With leadership from Alabama U.S. Representative Terri Sewell, The U.S. House has approved legislation to restore civil rights rules, undoing a pair of U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
Not a single House Republican voted for the legislation, which passed on a vote of 219 to 212. Now the legislation is in the U.S. Senate.
A column by Adam Jentleson in today's N.Y. Times proposes President Biden follow the path a former Democratic President took under similar restraints:
"When (President Lyndon).... Johnson’s advisers counseled him to give up on civil rights, too, he shot back, “What the hell is the presidency for?” He personally intervened to get the civil rights bill to the floor, then forced his former mentor, fellow Democrat and self-avowed white supremacist, Senator Richard Russell, to lead a filibuster for roughly three months, betting that he could crack an obstructionist front that had remained solid since Reconstruction ended in 1877. Mr. Johnson had to deal with more than a few reluctant senators — most of those filibustering the civil rights bill were Democrats. To beat them, Mr. Johnson did not use magic powers. He simply spent months working every angle, relentlessly.
If Mr. Biden fails where Mr. Johnson succeeded, he will have left intact the system of legislative segregation that preserved Jim Crow. Whatever else he accomplishes, that will remain part of his legacy.
The president may try everything and fail. But the stakes are so high, he has to try."
I hope Biden will read that column, and heed it.
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