Nixon’s Extreme Racism Revealed In Newly Released Tapes
Posted by: Wendy Atterberry
Filed in:
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6:15AM, Wednesday June 24th 2009
On January 23 ,1973, when the Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in the landmark case Roe v. Wade, President Nixon remained mum on the decision — publicly, that is. In private conversations, tapes released this week recorded by secret microphones in the Oval Office from January and February 1973, reveal Nixon expressing both ambivalence and shocking racism. He worried that easier access to abortions would foster “permissiveness” and that they would “break the family.” But he acknowledged that “sometimes an abortion is necessary,” like “when you have a black and a white,” he told an aide, before adding, “Or a rape.” Wha?? I wonder what he’d say about our current “black and white” president.
In another deeply disturbing conversation, this one with evangelist Billy Graham in February 1973, Nixon worried that Jewish leaders were stirring up anti-Semitic sentiment in their opposition to evangelical Christianity efforts, like Campus Crusade. “It may be they have a death wish.” he said. “You know that’s been the problem with our Jewish friends for centuries.” Right...I mean, just look at the Holocaust.
These disclosures, along with 150 hours of tape and 30,000 pages of document were made public yesterday by the Nixon Presidential library. The audio files are posted here, along with a sampling of the documents. [via NYTimes]
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Naneenya
wrote on June 24 2009 @ 06:42 am: [report]
I don’t think this is an issue of “OMG Nixon was racist!” I think this is more of a “sign of the times”. As citizens, we tend to hold our elected officials in a very high esteem. And, when something like this comes to light, we can’t help but alter our perception of them. But, I don’t think that this should be filed under “Nixon was a monster”. Unfortunately, that’s the way a lot of people thought at that time. So, instead of allowing it to change the way you view him, it should be a reminder of how far we’ve come.
Riley
wrote on June 24 2009 @ 06:58 am: [report]
@Naneenya - Totally agree.
You can’t condone it, but it was how a large portion of the country thought at the time. People weren’t dumber or monsters, just had different mindsets and values.
Dr. J
wrote on June 24 2009 @ 06:59 am: [report]
I disagree. It’s not a sign of the times. This is after several civil rights legislation had been passed on capitol hill. He should have known better than to ever let those statements come out of his mouth. And he should have stopped that archaic thinking long before he entered office. I do not think he was a monster, but things like this make me happy that he was forced to resign.
Riley
wrote on June 24 2009 @ 07:11 am: [report]
@Dr. J - It is naive to think that the passage of The Civil Rights Act just changes the way people think within that short of time period. If Gay marriage rights come into widespread law, do you think everyone will instantly accept homosexuals? This country is still widely conservative in a lot of ways, imagine decades ago.
Kris
wrote on June 30 2009 @ 09:12 am: [report]
The problem is Nixon’s beliefs had implications that reach far beyond “his times”. His beliefs led his actions, and with the appointment of people like William Rehnquist, Nixion’s beliefs and actions continue to have an impact on everyone’s civil and social liberties. Its too easy to dismiss something as a “sign of the times” just because it may have happened during a previous generation. We have to understand how our previous generations actions brought us to where we are today.