Opinion Focus

Author Nick Kotz will be online Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 2 p.m. ET to discuss his op-ed about Martin Luther King Jr. -- Still Seeking a Fair Vote -- and his book, "Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Laws That Changed America."

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Nick Kotz: Martin Luther King's birthday gives us all an opportunity, not only to reflect on important history, but to deal with the questions that remain to be answered after that period of great national activism in the cause of civil rights and social justice. I am pleased to answer any questions you might have about my piece or about the broad general subject.

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College Park, Md.: It was an eye opening experience for me as I watched the documentary film "Citizen King." I came here 15 years ago with little English, I can go to school, earned my college degree and I am on my way to earn a master. I can't imagine where I would be if it was for Dr. King and his movement. For that, I am deeply grateful. Thank you.

Nick Kotz: We are all the beneficiaries today of the works of Dr. King and President Johnson for a more just society.

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Alexandria, Va.: Did you have to go through the King family to research your book? If so, what was that like? They seem like a very money-grubbing crowd, as evidenced by the story in yesterday's Post about how they charge fees to show King's speeches.

Nick Kotz: Members of the King family declined to be interviewed for my book, as they have for many others. Members of Dr. King's staff were incredibly cooperative with, and supportive of, my research.

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Durham, N.C.: In determining how to extend and expand the Voting Rights Act, can't we find a way to elect more African-American and Hispanics while not creating new groups of excluded and disenfranchised voters. In other words, Voting Rights doesn't have to be a zero sum game.

Perhaps the simplest method is one that's already a successful Voting Rights remedy-limited voting. Instead of single-member districts, larger multimember districts might elect three members to a state legislature or to the U.S. House of Representatives. Each voter would have one vote. Every district would have bipartisan representation. All voters would be guaranteed either a Democrat or Republican to represent them.

Although federal law currently requires single-member elections for Congress, the law could be changed for the larger benefit of expanding Voting Rights and fair representation for many more voters than the present system allows.

Nick Kotz: I think it is highly unlikely that the country will support multi-member districts for Congress. We are left with the exceedingly difficult task of trying to achieve greater fairness to protect the rights of every voter.

Representative Tanner of Tennessee has introduced legislation that would require the states to establish nonpartisan commissions to formulate redistricting plans that are based on criteria other than sheer partisan advantage. He also would not permit states to redistrict except once every ten years following the census. Removing politics from districting is impossible, but Tanner's ideas have merit.

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Round Rock, Tex.: What would happen if de facto segregation ended? In other words, if minorities were so dispersed -- would not that result in effectively no power to elect a candidate of their choice? This, of course, assumes that they would want a minority candidate which maybe wrong.

I do not condone what DeLay did with redistricting.

Five new seats. New as in did not exist before or five that turned from Democratic to Republican?

Nick Kotz: If de facto segregation ended--a highly unlikely possibility today--then the possibilities of a truly integrated democratic society would emerge. In an ideal world, minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics would not feel compelled to count on one political party to champion the causes of equal rights and social justice. When both political parties show an equal interest in achieving these American values, then minority voters will have a truly fair choice.

Nick Kotz: Population changes reflected in the 2000 Census gave Texas two additional House seats. The Republicans picked up a net gain of five seats in the expanded Texas delegation.

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Washington, D.C.: When I was growing up the history from the Civil Rights Era generally depicted MLK and LBJ as allies. However, a PBS program over the weekend on the last five years of King's life make it quite clear that they were anything but allies after 1965 or 1966. Besides their differences over the Vietnam War, was there anything else that drove the two apart?

Nick Kotz: Disagreement over Vietnam was the overriding issue that drove them apart. Johnson and King, in their last years, were broken-hearted that the country and the Congress had lost its will to carry further their joint cause of Civil Rights and ending poverty. Johnson was wrong in even imagining that the country would pay for and support both Vietnam and the domestic concerns. At the end, both Johnson and King realized that the American public, while willing to abolish segregation and denial of voting rights, was far from ready to address the economic consequences of 400 years of slavery and discrimination.

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Falls Church, Va.: Thank you so much for writing "Judgment Days." After reading the book it struck that it would be almost impossible, if not impossible, for leaders like Martin Luther King or Lyndon Johnson to emerge in the kind of political environment we have today. Do you share that view?

Nick Kotz: I believe that remarkable leaders like King and Johnson can emerge at any time. But it must be remembered that these two men, and other great leaders, almost always emerge to seize opportunity when there is pressure for change both from events and from masses of citizens. Today, we have the events that demand change, but we certainly lack the focused, grassroots political engagement and demand for change.

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Arlington, Va.: Mr. Kotz,

In your beautifully-written and well-researched book, "Judgment Days", you write a great deal about the FBI's spying on and dirty tricks against Dr. King. In light of those efforts, what do you make of the recent revelations about the Bush Administration's wiretapping policies?

Nick Kotz: The Bush administration's spying is a case of "deja vu all over again." Whenever Americans feel threatened, public officials and zealots have been known to overreach their proper authority, and trample on our civil liberties and civil rights.

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Annapolis, Md.: Thanks for taking my question. I read you book last fall and thouroughly enjoyed it.

It seems that the civil and rights acts were truly bi-partison efforts. Would you describe them like that? If so, why do the democrats usually get credit for them?

Also, has there been any talk of prosecuting people for the FBI (obviously illegal) wiretaps of MLK?

Thanks.

Nick Kotz: You are absolutely correct that the passage of the 1964 and 1965 Civil Rights laws were the result of truly bipartisan efforts. At that time, both the House and Senate contained quite a few liberal Republicans, and many moderates who were pro-civil rights. Especially important was the leadership of Senator Everett Dirksen, the Republican Minority Leader. Alas, today's polarized Congress seems incapable of rising to such acts of greatness. Johnson stressed bipartisanship to solve national problems. The Democrats got the credit because the role of the President usually gets more credit than the role of Congress.

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King of Prussia, Pa.: Hello Mr. Kotz,

Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing "Judgment Days" for Library Journal. Two things stand out: how LBJ and MLK reversed roles, ie. King was the wily politician and Johnson the noble statesman. How did King manage to play this role with so much pressure from Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, and members of his own crumbling non-violence coalition? The other question is based on Hoover's pure evil, which you clearly demonstrate. Should the FBI buiding be named after him?

Also, my congratulations on your superb book. Library Journal named it one of its "2005 Best Books." Of the thousands of books published in 2005, only 28 made the list!

Nick Kotz: The name of J. Edgar Hoover definitely should be removed from the FBI building. Hoover disgraced the office that he held so long.

How did King manage to play his role, considering the enormous pressure that he was under? King had the truly remarkable ability to be able to live not only with pressure, but with conflicting pressures on him. He was very human--he recognized his own fears, his weaknesses, and he desired to flee the battle for a simpler life. But he knew that he could not do that. Most of the time, King showed amazingly good judgment in handling not only the pressures, but the issues themselves. It may sound simple, but he did what he had to do.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: When touring the Lyndon Johnson Ranch, our guide told us what he stated was a little known story that President Johnson appeared distressed before some of his aides when he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1965. Supposedly he told them he was sad because he had just handed the Southern states to the Republican Party. Do you believe this story could be accurate?

Nick Kotz: This story is true. After he had signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, his aide Bill Moyers noted that the President looked sad at a great moment of triumph. Johnson replied that it was a great victory, and probably one of the best things he would do. He was sad, the President told Moyers, because the political effect of his championing the Civil Rights Act would be that the Democrats would lose the South for the rest of his lifetime, and perhaps Moyers' as well.

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Washington, D.C.: Mr. Kotz, do you have a new book in the works? If so, could you talk to us a bit about it?

Nick Kotz: I'm thinking, I'm thinking! All ideas are welcome.

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Vienna, Va.: I have two small children. What is the most important thing about MLK that they can learn? Is there any reading you'd recommend for school-aged children?

Nick Kotz: The most important thing about Dr. King that our small children should remember was his belief in and dedication to the principles of the Ten Commandments. Dr. King not only preached but practiced the principle that each of us should treat our neighbors as we would have them treat us. He really embodied in both his preaching and his activism the principles from all of our major religions. Certainly, his Christianity was a Christianity which emphasized the social gospel of Jesus. There are lots of good books for small children and older ones about Dr. King and his life. I don't have the names at my fingertips, but you can find them through the library or the internet.

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Dallas, Tex.: Your thoughts on Texas redistricting?

Nick Kotz: First of all, what went wrong in the Texas redistricting...

The DeLay-led redistricting in 2003-- if repeated often enough in many states-- would lead to total chaos. We need to stick to the traditional system of redistricting once every ten years.

Second, the total straightforward, unapologetic, braizenness of the Texas 2003 redistricting speaks for itself. It was 100% a partisan ploy. That's not the purpose of redistricting. The purpose is to carry out the efforts of the Constitution and of our Laws. And that purpose is to create 435 Congretional Districts which will give equal representation to all of the country's citizens. There are all kinds of objective criteria such as respecting county and city lines, compactness, etc. that can be used as guides. In the Texas case, several panels of judges had tried to inject fundamental fairness and common sense into the process.

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Washington, D.C.: What is the percentage of African-Americans who are voting today compared to 1965?

Nick Kotz: Black Americans today, in the South, vote in approximately the same percentage as do white citizens. In 1965, in the deep South, the percentage of blacks permitted to register to vote was miniscule. For example, less than 19% in Mississippi. Registration, I believe, is fairly equal today.

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Silver Spring, Md.: What exactly will be lost if the Voting Rights Act is not extended?

Nick Kotz: Two sections of the law will expire. Section V requires special approval of changes in voting regulations, districts, etc. in a number of deep South states and parts of other states, in which there was a proven history of discrimination. Before those jurisdictions introduce new districting and regulations they must be submitted for approval either by the Justice Department or the Federal Courts. Recent history has shown that Section V is still needed to prevent discrimination against minority voters. Section III, which was first added to the Law in 1970 requires that language assistance at the polls and printed voting materials be in languages other than English. As America's immigrant population has grown, these requirements have helped many new citizens to exercise their voting rights. That section of the law is very important and, in my opinion, is needed.

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Washington, D.C.: What will it take for a Democrat to win back the Congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008? Why hasn't the minority vote been a strong way of swinging the vote yet?

Nick Kotz: The Democrats obviously need a powerful message about how the country can better solve its problems. The minority vote has been critical in every presidential election won by Democrats since, at least 1960.

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Washington, D.C.: Mr. Kotz, if MLK had lived and was with us still... where would he have ended up? Would he have moved further into mainstream politics and become a prime mover in our goverment or had he reached the apex of his influence in the '60s and would have been as irrelevant as Jesse Jackson in 2006?

Nick Kotz: "What ifs" are obviously the most difficult questions. In my view, Dr. King reached his pinnacle of influence in 1965 with the passage of the Voting Rights Act. At that point, the Black Revolution became dominated by leaders more radical than King. In addition, a white counter revolution dominated the political scene, making further large strides virtually impossible.

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Albany, N.Y.: Regarding J. Edgar Hoover: an attorney whose services I used was a former FBI agent. He told me the following story:

Dr. King often spoke critically of the FBI. J. Edgar Hoover then arranged a meeting with Dr. King at the FBI headquarters. The ex-agent claims he escorted Dr. King to Hoover's office, that he then stood outside of it, and that he was the only one in the area. He says that Hoover blackmailed Dr. King into stopping his attacks on the FBI.

Do you know if there's anything to this?

If this story is true, it means Dr. King had some issues. I don't care. I think he was a great person. His flaws make him all the more human and show that you don't have to be perfect to be great.

Nick Kotz: The King/Hoover meeting did take place. Both King and Hoover had aides participate. There is a fairly good record of what happened. In short, both Dr. King and FBI Director Hoover spent most of the meeting exchanging politically correct niceties. Dr. King's aides, including the Rev. Andrew Young, were terribly disappointed that their leader chose not to take on Hoover. Probably, King decided it was futile to try to convince Hoover of anything.

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Munich, Germany: I recall reading somewhere that 1936 was the high point in the relationship between LBJ and MLK. Afterwards, LBJ began to distrust MLK, largely because of surveillance information or misinformation from the FBI.

Is there any truth to this?

Nick Kotz: The high point of the Johnson/King relationship was 1965. Until that time, Johnson disregarded the garbage that Hoover sent him every day about King. However, once King came out against the President's Viet Nam plan, Johnson fought back--including having his aides spread Hoover's poison.

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re: Silver Spring, Md.: Following up on Silver Spring's question and your excellent answer: Is there any additional provision you think should be added to the Voting Rights Act to make the playing field more even for all American voters?

Nick Kotz: The entire system--the extraordinary gerrymandering--needs to be reformed. But I don't think that the Voting Rights Act is the place to do that reform--even though the special requirements of the Voting Rights Act are adversely affected by the more general problems.

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Atlanta, Ga.: For the poster who perceives King's family as a money-grubbing bunch, let me offer a few words. As a Black person, living in Atlanta no less, I am torn. In addition to being an iconic figure, King was a young married father of children at the time of his death. He did not have life insurance, disability and so many other things people take for granted. He wasn't wealthly. His family loss the father, his wife lost her husband. Through the years, many others have profited from the legacy. (How many books have been written that his family doesn't see a dime for but the authors do.) His family doesn't handle everything correctly, but they do have a point.

Nick Kotz: Yes, I agree. Dr. King did not provide for his young family. All the money he made during his life, King poured back into the Movement. After his death, their needs were great. However, the King Papers and the Memorial--in my view--need to be managed by the National Park Service and not by the King family.

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Washington, D.C.: When is your book coming out on paperback? Has Hollywood showed any interest?

Nick Kotz: The book was published in paperback yesterday, on Dr. King's birthday. No concrete offers yet, but there has been interest in either a documentary or a feature film on the LBJ/MLK relationship.

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Buffalo, N.Y.: Dr. King came across as a good man who really cared about all Americans. Unfortunately his replacements like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't appear to be interested in anyone but themselves and their own pocketbooks. What do you think Dr. King would think about the men that have taken up the cause?

Nick Kotz: I don't know what Dr. King would think of the present leadership. I imagine that he would be distressed that the country today is lacking strong leadership for the causes in which he believed--that is leadership, not only at the National level, but at the grass roots.

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Barrington, R.I.: Do you feel that either party (or wing of those parties) is making a good faith effort to carry out Dr. King's vision or is what we see today primarily the "smoke and mirrors" that is so tied into the world of politics?

Nick Kotz: Too much "smoke and mirrors", not enough vision.

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Ocala, Fla.: Whether you liked them or not, MLK and LBJ stood for something. Unfortunately the leaders of the Democratic Party seem to stand for nothing other than trying to stay in the middle of the road. What do you think MLK and LBJ would think about today's Democratic Party and groups like the NAACP?

Nick Kotz: MLK and LBJ shared many leadership traits. One was their dedicated idealism to the cause of social justice. Another was their uncanny political ability to bring together very disparate groups to work for a common cause.

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Washington, D.C.: As African-American who was born in 1965 during the passage of the Voting Rights Act, I love reading about the Civil Rights Movement. My parents made me aware of the changes in my life time compared to theirs, and for that I am truly greatful. I look forward to reading your book! Do you have any other recommendations.

P.S. My father was very proud when I first voted at 18, he felt that it was a great achievement. I hope that other young African-Americans realize the importance of this achievement.

Nick Kotz: There are many good books about the era. The most complete coverage of the Johnson Presidency, so far, is Robert Dalleck's two-part biography. The most complete work on King are David Garrow's four books and his contributions as editor and writer for many others. Taylor Branch has just completed his three-volume study of Dr. King and America during his time. The Godfather of all of us, who write about this history, is John Hope Franklin, now age 90, the great African-American historian, who has just published a magnificent memoir.

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Washington, D.C.: How would you rate LBJ among 20th Century presidents?

Nick Kotz: First the good news: he ranks with FDR as the President who did the most to broaden democracy and prosperity for all Americans. The bad news: Johnson's Viet Nam policy was the precursor to our current inability to handle America's place in the world.

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Nick Kotz: Thank you all. Your questions have been stimulating, thoughtful and challenging. I'll get back to work. Nick.

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