Race, One-hundred & twenty-nine years later.

In support of a 1875 bill to "protect all citizens in their civil rights," 18 Stat. 335 (1875), Congressman Butler had this to say:

"There is not a white man [in] the South that would not associate with the negro - all that is required of this bill - if that negro were his servant. He would eat with him, suckle from her, play with her or him as children, be together with them in every way, provided they were slaves. There has never been an objection to such an association. But the moment you elevate this black man to citizenship from a slave, then immediately he becomes offensive." Debate on 1875 Bill, 3 Cong. Rec. 940 (1875).