June 1, 1964 - The 1964 Republican platform will support the civil rights bill but will not endorse what the Platform Committee chairman describes as “inverse discrimination,” a Republican Representative said today.
Rep. Melvin Laird (pictured) of Wisconsin said in an interview that he saw no reason why any Republican who wins the party’s Presidential nomination could not support such a civil rights plank.
By “inverse discrimination,” Laird said, he means such things as transporting white children out of their neighborhoods to alter the racial ratio of schools in predominantly Negro areas.
Laird said he thought the platform, which he will draft with 100 committee colleagues for consideration at the convention opening July 13 at San Francisco, should take a stand for law and order in civil rights matters.
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s