population. It also divided the multi-ethnic American population on a broader
level. Joseph Califano, a political advisor to the president, recalled in his memoir
how “Johnson’s efforts on behalf of blacks drew complaints from Mexican-
Americans that the administration was neglecting their needs” (Califano, 1991,
p. 135). The legislation mainly aimed at improving the situation of African
Americans failed to recognise the needs of other groups, making the policies
even more controversial.
The civil rights legislation thus divided American society in a number of
ways. Firstly, Johnson’s desire to compromise led to problems by dividing the
public into people who thought it went too far and those who perceived it as not
going far enough. Secondly, the following riots led to a decrease in support for
his policies and of the democratic voter base. Finally, it divided the civil rights
movement itself on the question of its future direction. Essentially, the American
public was not ready for the radical reform Johnson wanted to enact.
These civil rights policies were one part of the greater legislative complex
that President Johnson termed the ‘Great Society’. In his words, a great society
is one that “rests on abundance and liberty for all” and which “demands an end
to poverty and racial injustice” (qtd. in Levy, 1998, p. 106). And he did indeed try
to turn this vision into reality by providing opportunities to previously
disadvantaged people, like the elderly, people of colour, and the poor (Mileur,
2005, p. 436). It encompassed Medicare, “educational assistance”, a “higher
minimum wage”, “housing”, “poverty grants”, “legal protection for the blacks”
and many more – essentially something for everyone (Kearns, 1976, p. 216). His
‘Great Society’ therefore had the potential to unite by closing the gaps between
different groups along the lines of wealth and race, but it did not achieve what
it set out for. In this way, it resembles his civil rights legislation, which only
managed to unite in the beginning, but divided the country further in the
8
Made with FlippingBook HTML5