LBJ Presidential Monument At 400 Rusk Ave.

[ChannelTwoNews]

https://imgur.com/RJTd6kn

http://realtynewsreport.com/2018/06/07/lbj-monument-to-be-built-in-downtown-houston/

Quote

Monument to be Built in Downtown Houston

HOUSTON –  (Realty News Report) – A fundraising campaign, kicked off with a $250,000 grant from the Brown Foundation, has started with the goal of creating an 8-foot statue and a monument to honor President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

The monument will be located on a tract, called Little Tranquility Park, on a downtown block bounded by Capitol, Walker, Bagby and Smith.

With the nearby existing monuments for President George H.W. Bush and James A. Baker, the area has the beginnings of a walkable historic area, said CK Pang, formerly of Gensler architecture, which is

designing the LBJ monument.

 

[H-Town Man]

I don't know how long this statue will last. Didn't LBJ say some vaguely racist things at some point in his life?

 

[intencity77]

I’d rather see a park filled with statues of civil rights leaders, influencers & icons from all walks of life....Black, Indigenious, LGBT, Hispanic. Would be a lot more educational and fascinating than a statue of some old white guy from a long time ago. 

[Texasota]

I, for one, support this weird giant statue of LBJ standing on top of a Ferengi Marauder.

[j_cuevas713]

1 hour ago, intencity77 said:

I’d rather see a park filled with statues of civil rights leaders, influencers & icons from all walks of life....Black, Indigenious, LGBT, Hispanic. Would be a lot more educational and fascinating than a statue of some old white guy from a long time ago. 

old "racist" white guy

[Nate99]

I propose a statue that will get the internet arguing over the usual stuff. 

[Vy65]

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

[H-Town Man]

3 hours ago, intencity77 said:

I’d rather see a park filled with statues of civil rights leaders, influencers & icons from all walks of life....Black, Indigenious, LGBT, Hispanic. Would be a lot more educational and fascinating than a statue of some old white guy from a long time ago. 

 

I should clarify (following my sarcastic comment) that the bills Johnson passed did more for black/indigenous/Hispanic/poor/(insert historical disadvantage)/female/disabled people than any president since FDR, possibly since Lincoln. All the achievements of Obama and Clinton added together are a pale shadow of the 65 pieces of social legislation Johnson signed.

 

But yes, it is true that he was white. And old. And lived a long time ago.

 

[j_cuevas713]

31 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

 

I should clarify (following my sarcastic comment) that the bills Johnson passed did more for black/indigenous/Hispanic/poor/(insert historical disadvantage)/female/disabled people than any president since FDR, possibly since Lincoln. All the achievements of Obama and Clinton added together are a pale shadow of the 65 pieces of social legislation Johnson signed.

 

But yes, it is true that he was white. And old. And lived a long time ago.

 

Yeah because he felt compelled to not because he willingly wanted to.

[H-Town Man]

9 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Yeah because he felt compelled to not because he willingly wanted to.

 

This does not accord with what I've read of him. For one thing, one isn't compelled to pass massive legislation, it is an uphill battle even in a favorable political climate (see Obama on healthcare). He bragged privately that he got all those bills passed after Kennedy couldn't. Nor can it be explained by political self-interest: after signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he commented, "Well, I've lost the South for the Democrats for the next forty years."

 

Why do you think he was compelled? Who compelled him?

 

[j_cuevas713]

6 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

 

This does not accord with what I've read of him. For one thing, one isn't compelled to pass massive legislation, it is an uphill battle even in a favorable political climate (see Obama on healthcare). He bragged privately that he got all those bills passed after Kennedy couldn't. Nor can it be explained by political self-interest: after signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he commented, "Well, I've lost the South for the Democrats for the next forty years."

 

Why do you think he was compelled? Who compelled him?

 

The Vietnam War was a political nightmare. LBJ had been quoted many times behind closed doors degrading minorities. The only way he knew to clear his name and distract Americans from the war was to try and settle the Civil Rights battle in his own backyard. Yes, tons of legislation was passed to distract Americans from thinking he was a racist. And Today we honor a man who only did those things for political gain. 

 

Edited June 13, 2018 by j_cuevas713

[H-Town Man]

9 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

The Vietnam War was a political nightmare. LBJ had been quoted many times behind closed doors degrading minorities. The only way he knew to clear his name and distract Americans from the war was to try and settle the Civil Rights battle in his own backyard. Yes, tons of legislation was passed to distract Americans from thinking he was a racist. And Today we honor a man who only did those things for political gain. 

 

 

But the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, before the Vietnam situation deteriorated. In fact, most of his Great Society legislation was passed before things got bad in Vietnam (roughly when the Tet Offensive occurred in 1968). Not to mention all the legislation that had nothing to do with civil rights - Medicare, Medicaid, etc. You may want to revise your explanation.

 

[j_cuevas713]

6 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

 

But the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, before the Vietnam situation deteriorated. In fact, most of his Great Society legislation was passed before things got bad in Vietnam (roughly when the Tet Offensive occurred in 1968). Not to mention all the legislation that had nothing to do with civil rights - Medicare, Medicaid, etc. You may want to revise your explanation.

 

You may want to check your facts on LBJ. My Dad was in the war and told me countless stories about him. Yeah he did some great things, but he was a blatant racist. 

 

Edited June 13, 2018 by j_cuevas713

[H-Town Man]

17 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

You may want to check your facts on LBJ. My Dad was in the war and told me countless stories about him. Yeah he did some great things, but he was a blatant racist. 

 

 

Thanks, I'm pretty comfortable with my facts. Never said LBJ was a paragon of enlightenment, on race or other issues, but his work on behalf of the disadvantaged is quite substantial.

 

[mollusk]

The casual use of racist language was pretty common in the 60s and before, even by people who didn't buy into all of the legal segregation that still existed at the beginning of that decade.  LBJ was a deeply flawed man, but he also did a lot of great things for common people.

[The Pragmatist]

With so many of you on the "Progressive" side of the spectrum, I suppose my opinions on LBJ, the collective interpretation of LBJ's legacy, and the sentiment expressed by intencity77 would be much-maligned here. That said, while I'm certainly no fan of Johnson, I don't see how a privately-funded statue, particularly of a president, is something out of the ordinary.

Edited June 14, 2018 by The Pragmatist

[Ross]

2 hours ago, mollusk said:

The casual use of racist language was pretty common in the 60s and before, even by people who didn't buy into all of the legal segregation that still existed at the beginning of that decade.  LBJ was a deeply flawed man, but he also did a lot of great things for common people.

This is the absolute truth. Judging someone of LBJ's era by today's standards, especially with respect to the language they used, ignores all he did to promote civil rights.

[Nate99]

12 hours ago, The Pragmatist said:

With so many of you on the "Progressive" side of the spectrum, I suppose my opinions on LBJ, the collective interpretation of LBJ's legacy, and the sentiment expressed by intencity77 would be much-maligned here. That said, while I'm certainly no fan of Johnson, I don't see how a privately-funded statue, particularly of a president, is something out of the ordinary.

 

Tend to agree on all points. We have a Bush 41 monument over by the Wortham and a statue in IAH, it's really not that big of a deal. It's been 50 years since he left office, so the timing is a bit odd, but whatever. 

 

I say we commission a statue depicting a local hero that is thoroughly embraced by the everyday culture of this fair city.  Nothing says Houston like driving fast, put AJ Foyt's statue on a plinth at the confluence of the new 45/10/59/69  mega-interchange 

 

 

[j_cuevas713]

15 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

 

Thanks, I'm pretty comfortable with my facts. Never said LBJ was a paragon of enlightenment, on race or other issues, but his work on behalf of the disadvantaged is quite substantial.

 

And I never said he didn't do a lot. I'm speaking on the man and his motivation for passing some of that legislation. He was a well known racist, that wasn't a secret and he didn't make it one. So. idk why you feel like you're the right hand man on all things LBJ but calm down. There's more than enough evidence to prove both sides or the argument.

[j_cuevas713]

14 hours ago, mollusk said:

The casual use of racist language was pretty common in the 60s and before, even by people who didn't buy into all of the legal segregation that still existed at the beginning of that decade.  LBJ was a deeply flawed man, but he also did a lot of great things for common people.

That's true, he understood southerners and how to get their attention and speak their language. 

[H-Town Man]

It should probably also be added that he (as Vice President) caused the Manned Spacecraft Center to be located in an oil town in Texas whose previous main bragging point was that they had the Shamrock Hotel.

 

[ArchFan]

I don't know enough to judge how racist he was in private words or actions.  Regardless of how bad he was in that way, he did publicly say and do some good things.  Some people evolve over time ... perhaps he did, too.  I dunno.  

 

As president, at the signing ceremony for the Higher Education Act of 1965 in 1965, Johnson reminisced:

He ... offered me a job at $125 a month to teach a Mexican school at Cotulla [Texas] when I was a sophomore, and it was necessary that I leave that year to teach.

I shall never forget the faces of the boys and the girls in that little Welhausen Mexican School, and I remember even yet the pain of realizing and knowing then that college was closed to practically every one of those children because they were too poor.

And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this Nation could never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American.

BTW, after finishing his teaching degree, he went on to teach public speaking at Sam Houston High School, here in Houston.

Edited June 14, 2018 by ArchFan

[Twinsanity02]

I did not like him as President, was angry about Vietnam, but honestly I could care less if a statue of him goes up. Tell me one person from JFK, MLK, Roosevelt, Reagan, Truman you couldn't find a flaw especially if the standards are ever changing. Judge them on their overall performance.

[Specwriter]

Read Robert Dallek's Lyndon B. Johnson, Portrait of a President. It seemed to be a balanced biography of the man. Knowing about his life before he entered Congress makes it easier to understand his motivations as president.

 

I do believe  a statue of a human being can only be so big before it starts to look out of proportion. Maybe because the average person's eye level is somewhere around five to six feet above the ground. There is an eight foot tall statue of President Kennedy in front of the Hilton Hotel in downtown Fort Worth that, IMO, looks "right." The statue of Sam Houston just off Interstate 45 in Huntsville looks odd, again IMO.

Edited June 15, 2018 by Specwriter

[j_cuevas713]

22 hours ago, ArchFan said:

I don't know enough to judge how racist he was in private words or actions.  Regardless of how bad he was in that way, he did publicly say and do some good things.  Some people evolve over time ... perhaps he did, too.  I dunno.  

 

As president, at the signing ceremony for the Higher Education Act of 1965 in 1965, Johnson reminisced:

He ... offered me a job at $125 a month to teach a Mexican school at Cotulla [Texas] when I was a sophomore, and it was necessary that I leave that year to teach.

I shall never forget the faces of the boys and the girls in that little Welhausen Mexican School, and I remember even yet the pain of realizing and knowing then that college was closed to practically every one of those children because they were too poor.

And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this Nation could never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American.

BTW, after finishing his teaching degree, he went on to teach public speaking at Sam Houston High School, here in Houston.

Wow that's awesome. 

[bobruss]

I know he delivered the civil right  legislation of 1964, that set the stage that flipped the south into  a republican stronghold and there have been very few democratic victories since in Dixie.

His main problem with the Vietnam war was that he escalated it and didn't really tell the truth about how bad things were going over there.

It was a terrible war that we should have avoided. Many died in vain.

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/lbj-monument-houston-voting-rights-act-anniversary/285-3987986c-cb6e-4774-aa2b-96c8642ded49

[Specwriter]

13 hours ago, hindesky said:

That's a pretty good likeness of the 36th president. Johnson did play a major role in bring in the Manned Spacecraft Center to Houston (Clear Lake) but it began before he became vice president (while still in the Senate) and don't forget the assistance from Congressman Albert Thomas and house speaker Sam Rayburn. By the way, Johnson did not live all that long ago. I saw him speak at Sam Houston High School in November of 1964*. He was making a campaign speech for Ralph Yarborough, probably one of the most liberal members of congress ever elected from Texas.

*Just so you don't think I am ready for the boneyard, I was not old enough to go to elementary school in 1964 but the and crowd made an impression on me.

[hindesky]

There is a lot more than just the statue of LBJ.