re: #128 HappyWarrior

LBJ is tough to figure out IMO. He definitely would use racist language as you get at but he wasn’t a racist in how he governed. Reagan on the flip side I would be shocked if he ever used racist language he governed as a racist IMO.

Some of that is personality — LBJ was crude and Reagan smooth; some of it is the era — Johnson and Reagan were both raised inside the kind of implicit racism it’s hard for someone to identify in themselves until they make a major effort. See also Johnson’s sexism, environmental lack of awareness, etc etc. I grew up on “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” but I rate him more generously now.