Full Text of the Excerpt

ALBERT GORE:

Of course as I said (to rush on ahead) earlier, the cataclysmic event that polarized politics, particularly in the western part of our state and more particularly in Memphis, was the garbage workers' strike, King's assassination and the political strife that followed, the destruction of the economic vitality of downtown Memphis, the movement of people to the suburbs. This was the culminating thing in the switch of the blacks to the Democratic party, and the switch of many whites in the opposite direction.

JAMES B. GARDNER:

I had understood that in 1964 some black leaders were not opposed to you but were perhaps indifferent, because they didn't quite understand your position on the 1964 civil rights legislation.

ALBERT GORE:

Well, I voted against the 1964 civil rights bill. I thought it was an extreme vestment of power, more than the circumstances warranted. I may have been in error in that view. That was my view, and I opposed it at the time. Some of the black leaders, whether they actually opposed me (I guess some of them did), others just boycotted my campaign. And there was a decided fall off in my support as a result of that. It's understandable. They were very much involved in that legislation. It was a very fundamental statute. And many teachers, I remember, offered to submit legislation that would help with a particular amendment that I had offered in committee. I don't remember the details of these issues; it's been a long time. Yes, there was a boycott of my campaign by a number of blacks.