Byrd’s career is also a reminder that no political party has a monopoly on wisdom or virtue. It was Southern Democrats who tried desperately to deny equal rights to African Americans, and it was the votes of Northern Republicans that helped pass the landmark legislation. Southern whites switched parties and made the South a GOP bastion. This has been the situation for decades now — but it won’t last forever.

Last week, in my home state of South Carolina, an African American named Tim Scott defeated Strom Thurmond’s son in the Republican primary for a seat in the House. The GOP nomination for governor was won by Nikki Haley, who is of Indian descent and was called a “raghead” by one of her good ol’ boy critics. In Alabama, Rep. Artur Davis failed to become the first African American to win the Democratic nomination for governor — largely because he took the African American vote for granted.

Robert Byrd’s amazing career reminds us that times really do change. And so do people.