the FEDERAL integration legislation on the basis of constitutionality. In that, in my opinion, they were correct. The Constitution clearly enumerated the powers given to the Federal Government and stated that all else was the purview of the states. Thus, segregation should have been dealt with in each state.
Granted, Trent fucked up and shouldn't have said what he did (especially in this PC climate). However, I think he did more damage to himself within his own party when he went and rolled over like a lap dog on BET. He doesn't deserve to be Senate Majority Leader, but only the people of his state can decide if he deserves to represent them in Congress.