Bob Dole Quotes

At the time, the Southern segregationists were all Democrats and they blocked any Democratic attempt to pass any Civil Rights legislation. When he could not get a Civil Rights commitment from his own party, Powell turned to the Republicans and the President wrote this letter. In return, in November, Powell endorsed and supported Eisenhower instead of Stevenson, his own party’s nominee. Eisenhower could not get any legislation on Civil Rights as the Southern Democrats would always block it. When President Lyndon Johnson finally forced the 1963 Civil Rights Act through the Congress, the racist Southern Democrats cut a deal with Goldwater and the conservative Republicans, and switched parties. Since then the Civil Rights stance of the two parties reversed. The Democrats were thereafter pro Civil Rights and the Republicans, the party of Lincoln and Reconstruction, thereafter reversed their Civil Rights position and opposed progress in this area.

He was the first FHA administrator to make statements saying that non-discriminatory housing services should be available to the American people. At the time the Southern states had laws allowing and protecting legal segregation especially in housing. The Southern field staff interpreted his instruction to be sure that both blacks and whites had access to FHA services, but they used the “separate but equal” doctrine: Provide services to both races but always in segregated housing projects. This was typical of the kinds of problems that motivated the Civil Rights Acts offered by President Kennedy in 1963 and passed by President Johnson in 1964. See {637272} for a similar Mason statement.

This was art of the Nixon "Southern Strategy" to alienate the white supremacists and racists from the Democratic Party with Civil Rights legislation and rhetoric, and get most of them to become Republicans. But as Phillips observed, when Negroes began voting in significant numbers in the South the party switching really accelerated.

This was a very courageous speech for the President to give. Senator Hubert Humphrey had proposed civil rights legislation. At the time most of the racial conservative members of Congress were Democrats and not Republicans as they would become after Civil Rights legislation actually passed in 1964. There was little possibility that the civil rights law would pass as the Southern Democrats could filibuster it in the Senate. None the less Truman supported the legislation and the principle of equal rights despite the fact that he was a Southerner and he knew he would lose the support of the conservative wing of his party.

Arkansas Governor Faubus ordered the national guard to prevent Black students from integrating Central High School in Little Rock. President Eisenhower was a man of action and not rhetoric and his lack of firm public statements overlooked an opportunity to use the Presidential “bully pulpit” and exercise his moral leadership and authority. Armstrong was irate at Eisenhower for appearing to do nothing and say nothing. See {615852}. When Eisenhower did enforce the court order and used Federal troops, Armstrong sent him this congratulatory telegram. His reference to walking into the schools was in support of many who suggested that the best thing the President could have done was to personally take one of the Black students by the hand and walk into the school with him or her. With the mood of the Southern racists, such an act was potentially very risky for the President and it is not known whether of not the President and his staff ever considered such an act.

The question produced this silly answer from a brilliant man and public critic of the ultra conservatives’ racism within his own party. He didn’t dare say “Yes” for if he did, the opponents of the Republcian party would quote his answer to great advantage. However most of the racists in America identify with the Republican party. Although this was the party of Lincoln and the major force against slavery and segregation in America, in 1964 the racists of America were furious at Lyndon Johnson and the liberal Democrats for passing the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 over their opposition and filibusters. The Republicans then adopted their “Southern Strategy” and welcomed the racists into the Republican Party. In a few short years, the highly racist“Solid South” had changed from solid Democratic to solid Republican. Politically the Southern Strategy was very successful in the 20th Century, but started to hurt Republicans in National Elections by the end of that century.

He was the first FHA administrator to make statements saying that non-discriminatory housing services should be available to the American people. He was not able to change the agency’s equal opportunity performance because the Southern states had laws allowing and protecting legal segregation especially in housing. The Southern staff interpreted his position to be sure that both blacks and whites had access to FHA services, but they used the “separate but equal” doctrine: Provide services to both races but always in segregated housing projects. This was typical of the kinds of problems that motivated the Civil Rights Acts offered by President Kennedy in 1963 and passed by President Johnson in 1964 See {637271} for a similar Mason statement.

The great contralto singer, Marian Anderson, an African American, had been refused by the Daughters of the American Revolution the use of Constitution Hall as a venue for her concert based on their White Performers Only policy. First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned in protest from the DAR and she and the President asked Secretary Ickes to arrange a public concert at the Lincoln Memorial and he did. There was no Civil Rights Act at the time.

This was a very unusual and enlightened position for a labor leader to take at the time when most labor organizations were as racist as the rest of white society. He did not make much significant progress in racially integrating organized labor but he did not suffer for the position he took either.

The main source of Republican votes was Anglo White males. However, the demographics of the nation had been changing for a few decades where the non-Whites are the fastest growing demographic subgroup. The projection was clearly that Anglo Whites would cease to be the majority in the coming years and each year they became slightly smaller. This caused many of the Republican politicians to redouble their efforts to appeal (sometimes pander) to non-Anglo White males in order to gain a majority. However, many of the positions that appealed to White Males—like immigration control and deportation of "illegals"—often offended many of the new growing demographic groups who voted in larger numbers against the Republicans. The money and manpower that was needed to try and produce a slim majority gave fewer and fewer resources to those Republicans who wanted to campaign heavily with the current minorities and to be majorities in order to get an even higher percentage to non-Anglo White Males. So each year Republicans were losing more and more ground with the very groups that were becoming a larger and larger voting bloc. Hence the "Death Spiral".

He was the only Black member of Congress at the time.

In 1924 Congress voted a bonus to all veterans but refused to pay it until 1945. With the privation of the Depression, 15,000 poverty stricken veterans marched on Washington, and set up camps. The fact that there were Negroes in the Camps was evidence that the demonstration was Communist inspired as at the time the Communists were one of the very few groups favoring integration. The Army bias was so strong that the presence of Jews was evidence of radicals. The Army, under General Douglas MacArthur with George Patton leading the Calvary, attacked the protesters camp and burned them out injuring many. President Hoover got the blame but MacArther did not obey Hoover’s instructions not to cross the bridge to the camp. He was in character as was his aide Major Dwight D. Eisenhower who tried to dissuade MacArthur from attacking to no avail.

This was written even before the end of slavery.