In:Political Argumentation in the United States: Historical and contemporary studies
David Zarefsky
[Argumentation in Context 7] 2014
► pp. 323–336
Lyndon Johnson redefines “equal opportunity”
The beginnings of affirmative action
Published online: 24 September 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/aic.7.16ch16
https://doi.org/10.1075/aic.7.16ch16
This essay explores how the broadly understood notion of “equal opportunity” changed its meaning, from the traditional understanding as the absence of government action to favor any group, to a newer understanding as supporting government action to improve the results achieved by protected groups. This change occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and its impetus was a 1965 speech by President Lyndon Johnson, in which he employed the technique of dissociation to distinguish between apparent and real equality. This same approach was used in a number of the Johnson Administration’s domestic programs, but it also has provoked a backlash among whites
References (21)
Goodwin, R. (1965). Draft #1, Statements of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Box 27, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library.
Heller, W.W. (1964). Draft of War on Poverty speech. Executive File SP 2-3/1964, WE, Box 64, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library.
Johnson, L.B. (1965). Public papers of the presidents: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963–64. 2 vols. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
. (1966). Public papers of the presidents: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965. 2 vols. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Keppel, F. (1964). Memorandum to Anthony J. Celebrezze (transmitted by Celebrezze to Bill Moyers). Executive File SP 2-3/1965/ED, Box 65, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. December 1.
Moynihan, D.P. (1965). The Negro family: A case for national action. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Perelman, Ch. & Olbrechts-Tyteca, L. (1958/1969). The new rhetoric: A treatise on argumentation (J. Wilkinson & P. Weaver, trans.). Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. (Originally published in French in 1958.)
Rainwater, L. & Yancey, W.L. (1967). The Moynihan report and the politics of controversy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Rawlins, M. (1965). Memorandum to Jack Valenti, n.d. (but obviously 1965). Statements of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Box 27, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library.
Rustin, B. (1965). From protest to politics: The future of the civil rights movement. Commentary, 39:27. February.
Sass, H-M. (1978). Ideational politics and the word tolerance. Philosophy & rhetoric, 11:98–113. Spring.
Statements of Lyndon Baines Johnson. (n.d.). Lyndon Baines Johnson Library.
Territo, D. (n.d.) Memorandum for the Record. Statements of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Box 27, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library.
Toulmin, S. (1972). Human understanding: The collective use and evolution of concepts. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Valenti, J. (1965a). Letter to James M. Nabrit Jr. Statements of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Box 27, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. March 10.
. (1965b). Memorandum to the president. Statements of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Box 27, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. May 25.
Wirtz, W.W. (1964). Memorandum to the president. Executive File SP 2-4/1965, Box 17, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. November 13.