Good luck trying to figure out from his obituaries what Earl Butz is best remembered for. (Does that even make sense?). The NY Times says "Mr. Butz made a remark in which he described blacks as 'coloreds' who wanted only three things � satisfying sex, loose shoes and a warm bathroom � desires that Mr. Butz listed in obscene and scatological terms."
As Burro Hall recalls, Butz's actual words were, "I'll tell you what the coloreds want. It's three things: first, a tight pussy; second, loose shoes; and third, a warm place to shit."
And Nixon came through with how many of those?
Here's a fun anecdote about how the incident was reported at the time:
The Associated Press sent out the uncensored quotation but, according to Columbia Journalism Review, only two newspapers printed it: Wisconsin's Madison Capital Times and Ohio's Toledo Blade. Other newspapers said Butz had derogatorily described blacks' "sexual, dress and bathroom predilections," or that he had said "a tight [obscenity] ... a warm place to [vulgarism]," or otherwise cleaned up the language. ("Courageously." David Shaw of the Los Angeles Times commented, "...no editors dropped 'shoes' from Butz's remarks and substituted 'an article of footwear.'")
Two newspapers provided ways for readers to see Butz's uncensored remarks. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in Texas announced that the original statement was available in the newspaper office, and more than two hundred people came to read it. The San Diego Evening Tribune offered to mail a copy to anyone who requested it, and more than three thousand people did so.
