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Answer:
Your answer would be D). He was a southerner with an unimpressive record on race issues.
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The reason why Lyndon Johnson’s support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 surprised many Americans was because he was a southerner with an unimpressive record on race issues.
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Definitions:
Civil Rights Act:
An act in 1964 that banned the discrimination of someone's skin color, race, religion, etc.
Southerner:
A person that is from the South side of the United States. For example, places like Texas, Alabama, West Virginia, and etc were southern states.
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Step-by-step explanation:
The reason why "D). He was a southerner with an unimpressive record on race issues." is the correct answer is because during the 1960's, most of the people that didn't believed in civil rights were southerners. Since Lyndon Johnson was born in Texas, people believed, or assumed, that he was like the rest of the southerners that didn't believe in civil rights. During the time, southerners pretty much had the stereotype of "being against civil rights," but that stereotype doesn't apply to all the southerners. Another reason why Americans were shocked about him supporting the Civil Rights Act was because he rarely talked about Civil Rights. Civil Rights was a topic that he has never tackled about, and he doesn't deal with racial issues. He pretty much had no experience in fighting to remove discrimination from the country.
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Why the other answer choices are wrong:
The reason why the answer choice "He had earlier threatened to veto the bill" is INCORRECT because:
President Johnson never threatened to veto the bill. President Johnson was encouraging the bill to be pushed forward and sent to congress. He was for the bill, not against it, he even signed the bill to be an official law in the United States.
The reason why the answer choice "He had supported the Birmingham jailing of Martin Luther King, Jr" is INCORRECT because:
He didn't support of Martin Luther King Jr being sent to the Birmingham jail. President Johnson was one of MLK's willing full partners, and MLK trusted him. If he supported the Birmingham jailing of MLK, he wouldn't be supported the Civil Rights Act.
The reason why the answer choice "He had forcefully opposed the efforts of the freedom riders." is INCORRECT because:
President Johnson never opposed the freedom riders of what they were doing. Again, he supported the Civil Rights Act and the protest people made to pass the Act. He believed that the freedom riders worked hard to try and get what they wanted, and that was equal rights, and he supported that.
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-Julie