This Day in History: Teddy Roosevelt Discusses America’s Race Problem
- 4 years ago
This Day in History:
Teddy Roosevelt Discusses
America’s Race Problem February 13, 1905 Roosevelt delivered a
speech to the NYC Republican
Club in which he discussed
the country’s state of race relations. During his administration —
just 40 years after the end
of the Civil War — much bitterness
existed between the North and the South. The West had also seen an
influx of Asian immigrants,
which contributed to
new racial tensions. Roosevelt’s solution was to proceed
slowly toward social and economic
equality, taking caution against
radical changes in government policy. Referring to white Americans
as the 'forward race,' he suggested
a gradual adjustment in the attitudes
of whites toward ethnic minorities. It would take nearly six decades —with
the 1964 Civil Rights Act —for government
efforts aimed at correcting racial
bias to be passed into law.
Teddy Roosevelt Discusses
America’s Race Problem February 13, 1905 Roosevelt delivered a
speech to the NYC Republican
Club in which he discussed
the country’s state of race relations. During his administration —
just 40 years after the end
of the Civil War — much bitterness
existed between the North and the South. The West had also seen an
influx of Asian immigrants,
which contributed to
new racial tensions. Roosevelt’s solution was to proceed
slowly toward social and economic
equality, taking caution against
radical changes in government policy. Referring to white Americans
as the 'forward race,' he suggested
a gradual adjustment in the attitudes
of whites toward ethnic minorities. It would take nearly six decades —with
the 1964 Civil Rights Act —for government
efforts aimed at correcting racial
bias to be passed into law.