Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrat
Individual Freedom For Everyone

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Hubert Humphrey: '1948 Civil Rights Speech'

Source:American Speeches- Minneapolis, Minnesota Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey, at the 1948 Democratic National Convention.

"Hubert Humphrey gave this speech supporting civil rights, causing 35 delegates from Mississippi and Alabama to walk out of the 1948 Democratic National Convention. Humphrey urged the Democratic Party to "get out of the shadow of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights".  When President Truman endorsed this civil rights plank, governor of South Carolina Strom Thurmond helped organize the walkout of delegates into a separate party. The party Thurmond formed was called the "Dixiecrats" and it's racist slogan was "Segregation Forever!". 

From American Speeches

To know that Hubert Humphrey was a great man, all you have to do is look at or watch his 1948 Democratic National Convention speech on civil rights and to know that he was also ahead of his time. 

Just look at or listen to Hubert Humphrey's civil rights speech and this was even before he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Humphrey wasn't in Congress at all when he gave this speech (House or Senate) but a 1948 U.S. Senate candidate. 

And also to know how far ahead of his time he was, the civil rights movement didn't exist at all in the late 1940s at least as a national movement. But to a large extent at least on civil rights, Humphrey wasn't governed by what was popular at the time when he was the Deputy Leader of the U.S. Senate in 1964 and pushing the civil rights laws then. 

Civil rights was still not very popular in this country and Senator Humphrey in 1964 probably already knew and Lyndon Johnson certainly knew that passing civil rights laws was going to hurt the Democratic Party in the South and thats exactly what happened.

Leadership is not about what's doing what is popular at the time but what's the right thing to do at the time. And thats exactly what Hubert Humphrey did with this civil rights speech in 1948. And what he did in his entire career in Congress in the 1940s, 50s and 60s and civil rights is just an example of that.

Politzane: 'Wealth Inequality in America'

Source:POLITIZANE with a look at what left-wingers call wealth inequality.

"Infographics on the distribution of wealth in America, highlighting both the inequality and the difference between our perception of inequality and the actual numbers. The reality is often not what we think it is." 


My guess my main point and response to this is: who gets to decide what's fair when it comes to income distribution? I guess technically the government and the people who are elected to represent us. But those folks by-in-large, aren't saying that it's somehow unfair that doctors and lawyers are millionaires, while janitors, bus driver, taxi drivers, etc, the workers who might only need a high school diploma, if that, to do their job, work really hard, just to pay their bills. 

There are exceptions to every rule, like people inheriting wealth, marrying wealth, etc. But by-in--large, with our liberal democratic, capitalist system, you get out of this economy, what you put into it. You get yourself a good education, you develop your talents and then apply them really well, you are probably going to do very well in America. But if you don't, perhaps you didn't even finish high school, life for you will probably be a major struggle. But there are exceptions to that rule as well, like with entertainers and people who marry up. And I don't see what's unfair about that.