While LBJ’s legacy of progress and justice are being praised, we should also recognize that it is under attack by Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott.
As attorney general, Abbott has led the assault on Hispanic and African American Texans to keep them from participating in the democratic process and electing their candidates of choice.
- Abbott took the lead in advising the Texas Legislature to enact redistricting plans that were found to be intentionally discriminatory to Hispanic and African American Texans.
- Abbott has spent millions of dollars in taxpayer money defending the discriminatory plans in federal court.
- A three-judge federal court (with two of the justices appointed by Republican Presidents) ruled that the Abbott plans were adopted with discriminatory intent. In fact, the court said bluntly “The parties have provided more evidence of discriminatory intent than we have space, or need, to address here.”
- Abbott called on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the key provision within the Voting Rights Act that President Johnson intentionally included which require that changes to the voting system be reviewed and approved to ensure against discrimination.
- Abbott‘s work led the legislature to adopt the most restrictive voter ID requirement in the nation—which was also ruled by a federal court to discriminate against Hispanic and African American Texans.
Greg Abbott’s shameful desire to undermine the voting rights of Hispanic and African American citizens has made Texas the only state in the nation to adopt district lines and a voter ID law found to be in violation of the U.S. Voting Rights Act.
Abbott’s hostility to minority Texans is compounded by his hypocrisy.
Last year, Lone Star Project issued a rebuttal to Abbott’s op-ed that dishonestly characterized the history of Texas, the meaning of the Voting Rights Act and his actions as attorney general
Texans, regardless of political affiliation, can be proud that it was a fellow Texan in the White House 50 years ago who had the wisdom and courage to propose and see through to adoption the U.S. Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. President Johnson risked his legacy and invested every ounce of his energy and influence to help more fully realize the ideal of “justice for all.”
As we look back through the lens of time, President Johnson is not just larger than life—he is a giant.
When we turn that telescope around, we see the smallness of Greg Abbott.
