Thread by @KevinMKruse

Speaking of Ronald Reagan's views on civil rights and race in the 1960s, I just found a profile of him from Look Magazine, right before he won the 1966 gubernatorial election in California.

The piece is fairly standard stuff, but the photos are ... interesting.

The profile (in the 11/1/66 issue) was inspired by California's gubernatorial election.

Civil rights had become a key issue, with the candidates sparring over the aftermath of Watts and a controversial fair housing law.

This Alistair Cook piece from @guardian sums it up.

The Look profile of Reagan -- paired with a profile of incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Brown -- is pretty routine: some biographical background and personal color, coverage of his policies and political endorsements, speculation about his chances, etc.

The photos on the last page, however, tell a different story.

The first shows awards on display at Reagan's ranch, with two from notorious segregationist Democrats: Gov. Ross Barnett (MS), who fought to keep James Meredith from integrating Ole Miss, and Gov. Orval Faubus (AR), infamous for sparking the crisis at Little Rock's Central High.

And in the second photo, Reagan is pictured next to a racially caricatured "lawn jockey" statue at the gate to the ranch.

I don't think that really needs much more explanation.

I have no idea if Reagan's aides staged these as a dog whistle to racists, or if Look's editors arranged them to make their own unsubtle criticism of Reagan.

But either way, the items on display here -- awards from segregationists, a lawn jockey -- were there at Reagan's ranch.

Reagan's racist comments that @TimNaftali doggedly uncovered in the Nixon tapes are shocking, especially to those who only remember (or misremember) Reagan from a later era.

But in the 1960s, his stance on civil rights and race were no secret. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…