Didn't Know About Him

pinkskates4 · ‎03-10-2010

This year America will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, a candidate for the greatest legislative accomplishment of the last century.

Somewhere in all this worthy commemoration we should pause to pay homage to a conservative white Republican named William Moore McCulloch. Never heard of him? Neither had I. But there is a good case to be made that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would not have become law without him. And there is a very good case to be made that Washington desperately needs his example today.

With a district that was 2.7 percent black, he had no political incentive to stick his neck out on something as contentious as civil rights. But McCulloch was descended from abolitionists, and had been appalled by his exposure to Jim Crow when he worked as a young lawyer in Florida. This fortified in him a strong belief that the blessings of the Constitution were not meant exclusively for white men, and that it was the highest duty of the federal government to secure those blessings for all.

The Kennedy and Johnson administrations knew they would need a large contingent of Republicans to get the civil rights bill past the segregationist Southern Democrats who held the commanding heights on Capitol Hill. And so they sent an emissary to McCulloch, who was the senior Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, and enlisted him as a partner.

He had two conditions. First, if McCulloch helped get a strong bill through the House, he insisted the president would not allow it to be weakened in the Senate, where the oligarchy of Southern Democrats had successfully filibustered past civil rights measures until they were rendered toothless. Second, McCulloch wanted assurances that Republicans would share the credit for passage.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/opinion/keller-an-unsung-hero-of-civil-rights.html?_r=0

scotttie · ‎03-09-2010

Thank you.

Cakers1 · ‎03-09-2010

LBJ publicly stated that McCulloch was the most important force behind getting the Civil Rights Act passed. McCulloch was also a driving force behing the Voting Rights and Housing Acts.

Once again, if BOTH sides would stop digging in their heels and move more to the center, we'd have far fewer issues with such magnitude in this country.

SoX · ‎03-15-2010

Love this type of history ... I'm going to find out more about this man.

And on another note, HBO is (was) running a documentary on the little known, but larger than life, lawyer to spearheaded Brown vs. Board of Education, though he didn't live to see it pass. His name was Charles Hamilton Houston.

EmmaBunting · ‎01-19-2013

On 1/20/2014 Cakers1 said:
LBJ publicly stated that McCulloch was the most important force behind getting the Civil Rights Act passed. McCulloch was also a driving force behing the Voting Rights and Housing Acts.

Once again, if BOTH sides would stop digging in their heels and move more to the center, we'd have far fewer issues with such magnitude in this country.

Amen, Cakers!

SoX · ‎03-15-2010

On 1/20/2014 EmmaBunting said:
On 1/20/2014 Cakers1 said:
LBJ publicly stated that McCulloch was the most important force behind getting the Civil Rights Act passed. McCulloch was also a driving force behing the Voting Rights and Housing Acts.

Once again, if BOTH sides would stop digging in their heels and move more to the center, we'd have far fewer issues with such magnitude in this country.

Amen, Cakers!

Amen, Emma!

pinkskates4 · ‎03-10-2010

On 1/20/2014 SoX said:
On 1/20/2014 EmmaBunting said:
On 1/20/2014 Cakers1 said:
LBJ publicly stated that McCulloch was the most important force behind getting the Civil Rights Act passed. McCulloch was also a driving force behing the Voting Rights and Housing Acts.

Once again, if BOTH sides would stop digging in their heels and move more to the center, we'd have far fewer issues with such magnitude in this country.

Amen, Cakers!

Amen, Emma!

Amen as well!!!!

Marianne1 · ‎04-16-2013

There are so many brave and under-recognized people that contributed to this Civil Rights Movement, and I thank them all.

So many unsung heroes, I kind of think of MLK Jr as the symbolic representation of them all.

SoX · ‎03-15-2010

Symbolic, maybe ... but folks like Medgar Evers, Charles Hamilton Houston, Jackie Robinson (the list could go on) deserve to be recognize by name, at least I think so. These men sacrificed so much that I don't want to lump them all together.

biancardi · ‎03-10-2010

On 1/20/2014 SoX said:
Symbolic, maybe ... but folks like Medgar Evers, Charles Hamilton Houston, Jackie Robinson (the list could go on) deserve to be recognize by name, at least I think so. These men sacrificed so much that I don't want to lump them all together.

there will always be unsung heroes for any major event in history. It isn't to take away from them, it is just that it really does take a village to enact change -- there are even more people who worked behind the scenes that we will never know their names.

MLK is not only the man that we honor today, but his is also the symbol of everyone who has fought and sacrificed in the name of Civil Rights.

I think he would not mind sharing his day with everyone....

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