Lyndon B Johnson
Lyndon B Johnson and the Civil Rights Act, 1964
Some people believe that Johnson was nothing more than an unprincipled politician. However, he claimed to be an idealist who wanted to make the USA a better and fairer place to live.
He began working with minorities in 1928 when he became a teacher in a segregated school – he taught 28 Mexican American pupils. Johnson was motivated by memories of his own childhood poverty and by his belief that giving help to minorities would bring spiritual and economic benefit to all Americans. However his own father had also stood up to the KKK in Texas.
During the Depression Johnson worked for the New Deal Agency but said that he would be, ‘run out of Texas’ if he accepted Washington’s order to have a black leader as a close advisor. He further explained that ‘long established’ and ‘deep rooted’ racial customs ‘cannot be upset overnight’. Johnson did work hard to help black unemployment but he privately referred to blacks as ‘niggers’.
As a Congressman of Texas and with black voters being relatively small in number (12% in Texas) Johnson knew that he had to vote with his fellow Southern Democrats in Congress against civil rights measures that aimed to prevent lynching, eliminate poll taxes and deny federal funding to segregated schools. This disgusted blacks but Johnson feared that Truman’s civil rights programme, post WWII, was forcing people to do something that they were not ready to do. In private though Johnson worked extremely hard to get black farmers and schoolchildren equal treatment in his district – 1938 he managed to get funding for housing in Austin, Texas which benefited Mexicans, blacks and white slum dwellers.
By the mid 1950’s Senator Johnson appeared to be changing his position on civil rights issues.
Some people believe that Johnson was nothing more than an unprincipled politician. However, he claimed to be an idealist who wanted to make the USA a better and fairer place to live.
He began working with minorities in 1928 when he became a teacher in a segregated school – he taught 28 Mexican American pupils. Johnson was motivated by memories of his own childhood poverty and by his belief that giving help to minorities would bring spiritual and economic benefit to all Americans. However his own father had also stood up to the KKK in Texas.
During the Depression Johnson worked for the New Deal Agency but said that he would be, ‘run out of Texas’ if he accepted Washington’s order to have a black leader as a close advisor. He further explained that ‘long established’ and ‘deep rooted’ racial customs ‘cannot be upset overnight’. Johnson did work hard to help black unemployment but he privately referred to blacks as ‘niggers’.
As a Congressman of Texas and with black voters being relatively small in number (12% in Texas) Johnson knew that he had to vote with his fellow Southern Democrats in Congress against civil rights measures that aimed to prevent lynching, eliminate poll taxes and deny federal funding to segregated schools. This disgusted blacks but Johnson feared that Truman’s civil rights programme, post WWII, was forcing people to do something that they were not ready to do. In private though Johnson worked extremely hard to get black farmers and schoolchildren equal treatment in his district – 1938 he managed to get funding for housing in Austin, Texas which benefited Mexicans, blacks and white slum dwellers.
By the mid 1950’s Senator Johnson appeared to be changing his position on civil rights issues.