audio by title this day in history october 4 in 1976

• produced by Hana Georg
• in

On this day, October 4, in 1976, US Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz was forced to resign after an outrageous and racist remark that he made was brought to public attention. The conversation in which the comment was made occurred between Mr. Butz and an American singer named Pat Boone. Boone asked Mr. Butz, who was with the Ford administration at the time, why the Lincoln party was not able to attract more black people. Butz replied that it was because black people are only looking for three things in life, and he then proceeded to list them. His comment was so vulgar that many news outlets refused to print it word for word. American icon spews racist obscenities; hmmm, sound familiar?