Governor Faces Tough Decisions About Discrimination

Former Governor Harold Hughes (1922-1996) talks about tough decisions he faced about racial discrimination when he was governor.

I found myself as governor lots of times opposing people in the political structure that helped put me in power. You know—who were wanted more rigid force used here and there and we were—you have to keep a balance of force and it’s not easy. I remember one time I angrily made the statement, ‘I don’t give a damn what color people are, even if they’re poke-a-dot, we are going to have equal application of the law and equal rights of the Constitution in Iowa; no matter what happens.’ Whether I’m ever elected again into any office or not isn’t the question. The question is how do we keep sanity and do this right and proper? I don’t know course and time brought me into American history to be at that point where I was at, but I am glad I was there.