Lyndon Johnson: Pick White Mans Pocket
on Monday, April 17, 2017President Lyndon B. Johnson Money Quote saying the working poor (like those who voted for Trump) will gladly empty their own pockets for hateful reasons. President Lyndon B. Johnson said:
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you” — Lyndon B. Johnson
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In this quote, Lyndon B. Johnson is commenting on how racial divisions and prejudices can be exploited for political gain.
When he says convincing low-income white people that they are superior to “the best colored man” distracts them from realizing their own economic exploitation, Johnson suggests racial tensions are sometimes deliberately stoked to obscure class inequalities.
He implies that giving racist white voters a group to feel superior to makes them compliant with emptying their pockets, i.e. voting against their own economic self-interest.
The quote conveys Johnson’s perspective that racial divisions unfortunately provide cover for elites to manipulate disadvantaged groups of all backgrounds using wedge issues rather than addressing real issues of wealth concentration and inequality across races.
Birthday: August 27, 1908 – Death: January 22, 1973