Press Room

With awards season in full swing, the historical drama Selma has been one of the year's most controversial films. The movie – which depicts the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama - has garnered support and criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.  Many historians question the film's portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson's relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King, as well as the former's stance on civil rights.

No one is more determined to set the record straight than Joseph Califano, former United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the late President's Special Assistant and domestic aide.  According to Califano, LBJ declared the Voting Rights Act a priority from the start of his presidency – considering it to be "the most important piece of legislation" of his administration. In addition to appointing the first-ever black cabinet member, Robert Weaver, as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Johnson also acted quickly to appoint the first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, to the bench.

Califano cites LBJ's recorded telephone conversations with MLK (available at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library) wherein the two collaborated on how to best bring the voting rights issue into the national spotlight.  Johnson needed public support to get civil rights legislation through Congress and actively sought MLK's help to achieve this objective. Johnson asked King where the most visible march could be assembled and Dr. King responded by choosing the road from Selma to Montgomery.

Califano and others close to President Johnson are dismayed that the film Selma misconstrues the relationship between the two leaders in the interest of dramatic storytelling. The movie depicts LBJ as a "reluctant participant" in the civil rights movement, which Califano calls "false history." At a time when there are so few "role models" of collaboration, Califano worries the mischaracterization of the respect and friendship between Johnson and King does damage to a proud American legacy. Califano claims films like Selma, and Oliver Stone's JFK, leave an inaccurate impression on young people who make no distinction between a historical drama and a documentary.

Director Ava DuVernay recently responded to criticism by defending the film as art – stating that the film was never intended as a historical depiction. "I'm not a documentarian. I am an artist who explored history," she recently told PBS.

To hear the full interview with Joseph Califano, visit thecostareport.com