5 responses to “Racial Equity Anti Hero: Lady Bird Johnson”

1. 

   Lee

   February 8, 2021

   I’ve never heard of this Ladybird woman before but on Googling I know of Eartha Kitt. Here then we have a prime example of a white women using and abusing her power.
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   We’re vicious creatures when we put our minds to it. The idea of single handedly ruining someone’s career chances because of something they said that you didn’t like. I expect this has happened countless times over. White women wielding their power, stood next to white men, slicing up anyone in our way.
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   How many times have I acted out of spite, jealousy or other negative emotions? Who’s chances have I stunted because of a crossed word? I can’t think of anything off the top of my head but I’m sure there have been instances.
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   Now I do the work to walk much more conciously and safer than before. Living with my eyes open and not sloshing my bucked onto people. There is work here for sure.

2. 

   Michelle Wicks Cypher

   February 6, 2021

   I am loving the exposure to this stories and these women. I do not know who most people are in general, at least not by name. As I read about Eartha, I remember bits and pieces of who she is. One of the pieces I was reading showed a picture form the luncheon at the white house and there were both Black and white women present. One part of my mind thought – wow, I’m surprised they included Black women at all. The next thought though reading through things is that it is still typical though that white women will include Black women, on their terms, when they choose and only for as long as the Black women “behave” the way deemed appropriate by white women. Those Black women then and Black women now – spend so much of their time balancing what can be said and how it can be said and it doesn’t take much for things to be turned against them. As stated – you can’t be a victim without an aggressor so white women watch for opportunities to make the Black women out as aggressors. When do I do that? When have I, especially in thinking I am coming to the defense of the crying white women, saying she didn’t mean it, am I painting the Black woman as the angry Black woman and the crying white woman as the victim? I know I have defended on the idea of “she didn’t mean it, she’s a nice person”. One of the stories talked about the rush of women who ran up to the microphone to defend Lady Bird Johnson. It is the ww playbook – defend each other against the angry Black woman. It is something I am much more aware of now and I see it more easily in others and am working on seeing it in me, before it happens.

3. 

   Emily Holzknecht

   February 5, 2021

   Firstly, as a kid I LOVED Eartha Kitt’s Catwoman.

   Eartha Kitt spoke up at the White House about the Vietnam War 9 months after Rev Dr Martin Luther King’s sermon at Riverside Church. Reading about her speaking up about the war after learning about MLK speaking up about the war and why he did and the consequences he faced for doing it (see the MLK weekend posts in the Bistro of the Lace on Race Cafe) helps me better understand Earth Kitt’s actions and the consequences she faced too. And she most likely knew there would be consequences and she did it anyway because it was the right thing to do.

   Eartha Kitt has a whole section in her wikipedia biography about “the white house incident” (I did read other sources too). I was curious to see if it was even mentioned on Ladybird Johnson’s page. Turns out it was, but it didn’t get a whole section, just a paragraph.

   Tiffany Washington mentions the form white woman tears take online where actual tears can’t be seen. In a recent thread where a white woman, Rachel Bruns, got activated on this page, one of the ways the tears came out with her was by emphasizing that she has been part of this community for 8 months and this thread was the first time she felt brave enough to comment. Translation: Lace is intimidating, Lace is the aggressor, Rachel Bruns is the victim we should feel empathy towards just like we should feel empathy towards white women’s tears. While I am getting better at seeing what white women tears can look like and when they can show up in others and in myself, I have more to learn in this area so that I can recognize them a mile away and so that I can refuse both to employ them and to fall for them.

4. 

   Rebecca McClinton

   February 5, 2021

   I went and did some reading as I wasn’t aware of these events or who Eartha Kitt was. Perhaps showing my age, but also the way Eartha Kitt was silenced as a result. In my google searching it stood out to me how articles would say “Eartha Kitt made LBJ cry,” as though someone can milk another’s tears out.

   I am responsible for my own emotion regulation and for opening up my heart to hear truths that hold my actions and words accountable instead of weaponizing my tears to manipulate or gain advantage. I also appreciate how Tiffany points out, if not given the opportunity to cry (eg online example) the lack of emotion regulation and inability to accept accountability still comes out in other ways such as the angry Black woman trope.
   (cross posted to facebook)

5. 

   Shannon Burton-Rushworth

   February 5, 2021

   I see two threads in Washington’s work here.

   First: “be prepared to be painted as the aggressor because they can’t play victim without someone being the aggressor. And without victimhood, the picture of delicate yt womanhood they want to project to the world disappears.”
   The power – such as it is – that white women have in a patriarchal society is based on this image of delicacy. To maintain that power, we cast black women as the aggressors and the threat. We nurture white supremacy to try and protect our little scrap of power.

   The second thread is what this does to black women. Washington’s pain is clear and righteous. Her experiences in her principals office cut straight to the heart of the aggression black women are subjected to by the white people (white women very much included) and white supremacy.

   Where do I see myself and my behavior and my potential to cause harm in this? I see that I’m still too likely to view my actions as inconsequential or isolated, rather than considering their full impact and their part in systematically upholding white supremacy.