KTLA News: "Vernon Jordan on Nixon's veto of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 extension" (1971)

this act the presidential veto by Mr Nixon on yesterday will serve to deepen the resent ment of the poor and it will convince many black people that this is indeed a harsh act that marks that winter of discontent one alternative is one that is always available to to us in a democracy and that is to express our dissatisfaction or our unhappiness uh with a given government program or with a given Administration that of course that alternative is always ours what as a result of the veto black people will do in terms of making their political decisions I'm not in a position to say nor I'm in a position am I in a position to know Yesterday by President Nixon of the legislation creating a comprehensive child development program extending the office of Economic Opportunity and assuring a meaningful legal service program is a crushing blow to the to the deepest hopes and aspiration ations of black people and poor people in this country the Child Development the child care proposal especially would have been the vehicle for greater learning opportunities for young people a listing of unfair burdens upon a lifting rather of unfair burdens upon working parents and a long hoped for chance for we re-entry and to the labor force for mothers whose families need extra income rather than weakening the family this legislation would have cemented thousands of poor families now being torn apart by economic stress and the total cost of the program vetoed would have been a mere fraction of the huge tax cuts just distributed to wealthy individuals and corporations that is uh the official reac empowerment of black people we see that this legislation as a as as uh hesitating and and preventing that that uh that economic empowerment of black people and and we regret this uh this veto very much um beyond that uh I'm pleased to be here to help the Los Angeles Urban League celebrate its 50th Anniversary here in this EOD luncheon I'm also in town to meet with the local executive directors uh in the western region and here in California uh who on a day-to-day basis administer the role of the national over league in the 1970s is the is the implementation and the realization of those uh rights and privileges that were attained obtained and conferred upon blacks in the 19 in the 1960s and that's what we had in the 1960 is a conferring of Rights a defining of Rights of black people an obtaining of rights that were literally in my view torn from from a reluctant nation and the issue is is that white America now has an attitude in my view that uh you know what more do black folks want we we're doing things with them that we've never done before we've made uh uh a bit of progress here and a bit of progress there now you know what are they talking about now now when they say equal opportunity my view is that the National Urban League's opportunity now for service is that of making real the advances and civil rights in this country of the 1970s so that the masses of poor people can can take advantage of it as I say in my talk today in the 1960s the the issue for blacks was was the was the right to ride the bus well I think in the 1970s the issue is the bus Fair uh the issue is where where that bus is going the issue is who who's going to drive it and who's going to make the policy as to whether that bus service will facilitate Watts or whether it will facilitate other areas of uh where where poor people and and black people are are concentrated the issue in the 70s was was the right to vote and nobody in this country argued with the right to vote but there is a question of whether or not there is a right of a black man to be mayor of Los Angeles and I think that there are many people who who would uh concede the right of blacks to vote but uh do not concede the right of a black man to be mayor to be State superintendent of Education or to be the lieutenant governor of New York uh the governor of Mississippi and uh so in the 1970s I think we're talking about not only the right of black people to vote that has been established but we're also talking about the right of blacks to occupy major policymaking and administrative positions uh in our government uh if the presidential veto stands and there's no further action by the Congress do you see any any alternatives well I see that uh yeah that uh The veto uh presents an opportunity to be overwritten uh which raises another area of how people at the local level would deal with those people who refuse to give the vote to override The veto here again that is an alternative available to people at at the local level uh on the other hand it seems to me that another alternative available to an agency like the Urban League is to is to try to do something to help those people who don't understand what the problem is as it relates to the issues in the veto to to understand it and to to give them positions and information and and some education about the needs of black people because I really think that the veto and the legislation and the attitude of the Congress is reflective of uh of the attitude of White America and I think that politicians at the local State national levels are are reflecting uh that white people are weary of the black issue and black people have now been put on the back burner in this country and