basquebromance
Diamond Member
- Nov 26, 2015
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When Lyndon Johnson was in Congress in the 1950s he had three of his employees drive his car back from Washington to Austin at the end of every legislative session. That trip took his employees through the deep south. In Johnson’s telling, this went on for years without incident and he was unaware of any issues with this trip.
All three employees were black.
One year, he asked the three employees to take his dog, Beagle, back to Austin with him. According to Robert A. Caro in Master of the Senate, one employee hesitated, explaining:
“It’s tough enough to get all the way from Washington to Texas. We drive for hours and hours. We get hungry. But there’s no place on the road we can stop and go in and eat. We drive some more. It gets pretty hot. We want to wash up. But the only bathroom we’re allowed in is usually miles off the main highway. We keep goin’ ‘til night comes – ‘til we get so tired we can’t stay awake anymore. We’re ready to pull in. But it takes another hour or so to find a place to sleep.
“You see, what I’m saying is that a colored man’s got enough trouble getting across the South on his own, without having a dog along.”
In Johnson’s telling, hearing this story was jarring enough to permanently convince him of the necessity of protecting his employees – and every other African-American – from discrimination.
We, as a society, do not have to allow private companies to violate Americans’ civil rights.
All three employees were black.
One year, he asked the three employees to take his dog, Beagle, back to Austin with him. According to Robert A. Caro in Master of the Senate, one employee hesitated, explaining:
“It’s tough enough to get all the way from Washington to Texas. We drive for hours and hours. We get hungry. But there’s no place on the road we can stop and go in and eat. We drive some more. It gets pretty hot. We want to wash up. But the only bathroom we’re allowed in is usually miles off the main highway. We keep goin’ ‘til night comes – ‘til we get so tired we can’t stay awake anymore. We’re ready to pull in. But it takes another hour or so to find a place to sleep.
“You see, what I’m saying is that a colored man’s got enough trouble getting across the South on his own, without having a dog along.”
In Johnson’s telling, hearing this story was jarring enough to permanently convince him of the necessity of protecting his employees – and every other African-American – from discrimination.
We, as a society, do not have to allow private companies to violate Americans’ civil rights.