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• 7 • PAVING THE WAY FOR FULL PARTICIPATION Civil Rights in the Ford Years At 10 A.M. on July 1, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford rose to address the NAACP’s sixty-sixth annual convention in Washington, DC. The new president received hearty applause as he praised America’s oldest civil rights group as a “unique organization” with a “distinguished” history. “The NAACP,” he declared, “has a proud record that spans 65 years with markers of achievement in racial equality unmatched by any other organization.” Terming himself president of “all the people,” Ford assured delegates that he was keen to establish a dialogue with the African American community. While stressing that great progress had been made in the civil rights field, he accepted that much remained to be done. “The end of racial discrimination by law has paved the way to the beginning of full participation,” he declared.1 Ford’s address to the NAACP encapsulated some of the differences between the new president and his predecessor. Coming into office in the wake of the divisive Watergate scandal, the Michigan Republican worked hard to restore confidence in the presidency. Personable and gregarious , Ford reached out to groups that Nixon had alienated, and his efforts quickly secured results. At the 1974 NAACP convention, delegates had called for Nixon’s impeachment, but, just a year later, The Crisis noted that Ford had been “warmly received.”2 Ever willing to meet with blacks, Ford was the second president in history to address the NAACP; only Harry Truman, a Democrat, had previously done so.3 While not agreeing with most of Ford’s political beliefs, association leaders established a sound personal relationship with the new president, who was known for his decency. Roy Wilkins praised Ford’s “high moral character,” while Clarence Mitchell claimed that the Michigan native had a “wholesome and straight-forward image.” Not content with rhetoric, these officials also lobbied the new president to enforce civil 146 • AFTER THE DREAM rights laws vigorously, and their efforts yielded some gains. When the Voting Rights Act came up for renewal in 1975, Ford backed its extension.4 In other respects, however, there were a lot of similarities between Ford and Nixon. During Nixon’s first term, Ford had championed the administration’s cause in the House, and these actions secured him the vice presidency when Spiro Agnew resigned. On taking over the presidency , Ford was, ultimately, beholden to the Southern whites who had elected his predecessor, and he was soon searching for a way to stop busing . A product of neighborhood schools in Grand Rapids, Ford felt that the courts had gone “far too far” in ordering a remedy that had “torn up” numerous communities.5 The issue was close to his heart; Ford even wrote “Excellent—we should use” on one antibusing letter that he read. In it, a teacher claimed that busing hurt weak students by making it harder for parents to come to school to discuss their child’s problems. Ultimately, while Ford’s style of leadership was different than that of his predecessor, his civil rights policies were very similar. “Mr. Ford does listen and he does pay attention,” concluded Roy Wilkins in late 1974. “The question is what does he do about it and the answer is that he does little about it.”6 The Ford years were dominated by an economic recession that hit the African American community hard. While complex in nature, the downturn was related to rising government deficits primarily caused by the cost of financing the Vietnam War, which weakened the dollar and increased prices. In 1973 and 1974, inflation hit double digits, and, from 1975 to 1980, the nation experienced stagflation, where unemployment and inflation increased simultaneously. Beginning in 1973, an Arab oil embargo also contributed to skyrocketing oil and gas prices.7 The slump had what the NAACP termed “a devastating effect” on blacks. “What was described as a recession for white workers was, in fact, a full-scale depression for black wage-earners and their families,” asserted the association in 1974. “Many of the gains made in the past decade were rapidly being wiped out through the combined effects of unemployment and inflation.” As the economy tightened, blacks found that they were once more “last hired, first fired.” Inflation also hurt low-paid workers more because they spent a higher portion of their income on necessities such as groceries and gasoline. In...

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