What Lena Horne Saw When Blacks Met Robert Kennedy

As tough as she was beautiful.

There was no messing with Lena:

Kenneth Clark ran down the numbers of how bad it was for Blacks. Robert Kennedy, Attorney General and brother of the president, countered with all the things his brother had done for Blacks. While it was more than any president since Lincoln, it was too piecemeal. This was just weeks after the Birmingham protests, where police chief Bull Connor turned fire hoses and dogs on children.

Robert Kennedy acted like someone from a suddenly famous family. He seemed insensitive, expected gratitude. She was surprised at how little he understood about what Blacks were going through. It seems he had not even read Baldwin or talked to anyone who had – why else would he compare being Black American to being Irish American, like it was pretty much the same thing?

Thinking they're clever.

Ha! Blacks still ask that question of whites, all these years later,...