With all the uproar over removing signs of the Confederacy and racism after the tragedy in Charleston (some justified and some not), I wonder why no one has mentioned the federal office buildings in Atlanta and D.C. named after Richard Russell, Democrat senator from Georgia.
The office building in Atlanta is about five blocks from the Martin Luther King Historical District and the one in D.C. is used as an office building for many senators.
Who was Richard Russell? In 1964 he led the battle against the Civil Rights Act from the floor of the Senate. On March 16, 1964, Russell proposed an amendment that would re-settle families until racial proportions were equalized among all 50 states. Alabama would export 637,263 ,"negroes," while California and Alaska would import 776,445 and 16,976 respectively according to a large map Russell placed in the Senate Chamber.
Russell went on to say he had studied the program over a long period of years and he "favored inflicting on New York City, Chicago and other cities and the same condition proposed to be inflicted by this bill on my home town of Winder, Ga." One of the senators who joined Russell in opposing the Civil Rights Act was Albert Gore, Democrat from Tennessee.
Russell died in 1972 and the overwhelmingly Democrat Senate renamed the Senate office building after him. The building in Atlanta was built in 1979 when President Jimmy Carter, Democrat from Georgia, was in office and the Democrats controlled the Congress.
Thanks to Taylor Branch for his book, "America in the King Years 1963-65," for the above information.
Douglas Jones
Ooltewah