And there was an incident that occurred one morning in [Lyndon] Johnson’s limousine while [Robert] Parker was driving him from his Thirtieth Place house to the Capitol. Johnson, who had been reading a newspaper in the back seat, “suddenly … lowered the newspaper and leaned forward," and said, " ‘Chief, does it bother you when people don’t call you by name?’ "

Parker was to recall that “I answered cautiously but honestly, ‘Well, sir, I do wonder. My name is Robert Parker.’ " And that was evidently not an answer acceptable to Johnson. “Johnson slammed the paper onto the seat as if he was slapping my face. He leaned close to my ear. ‘Let me tell you one thing, nigger,’ he shouted. ‘As long as you are black, and you’re gonna be black till the day you die, no one’s gonna call you by your goddamn name. So no matter what you are called, nigger, you just let it roll off your back like water, and you’ll make it. Just pretend like you’re a goddamn piece of furniture.’ "

12:17am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z3yrYyHNXCrA
(Notes: 7)