- AP
- Lyndon Johnson delivered the commencement address at Howard University in June 1965.
A half century ago this month, the U.S. economy was booming, Democrats controlled Congress, and a Democrat bent on helping the disadvantaged was in the White House. The nation seemed poised to confront its most stubborn social problems—even, perhaps, the chasm between black America and the rest of America.
He asked Goodwin, then 33, to bear that in mind as he wrote the speech for the Howard commencement.
Notwithstanding the legislative victories, by all conventional measures—unemployment, median income, poverty, infant mortality—the status of blacks was worsening compared to that of whites, the president observed: “The walls are rising and the gulf is widening.”
A conference titled “To Fulfill These Rights” would be convened at the White House in the fall, he said, at which scholars, experts, and civil rights leaders, black and white, would develop solutions for such problems, and a plan for the next stage in the battle for civil rights.
So for racial justice, the promising moment was squandered. And by the conventional measures today—unemployment, median income, poverty, and infant mortality—the gap between black America and the rest of the nation is still vast. The proportion of African-American families headed by single parents has climbed from a quarter to two-thirds. Racial segregation has abated only slightly. The “glorious opportunity” to end America’s one huge wrong awaits another generation.
