The real reason for Johnson County namesake change

After reading the article “Johnson County no longer named for slave owner” in the June 25 Gazette, I was compelled to do a Google search for the original namesake holder, Richard Mentor Johnson, as until this issue originated a year ago, I had no idea who he was. The article mentioned that Johnson served as vice president and that “he was a lifelong slave owner and a “despicable person” toward Black people and Native Americans.” I found out that Richard Mentor Johnson was the 9th vice president, serving 1837-1841 and that he was also a Democrat, which was not mentioned by the county supervisors.

I recently read a book, “Freedom on Trial, The first Post-Civil War Battle Over Civil Rights and Voter Suppression” by Scott Farris. The author documents that slave ownership, the writing of Jim Crow laws, the establishment of the Ku Klux Klan and its brutality, and the voting rights restrictions for people of color in the 1860s was primarily associated with the Democrat party, especially in the southern, confederate states.

I would agree that the new namesake, Lulu Merle Johnson, is a good choice even though it is a little awkward that she was born 70 years after Johnson County was founded. Is this merely righting a wrong or is it a deflection of the Democrat party’s history of control toward people of color prior to and subsequent to the Civil War?

William Erickson

North Liberty