Saturday, August 27, 2011

LBJ : The Best President for Black Folk

Today marks the birthday of the greatest political liberator with the exception of Martin Luther King Jr. for African -Americans in the 20th century.
His name LBJ: for young folks LBJ stands for Lyndon Baines Johnson, not Lebron James.Let's Flashback and prove our thesis statement .LBJ had more impact on black America than any other president.

I have had some colleagues offering questions to my social media sites to challenge my political positions.I submit to them this morning:The greatest president for the United States in regards to being an change agent with direct impact on millions of black folk was LBJ.


Flashbacks: Summer,1963 : The "March on Washington" had not occurred. Dr. King's dream speech was not given yet.President Kennedy's Civil Rights Bill was languishing in Congress. Presiding over the powerful Senate committees were arch segregationist Democratic senators. The vice president was a good old boy from Texas. Lyndon Johnson. His job to use his influence to help pass the bill.


Flashback: November 22 ,1963 :President Kennedy in a campaign trip ,yes that was what it was. A campaign trip for the 1964 election was assassinated in the southern city of Dallas. Violence in the south was a contagion. President Kennedy dies and many now question whether the Civil Rights Bill died with him.


Flashback: The Johnson treatment.A relentless full force of energy ,threats , charm , promises ,and ego. Johnson uses every political lever under his command to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . Overcoming southern Democratic leaders .LBJ appeals to moderate Republicans.Republicans who worked for bipartisanship because it was right.Republicans &Democrats both voted for Civil Rights bills in 1964 southern Democrats did not.


Flashback:Civil Rights marchers are terrorized by Southern segregationist terrorism.While the Kennedy brothers offered deals to placate the political leaders of Alabama and Mississippi. Johnson took direct control by sending in the United States Army to protect the Voting Acts Marchers in Alabama.
Subsequently the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law. Thus liberating millions of black folk in the south who could not exercise heir constitutional right to vote.


Flashback: Neshoba County: 3 Civil Rights activists were missing. Things like that happened in Mississippi all the time .LBJ sends in the US Army and Navy " I want ya'll to drain every swamp and bring them boys back home to their mama"s." The 3 Civil Rights activists bodies were found .


Flash forward : Before you could get an Obama ,you had to have the right to vote.

Black America didn't .Basic civil rights were routinely, and systematically violated.Johnson stopped that too.Leadership starts from the top ,and if it was not for LBJ ,Civil Rights and the gains of the last 48 years would not have occurred . Thank you and Happy Birthday President Johnson !

1 Comments:

Anonymous Rev .Gerald Britt said...

I think the the LBJ piece was stellar. People who have trouble with him and the 'Great Society' remembering: LBJ unwisely tried to fight the War on Poverty and the War in Viet Nam at the same time. Before he committed to a strategy of escalation in Viet Nam the impact on this country was HUGE!

August 28, 2011 at 7:53 PM  

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