I recently interviewed Dr. Lee Edwards, author of “William F. Buckley Jr.; The Maker of a Movement.”
The book mentions the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — something that is surprisingly relevant today.
Here’s an excerpt:
NR and its editor did not acquit themselves on the issue of civil rights in the 1950s and early 1960s, taking a states’ rights position that equaled, in the eyes of most liberals and almost all black Americans, a stand in favor of segregation and therefore racism. In his articles, Buckley clearly rejected the politics of southern racists like Ross Barnett of Mississippi and George Wallace of Alabama, but also argued that the federal enforcement of integration was worse than the temporary continuation of segregation. Consistent with conservative principles, he favored voluntary gradual change.
… In a panel discussion marking NR’s fiftieth anniversary in October 2005, liberal commentator Jeff Greenfield asked Buckley whether he regretted his own and the magazine’s resistance to the civil rights movement. Yes, Buckley replied, he realized that in retrospect he and his colleagues were relying too much on the normal political processes as outlined in the Constitution to fully incorporate blacks into American public life. Many southern states, he admitted, did not permit blacks to participate.
