Maynard Institute archives

A Black Aide to LBJ Speaks Up on “Selma”

by richard0621

Clifford Alexander Says Film Gets One Thing Wrong

Egypt Opens Door for Deportation of Jailed Journalists

2 Fired Over Footage Edited to Say “Kill a Cop”

N.Y. Times Tells Police That Refusing to Work Violates Oath

Roland Martin Show Airs “Creepy” Cosby Interview

Michigan Citizen, Black Weekly, Ends Print Edition

“Illegal Immigrant” Survives, Despite Style Changes

Milwaukee Columnist Eugene Kane Leaving After 33 Years

$10 Million Grant to Aid Female Journalists

Short Takes

Clifford Alexander Says Film Gets One Thing Wrong

Clifford L. Alexander Jr. says nobody from the news media has asked him, but that anyone who says that President Lyndon B. Johnson was at odds with Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders over the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act is wrong.

The issue has arisen because of a portrayal in the buzzworthy film “Selma,” which debuted in limited release on Christmas Day.

“On the big screen, it comes off as a scene of high drama: an icon of the civil rights movement upbraiding a hesitant president in the Oval Office, as a portrait of George Washington bears mute witness,” Karen Tumulty wrote Wednesday in the Washington Post.

” ‘Mr. President, in the South, there have been thousands of racially motivated murders,’ Martin Luther King Jr. says, imploring Lyndon B. Johnson to put his weight behind ensuring voting rights for black Americans. ‘We need your help!’ “

“To which he gets a pat on the shoulder. ‘Dr. King, this thing’s just going to have to wait,’ Johnson says.

“In real life, that December 1964 meeting happened — but not that way, according to one who was there.

” ‘It was not very tense at all. We were very much welcomed by President Johnson,’ recalled former Atlanta mayor and U.N. ambassador Andrew Young, who attended the session as a young lieutenant to King. ‘He and Martin never had that kind of confrontation.’ . . .”

Alexander agrees and notes that Young notwithstanding, none of the stories about the controversy mentions the two black people who worked with Johnson: himself and Louis E. Martin, the “godfather of black politics” who acted as the unnoticed liaison between African Americans and U.S. presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Jimmy Carter, according to one biography. Martin, who died in 1997, was deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee. “We were Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside,” Alexander said.

Alexander was deputy special counsel to the president, a civil rights adviser. “The only African American, on the staff, at the time,” Alexander told CBS News in July on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act.

In the dispute over Johnson’s portrayal in the film, “nobody has asked the black person” who was working with Johnson in the White House, Alexander told Journal-isms by telephone on Thursday. Alexander is credited with helping to shepherd the Voting Rights Act of 1965 through Congress.

“Johnson wanted the pressure from the outside” to back his civil rights initiative, one that was important to Johnson because he knew it would be historic. “To make it appear that Johnson was some evil-minded genius who was against this is just plain wrongheaded,” Alexander said, though he said he has not seen the movie.

Contrary to the popular narrative, King was not the only civil rights leader Johnson dealt with. At the time, the leadership was called the “Big Six” and included John R. Lewis, director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC, now a congressman from Georgia; Whitney Young, executive director of the National Urban League; black labor leader A. Philip Randolph; James L. Farmer Jr., national director of the Congress of Racial Equality; Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the NAACP; and King, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, known as SCLC. At times, the group included Dorothy Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women, and Bayard Rustin, who worked with Randolph and is best known as planner of the 1963 March on Washington.

Alexander said he was in the room when many of the White House conversations took place on civil rights initiatives, including discussions of the appointment of African Americans Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court and Andrew F. Brimmer to Federal Reserve Board. Johnson said he loved the idea of having bankers needing to go to Brimmer to get what they wanted, Alexander said, and joked that he liked Marshall because he was from humble roots like himself, unlike Alexander, who went to Harvard.

Joseph A. Califano Jr., who was Johnson’s top assistant for domestic affairs from 1965 to 1969 and was a top aide to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara at the time of the Civil Rights Act, challenged the movie’s account in a Dec. 26 op-ed in the Washington Post.

“In fact, Selma was LBJ’s idea, he considered the Voting Rights Act his greatest legislative achievement, he viewed King as an essential partner in getting it enacted — and he didn’t use the FBI to disparage him,” Califano wrote.

He also wrote, “Contrary to the portrait painted by ‘Selma,’ Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. were partners in this effort. Johnson was enthusiastic about voting rights and the president urged King to find a place like Selma and lead a major demonstration. That’s three strikes for ‘Selma.’ The movie should be ruled out this Christmas and during the ensuing awards season.” Alexander said he did not know whether Selma was Johnson’s idea, but doubted it.

The film’s director, Ava DuVernay, the rare African American female director of a major film, has responded that the “notion that Selma was LBJ’s idea is jaw dropping . . . . She also tweeted the link to a New Yorker story that further detailed Johnson’s role, and added that people should investigate major historical moments themselves,” Emily Yahr wrote Monday in the Post.

Alexander, 81, went on to chair the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and was the first African American secretary of the Army, among other positions held over a long career.

Journal-isms asked Alexander what he thought about the argument that President Obama cannot match Johnson’s success with Congress because the times have changed and no one could do today what Johnson did.

He rejected the comparison, saying Obama is himself, not Johnson, Ronald Reagan or any other president. Alexander said he had not been asked for advice by Obama, though he has known him for years and that the president and Alexander’s daughter Elizabeth taught together at the University of Chicago. Alexander and his wife, Adele, did have dinner with the Obamas and presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett at Camp David on Feb. 24.

“The appropriate criticism” is that Obama did not exercise his power fast enough, Alexander said. “You’re getting the true Barack Obama” now, he said. Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s first chief of staff, had a negative reputation on Capitol Hill, hampering progress. Moreover, the Senate has in Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky someone who declared that his priority was to defeat the president, a posture Johnson did not have to contend with.

Egypt Opens Door for Deportation of Jailed Journalists

“Three al-Jazeera English journalists jailed in Egypt have been sent for retrial after a New Year’s Day appeal hearing in Cairo, dashing their families’ hopes of a release on bail, but opening the door for two of the trio to be deported,” Patrick Kingsley reported Thursday for Britain’s Guardian newspaper.

“After more than a year in jail, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy, Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohamed now face several further months behind bars, with no date for a new hearing set. Fahmy and Greste could still be deported under the terms of a recent presidential decree that allows foreign nationals to serve sentences in their home countries, but President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s office did not respond to a request for comment about his intentions.”

The three were convicted in June 2014 of aiding terrorists, belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, spreading false information, and undermining Egyptian national security.

Kingsley also wrote, “Outside Egypt, observers saw the case as a politicised attack on freedom of expression that ignored due process, and formed just one part of a rampant crackdown on all forms of opposition in Egypt. But within the country, where the coverage of AJE’s Arabic sister channels has strongly favoured the Brotherhood, many government supporters saw the journalists as a legitimate target. . . .”

2 Fired Over Footage Edited to Say “Kill a Cop”

“The reporter and the photographer responsible for misquoting Tyrone West’s sister, Tawanda Jones, at a protest rally in Washington, D.C., reporting she and others chanted ‘kill a cop,’ have been let go by Fox 45, according to two sources confirming a report that first appeared on the site FTVLive.com,” Brandon Weigel reported Wednesday for the Baltimore City Paper.

“YouTube footage later showed Jones and others were chanting ‘We won’t stop/ We can’t stop/ Till killer cops/ Are in cell blocks.’ The station invited Jones on the air to offer an apology — albeit a botched one.

“But it seems there has been further fallout, as reporter Melinda Roeder and cameraman Greg McNair have been released, and news director Mike Tomko and a producer who expressed his discomfort with the story have been suspended one and two days, respectively.

“An insider told FTVLive Tomko was the one who pushed doing the story. ‘It was found by him, assigned by him and ultimately proofed by him,’ the source said.

“Now a person familiar with the situation tells City Paper the news director is losing control of the newsroom, with photographers threatening to stage a ‘sick out.’

” ‘The reporters and photogs believe Tomko sacrificed two little people to save himself,’ the source says. . . .”

David Zurawick added in the Baltimore Sun, “The station came under heavy fire nationally for the edit. And while apologies were issued, the station never explained how it happened. . . .”

N.Y. Times Tells Police That Refusing to Work Violates Oath

“Many members of the New York Police Department are furious at Mayor Bill de Blasio and, by extension, the city that elected him,” the New York Times editorialized on Tuesday. “They have expressed this anger with a solidarity tantrum, repeatedly turning their backs to show their collective contempt. But now they seem to have taken their bitterness to a new and dangerous level — by walking off the job.”

The police are promoting “a false narrative,” the Times wrote. “Mr. de Blasio was elected by a wide margin on a promise to reform the policing excesses that were found unconstitutional by a federal court. He hired a proven reformer, [Police Commissioner William] Bratton, who had achieved with the Los Angeles Police Department what needs doing in New York. The furor that has gripped the city since the [Eric] Garner killing has been a complicated mess. But what New Yorkers expect of the Police Department is simple:

“1. Don’t violate the Constitution.

“2. Don’t kill unarmed people.

“To that we can add:

“3. Do your jobs. The police are sworn public servants, and refusing to work violates their oath to serve and protect. Mr. Bratton should hold his commanders and supervisors responsible, and turn this insubordination around.

“Mr. de Blasio has a responsibility to lead the city out of this impasse, and to his credit has avoided inflaming the situation with hasty or hostile words. But it’s the Police Department that needs to police itself. Rank-and-file officers deserve a department they can be proud of, not the insular, defiant, toxically politicized constituency that Mr. Lynch seems to want to lead.”

Andrew Desiderio wrote Wednesday for Mediaite that the Times “is pushing back against Fox Business Network for a report they ran on Wednesday morning claiming New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his top aides urged the mayor’s political allies to take to the media and ‘blast the police officers’ who turned their backs to de Blasio on two separate occasions. The Times, according to correspondent David Asman, is the main culprit because they ran editorials this week that ‘kowtowed’ to the mayor’s request. . . .”

The Bill Cosby interview took place in November but aired this week. (Credit: NewsOne Now) (video)

Roland Martin Show Airs “Creepy” Cosby Interview

“The Bill Cosby train wreck interview series just made another stop — er, crash,” theGrio.com reported on Tuesday under the headline, “Bill Cosby rips Phylicia Rashad’s ex in creepy interview.”

“The embattled comedian sat down with NewsOne Now anchor Roland Martin for an interview back in November — but the short clip was posted to TV One’s site Monday afternoon.

“The mounting sexual assault and other allegations against Cosby were not discussed — an article on the website says it was ‘not long after Martin’s interview with Cosby that a number of women came out and accused Cosby of drugging them and raping them.’

“The interview did occur weeks after Hannibal Buress called Cosby a ‘rapist’ on stage, so it’s not exactly clear why that wasn’t brought up at all.

“Martin and Cosby did discuss Cosby’s famed TV role as Dr. Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show. Martin tells Cosby it was ‘always great to watch the interplay between [Cliff] and [Claire Huxtable.]’ That’s when it gets weird.

“Cosby leans in and proceeds to tell Martin that Ahmad Rashad, Phylicia’s ex-husband, ‘messed that thing up.’ Cosby, referring to Cliff and Claire’s on-screen chemistry, continued:

“When he married her I didn’t mind, but then she got pregnant and I didn’t want Cliff and Clair to have another kid. So we had to hide her body, which took me away from — took Cliff away from touching her and playing with her because I didn’t want the audience to see that. . . .”

Asked whether the interview was new or a rerun, TVOne spokeswoman Monica Neal told Journal-isms by email, “The interview was new and conducted prior to the majority of the allegations against Mr. Cosby while he was in DC for the Smithsonian donation. Since the interview did not address the allegations, it was held in order to incorporate a panel discussion regarding the subsequent events and provide context.”

Michigan Citizen, Black Weekly, Ends Print Edition

“The Michigan Citizen, a weekly aimed at African-American readers, and printed since 1978, is folding,” the Detroit Free Press reported on Tuesday.

“The newspaper’s announcement was posted Wednesday on its website under the headline, ‘The Michigan Citizen ends weekly publication.’ It was unclear whether the Citizen’s website, michigancitizen.com, would continue to operate, but the short announcement hinted that there would be a future for the enterprise online: ‘Connect with the Michigan Citizen via social media to learn of future projects.’

“Officials at the weekly could not be reached today for comment. . . .”

The Citizen had a circulation of 56,400, according to mondotimes.com.

Meanwhile, “Civil rights leader Benjamin Chavis, now president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, says he envisions Black newspapers as becoming the ‘new mainstream’ rather than an alternative press as it is often called,” Hazel Trice Edney wrote Wednesday for the Trice Edney News wire.

“The Black Press, I believe has an opportunity where it can make even more traction than it has in the past,” Chavis said in a recent interview with the Trice Edney News Wire. “In other words, I don’t see the Black press as a side press from the mainstream press. I want the Black press to become the new mainstream because the demographics are changing. . . .”

Milwaukee Columnist Eugene Kane Leaving After 33 Years

After 33 years at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the old Milwaukee Journal, more than 20 of them as a columnist, Eugene Kane is leaving the newspaper, he told readers at the end of his Sunday column. As reported in September, newspapers have laid off, reassigned or retired at least 21 black opinion writers since 2008 as the industry contracts.

Kane told Journal-isms by email on Thursday that his departure follows a July announcement that the newspaper’s parent Journal Communications is merging with the larger E.W. Scripps Co. He also noted that Editor Martin Kaiser is leaving in February and that changes are expected with a new op-ed section.

“Many of the folks I’ve worked with for decades in my age/experience range also took buy-outs a few months ago and I figured it was a sign that the new company wanted severe cut-backs,” Kane said.

“My only concern is that there are precious few Black folks covering the community these days in Milwaukee, none on Metro and James Causey,” an op-ed columnist, “the only black voice left.” As for the future, Kane said he “will be teaching a class at UW-Milwaukee this year and working on some other writing projects. Also, looking for that next chapter in life that can be as satisfying as the last one.”

Kane began his career as a columnist with a humor column in the old Milwaukee Journal, then moved to a metro column in the merged Journal Sentinel. He took a buyout in 2012 but remained as a Sunday columnist.

He wrote last month about his experiences with Bill Cosby in light of the allegations of sexual misconduct by the comedian. “In 2004, I worked with Cosby to hold a community forum in Milwaukee at North Division High School centered on education and parental responsibility. The event came about because I had written a column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about Cosby’s remarks at an NAACP event in Washington, D.C., months earlier that many took to be overly harsh and judgmental about low-income, poorly educated black people.

“My column criticized Cosby for the tone of his remarks. The next workday, I received a call from one of his representatives: “Mr. Cosby is going to call you in a half-hour about your column.”

“As it turned out, Cosby didn’t unload on me for my temerity to criticize him — just the opposite. He began a conversation with me that put his words in context, and we began to bond over the phone due to our mutual Philadelphia connections. . . .”

$10 Million Grant to Aid Female Journalists

“In October, IP reported on the Howard G. Buffett Foundation’s $4 million grant to the International Women’s Media Foundation,” Joan Shipps reported Dec. 22 for Inside Philanthropy. “That was a lot of money, given how infrequently funders throw big support behind this focus area. But it turned out that Buffett wasn’t done: He’s now tossed another $10 million into the pot for women journalists. Wow.

“What’s more, IWMF has hit the ground running since that first gift in October and has big plans for promoting women in journalism in 2015 and far into the future.

“With the latest $10 million in Howard G. Buffett support, the IWMF is implementing three areas of programming:

“The Courage in Photojournalism Award . . .

“The African Great Lakes Reporting Initiative . . .

“The Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists . . .”

Short Takes

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