How Did Erma Johnson Cause Discrimination?

Erma Johnson was born in Racine, Wisconsin in 1933. Shortly after being born his family relocated to Arkansas(pg1). That is where he grew up. They were extremely poor sharecroppers. Sometimes Erma would have to pick cotton all day just to barely make a living. One time, after a day picking cotton the man they were selling to just took their haul without paying. Being black, they had no recourse, they just had to accept it. They often could not afford basic necessities like shoes. In spite of this, his dad was extremely resilient man. He raised his children with the attitude that nobody owed them anything and whatever they want in life they needed to get themselves. They faced unimaginable racism there, blacks could not walk on the same sidewalk

As a black man, there were places he could not go, he would get rocks thrown at him, and blacks were forbidden to have any of the well-paying jobs. In fact, Johnson remembers when Sammy Davis Jr would come to Las Vegas, he was not allowed to stay in the hotels after his performance, he had to find other places to stay. The local police were equally as racist. Black police could not arrest black people, and blacks would be beat up just for being in the wrong neighborhood. This level of racism and discrimination shocked him. While he has faced discrimination in the past, this was the first time that there were places he simply could not go. Back in Wisconsin, there were some places they needed to travel as a gang to go to, but there was nowhere he was forbidden to

After sometime working miscellaneous carpenting jobs (eg electrician, drywall), he got a call from Gov. Sawyer appointing him to the State Highway Department in 1961. Johnson met Gov. Sawyer while doing some campaigning for him, and they had a mutual friend Reverend Prentice Walker. So Johnson became the first black man appointed to the State Highway department. His first job there was picking up cans on the side of the highway. He soon grew discontent with picking up cans, so he fought to allow blacks in higher positions within the department. He later worked as a truck driver and sign painter. Unbeknownst to him when he was hired, Gov. Sawyer appointed him to the department to be a recruiter to get black people’s foot in the door. He campaigned in the department to get black people hired, and to get them in higher positions. He filed complaints against the state and him and his family were threatened. He worked there for twenty-one years until a huge tire fell on him and broke his back. His work at the Highway Department paved the way for other black Americans to work for the state and let them obtain higher department