| “Dedicated to everyone who believes in peace, love, and non-violence, let’s keep the torch burning.” inscription on the plaque of the statue of Medgar Evers at The Jackson Library. |
LYNDON JOHNSON
Evers got to know President Johnson over
the years and every now and then found
himself trying to make peace between RFK
and LBJ.
“I had good relations with him (LBJ) and
I was supportive of him. Bob (Kennedy)
just had such friction with him. I’d
say, ‘Bobby just respect him… I talked
to Lyndon about him too. He thought that
Bob was bullheaded….”.
LBJ personally invited Evers to witness
when he signed the Voting Rights Act in
1965.
Evers credits LBJ advisor and former
Chicago Defender editor, Louis Martin
with encouraging him to return to
Mississippi to persist in voter
registration despite enormous
resistance. “We used to go the White
House to complain about the way we were
being treated in Mississippi and Louis
would tell me, Washington, don’t give a
damn unless you’ve got votes and money
and then he kept repeating ‘go back and
get people registered’. At first I got
fighting mad with him and I told him I’ve
been trying. But the more I thought
about it and the more I realized he was
Evers got to know President Johnson over
the years and every now and then found
himself trying to make peace between RFK
and LBJ.
“I had good relations with him (LBJ) and
I was supportive of him. Bob (Kennedy)
just had such friction with him. I’d
say, ‘Bobby just respect him… I talked
to Lyndon about him too. He thought that
Bob was bullheaded….”.
LBJ personally invited Evers to witness
when he signed the Voting Rights Act in
1965.
Evers credits LBJ advisor and former
Chicago Defender editor, Louis Martin
with encouraging him to return to
Mississippi to persist in voter
registration despite enormous
resistance. “We used to go the White
House to complain about the way we were
being treated in Mississippi and Louis
would tell me, Washington, don’t give a
damn unless you’ve got votes and money
and then he kept repeating ‘go back and
get people registered’. At first I got
fighting mad with him and I told him I’ve
been trying. But the more I thought
about it and the more I realized he was
| Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act |
right so I got even busier and never
stopped. Years later, I saw him before
he died and he said ‘Charles, now they
respect you because you’ve got some votes
in this city.”
stopped. Years later, I saw him before
he died and he said ‘Charles, now they
respect you because you’ve got some votes
in this city.”
| Medgar, the Movement & More an interview with Charles Evers - by David Koppel |
Lyndon Johnson
| by David Koppel © 2007 |