Eleanor Roosevelt Quotes
Racial intermarriage is a very personal problem. I would never say yes or no to intermarriage.
For anyone in government not to take a stand against intermarriage was almost unthinkable, but when the First Lady did so, it became a national scandal, especially in the South. See {625628} for one reaction.
Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962, First Lady (Franklin Delano Roosevelt), U. S. Delegate to the United Nations, Answer to question when speaking at Howard University
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Although intermarriage is discouraged by many cultures in America, Black intermarriage is the only kind that for years had the force of the criminal law supporting the prejudice.
This was passed after the Civil War had ended---during Reconstruction. Many states had similar laws until the Supreme Court challenges to them in the latter half of the 20th century.
He served a jail sentence in Britain for inciting race hatred. This statement was made in response to the accusation that he was an extremist.
At the time he was not Church president. The Mormon Church has had a very complex history regarding race; Blacks for example were prohibited from leadership positions in the Church. While not the only racist church, Mormon racism was more nuanced. Mormons aggressively sought Blacks and other ethnics for conversion into the church and on a personal and social level did not exhibit the antipathy towards non-whites that so many in other religions did. Yet their theology prohibited Blacks from certain leadership positions. Other religious racism was personal and social but not theological; Mormon racism was theological and not personal. Reforms have changed things slightly but critics of the church leadership at the start of the 21st century pointed to the attitudes of the President of the Church.
Note that Alabama not only had a law against miscegenation but with this constitution made it illegal for a legislature in the future to ever legalize miscegenation. After the Supreme Court made anti-miscegenation laws illegal, Alabama had to amend this part of its constitution.
Virginia never did recognize interracial marriage in its own. A Supreme Court ruling invalidated their law.
- Born: October 11, 1884
- Died: November 7, 1962
- Nationality: American
- Profession: First Lady
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American political figure, diplomat and activist. She served as the First Lady of the United States from March 4, 1933, to April 12, 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office, making her the longest-serving First Lady of the United States. Roosevelt served as United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952. President Harry S. Truman later called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.
