[PEN-L:33065] Re: RE: forwarded from Kendall Clark on Lott

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

If I remember correctly, the main "civil rights" issue in the 1940s was
the push for a federal anti-lyching bill, always killed by southern
filibusters. It was safe for northern democrats to take a pro-civil
rights stand on various issues because they could be sure their southern
comrades would prevent anything serious from happening.

Truman desegregated the army only because he was faced with a national
railroad strike by the pullman porters union if he did not. And
passenger trains were still important at that time. In 1951 when I
enlisted in the Air Force I (and a thousand others) were transported
from Detroit to Lackland AFB in pullman cars.

Carrol