Hubert Humphrey 1948 Civil Rights Speech

[ChannelGameshow]

The statement at 7:30 to 7:51 caused the Dixecrats to walk out.

[1967Rasmus]

Just as America has a shameful history of shocking racist injustice, it also has a very proud tradition of "Noble Whites" who stand up for and even walk shoulder to shoulder with their oppressed African-Americam fellow human beings. The greatest hero of all "Noble Whites" was, of course, John Brown, but HH is also up there among the bravest in that tradition.

[PC3900]

A landmark.

[jaybirdzz]

This speech changed the platform of the DNP, and represents a true profile in courage by a great American. HHH took a position that was contrary to that of both Lucas, the Dem. Senate Majority leader, and Senator Dick Russell, who led the Southern caucus. HHH certainly knew that there would be consequences. Many Democrats sneared, but Senator Paul Douglas of Ill. led a parade in support.

[FRSFreeState]

Hubert Humpfrey was probably 15-20 years ahead of him time on Civil Rights

[Sistarovat]

It is impossible to call oneself a "Conservative" and support the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The two do not go hand in hand. The CRA was unconstitutional. You cannot be a Conservative and support anything unconstitutional.

[jshalom65]

Can you say Political Courage?My mother was the only one in my family who voted for him in 1968,and it is one of the things that I am most proud of her for. We would have been a lot better off he'd gotten in(he almost won the dang thing). I'll love this guy forever............

[donaldsoffer]

Happy 100th Humphrey. You will always be remembered as a true boss.

[ToaJoe]

Mr. Johnson was a cunt, Humphrey should have become president in his place, he deserved it a lot more and he would not have sent US troops to Vietnam. Johnson threatened him to support the Vietnam war, otherwise he would demote him from his position and ruin his chances of presidency.

[toddsmitts]

@ToaJoe Demote him??? VP is an ELECTED position, and thus the President cannot fire the Vice-President, as opposed to cabinet members. What president can do is give and take away several specific responsibilities. In all fairness, Humphrey did back LBJ 100% on Vietnam, particularly when trying to get back into his good graces. Also in LBJ's defense, he played as large a role as Humphrey in chamioning the '64 Act and perhaps even more so for the '65 Act.

[ToaJoe]

@toddsmitts He threatened to support another person at the next election for presidency if Humphrey did not support Vietnam.

[ryviuz]

you can simply look at an interesting comparison of the maps of 1944 election (before the speech and when all Southern States always vote Democrats), 1948 election after this very speech (when the Southern States nominate their own hardline segregationist President), the 1964 election after the passage of Civil Right Act (when Southern States finally start voting GOP), all the way through 2008 election. (when a black man was nominated by Democrats).

[xaviqaz]

@ryviuz In national elections Southern States voted Democratic until Reagan. Carter won the Bible Belt. At local level, the South was blue until the last 10-15 years. Some Legislatures became red in 2008-2010 for the first time since Reconstruction.

[ryviuz]

@xaviqaz false,, they started as early as Nixon,, which is by the way the one who started Southern Strategy

[xaviqaz]

@ryviuz The black vote was heavily Democratic even in early 1950s. It goes back to the New Deal and the birth of modern Welfare State.

[ryviuz]

Storm Thurmond and allies, which walked out during this speech, and disagree with Human Rights platform later move to Republican Party

and thats, my friend, are the beginning of Right-Wing GOP as we know it

[AmericanSpeeches]

@ryviuz Both extreme Right-Wing and extreme Left-Wing are very dangerous for America. Our country has always see-sawed between people who stress individual rights and those who stress rights of the community. If taken to the extreme, either philosophy would destroy the country.

[xaviqaz]

@ryviuz only a small minority of dixiecrats switched parties

[ryviuz]

@xaviqaz only small minority "that you know", but you are correct to some extent,, the party switch was done step by step. Firstly they choose independent or GOP presidents, but keep state legislators and governor in Southern Dems. Then they choose GOP Presidents and Governors. Finally the switch was complete and Deep South is now as Red as a tomato.

[xaviqaz]

@ryviuz Thurmond and Godwin switched parties. Long, Talmadge, Byrd, Johnston, Sparkman, Ellender, Walters, Russell, Eastland, Laney, Smathers... and many others, were Democrats for life. Even though many of them lived long past 1964.

[ryviuz]

@xaviqaz dude.. Thurmond and Godwin are NOT the only one who switch party to GOP. There hundreds thousands of them. The following switch from Democrats to GOP : Ronald Reagan !, Rick Perry, Condy Rice, Jesse Helms, MICHELE BACHMANN !,, Trent Lott, McNamara, Lane Carson, James Byrnes, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, etc.

The southerners who stayed in Democrats mostly become bluedogs/moderates like President Carter or Senator Byrd and recanting their past.

[xaviqaz]

@ryviuz Reagan? the Governor of California, a dixiecrat? midwesterner Michele Bachmann? xDDD What are we talking about?

[ryviuz]

@xaviqaz yeah i know the were not southerner per see,, but they were both conservatives that share many values with Dixiecrat. The point remains: not only Thurmond and Godwin switch party

[xaviqaz]

@ryviuz Thurmond and Godwin were among the few dixiecrats who switched parties. Most prominent dixiecrats remained democratic for life, because they were LIBERALS. By the way, there are many blue dogs in northern states like New York, Pennsylvania and others.

[toddsmitts]

@xaviqaz I doubt being LIBERAL was the reason for their fealty to the Dems. Jacob Javits was Republican, yet far more liberal than just about any southernor. More likely I suspect being a senior member of the MAJORITY party with key committee positions was far more appealing than defecting and starting over in the MINORITY party.

[Raford146]

You know when someone is arguing for equal rights for all Americans in the 1940s, he's being sincere.

[pwells5]

Humbert Humphrey was a good man.

[toddsmitts]

Just read a GREAT book called "The Walls of Jericho" chronicling the stuggle to pass civil rights legislation through the senate, from the POV of Humphrey, LBJ, and segregationist senator Richard Russell. A fascinating insight into all three men. I think LBJ (and perhaps Humphrey as well) could have been one of the greatest presidents of our time if not for Vietnam.

[Dukeoftruth]

The democratic party is the party the tried to institutionalize slavery in the U.S. This is a fact they can never run away from.

[toddsmitts]

@Dukeoftruth The Democratic party has some ugliness in its past, no doubt about it. Conversely, some Republicans took courageous stands on civil rights (Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Jacob Javits, Everett Dirksen). Starting in the 60's however, the toxic social conservatism that permeated the Dems slowly but surely migrated over to the GOP, where it corrupted this once-great party.

[sweatyshorts]

@toddsmitts So the Democratic party isn't corrupt, now?

[toddsmitts]

@sweatyshorts I didn't say there wasn't been some abysmal democrats, but most of the intolerance that permeated the party has shifted to Republicans. It's not a coincidence that that the states that resisted integration 50 years ago are now red states.

[sweatyshorts]

@toddsmitts Of course, Southern conservatives are morons, but to suggest that the GOP, now, is what the Democrat Party was, then (mob lynchings, bombings, beatings, segregation, slavery, the KKK), is disingenuous. Those bigots have, more or less, been marginalized.

[toddsmitts]

@sweatyshorts I didn't mean a literal equivalent, but certainly the kind of ignorant, paranoid, reactionary attitudes prevalent in one party have since passed to another. Defending segregation may be beyond the pale for even the most conservative politician today, but painting gay people as a threat to marriage somehow and inferring that all Muslims want to take over the country and impose Sharia law shows the more things change, the more they stay the same.

[4801254728]

I love this guy Humphrey. Such a good man. My dad met him.

[thejokersonyou]

This is courage. Show me a man who's willing to say it when its not popular. I think some people think the Democratic party was always on the right side of civilrights. The reception he got was kind of chilly and it would be another 20 years before anyone would do anything about civil rights, and the Dems lost the south as LBJ predicted. I can't imagine what the 70's would have been like if Humphrey beat Nixon. Probably that better alternatve universe where Gore beat Bush.

[1prouddemocrat]

AmericanSpeeches, THANK YOU for including this speech. It's one of the most important moments in modern Democratic Party history; when the Democratic Party became the party of civil rights.

[jkcbatonrouge]

Hubert Humphrey was a great American. Imagine how different things would have been if he had been elected President in 1968.

[toddsmitts]

If people go through the immigration process openl,y through proper channels, then they're entitled to the same rights as any citizen. Sneaking across a border does not entitle you to such.

I have no problem with giving the benefit of the doubt to people "looking to better their life situation", but they must be honest about their intentions in return.

[Kippe1702]

HHH 4 life

[marcostar57]

HHH was a true Progressive, a great American!  A man ahead of his time.

[huckstered]

Elvis and Sinatra?

[Knodtreal]

Yes Elvis and Sinatra... if you think these guys were racist you really have some homework to do...

[huckstered]

Oh no, I never considered either to be racist but they never did a anything except be famous. Besides anything to do with researching entertainers I would not call homework. I could read the National Enquirer for extra credit I suppose.

[Knodtreal]

Well Elvis broke down many racial barriers and exposed black music to the world over, giving shine to many of his favorite musicians who other than he, many white people would have never heard of because of our racist society...

Sinatra was very anti-racist. For example, in the late sixties when schools were starting to become integrated, Sinatra went to Gary, Indiana and gave a speech to about 5,000 angry white parents, students, and faculty. He stood his ground and spoke out against racism...

[huckstered]

Thankyou, I didn't realize these things, it is commonplace nowadays for celebrities to endorse causes. Back then it wasn't . However the impact was miniscule to none. Music is hardly itself an item to influence predjudices. I do agree with you. about Sinatra - he was very close to Sammy Davis Jr. Good people ? I have read otherwise.

Hubert? Yea!

[ferociousmadman]

but they vacilate on gay rights today and I'm sure they always will, they don't have the same courage today that they used to have on civil rights.

[AmericanSpeeches]

Don't forget it took 100 years and the horror of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma being televised to the whole shocked nation to get Civil Rights legislation, it took way over a 100 years to get the vote for women, so don't despair in the fight for gay rights yet, it may take some time, but it won't take a 100 years.

[ferociousmadman]

I suppose you're right, we'll see. I have hopes.

[BuddyNovinski]

Keep an eye on the Senate to change things. We just saw this with the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Act. The Senate blocked civil rights for eight decades, and it took Lyndon Johnson to push through the first act in 1957. He knew it set up later bills, such as the ones in 1964 and 1965.

Note that civil rights included religion (ironic to the Religious Reich), because Jews -- especially in Minneapolis -- faced discrimination as well.

Next: Don't Ask, Don't Tell the Truth.

[electrictroy2010]

@AmericanSpeeches Apparently you've forgotten about the Civil Rights bills passed by the Republicans in the 1860s and 70s. They guaranteed to blacks the right to equal treatment and access to government services

.

[huckstered]

Not the same issue, not as

politically charged. NO backing.

[mesmerizm]

and the efforts of both of them were needed...it was necessary for humphrey and others to give the issue of civil rights a full public airing...and the work of LBJ in shepherding this through congress was masterful...but it took all of these efforts and more to secure those rights in 1964

[huckstered]

LBJ used Humphry , LBJ did the political horse trading - Humphry was a crusader but often put his political foot in his mouth. Idealism won't work without realism.

[dpludwig]

humphrey argued for civil rights, but johnson made it happen...

[AmericanSpeeches]

You are correct, but Humphrey gave this speech in 1948 - it would be 16 more years before Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

[damo2353]

@AmericanSpeeches But only 9 before the Civil Rights Act of 1957, without which, the progress made under LBJ would have been much delayed.

[Celestialviolin]

Humphrey got the Civil Rights Acts of '64 & '65 passed through Congress so LBJ could sign it. LBJ couldn't have gotten it through Congress because not all Congresspersons would let themselves be bullied by him.

[huckstered]

Nonsense.

[antonscottgoustin]

@dpludwig AND WHO AUTHORED THE LEGISLATION IN THE U.S. SENATE? It was not Johnson. He was Prez. It was Hubert Humphrey who authored and championed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was HUMPHREY! Please get the record right!