The Democratic leaders of the Senate and House, along with the Party Whip, chatted while eating in a restaurant with Southern flavors, and soon analyzed the situation within the Democratic Party clearly. Senators in the Senate (the name of the US Senate implies a council of elders; each state has 2 senators, mostly from powerful political families in that state) did not oppose it in principle, but Democratic senators believed the Republicans must make some compromises.

About half of the Representatives in the House of Representatives (the people's house, elected according to population proportion) opposed abolishing the Chinese Exclusion Act. Among them, besides Representative O'Hara who firmly opposed abolishing the Chinese Exclusion Act because he inherited the political legacy of the congressman who promoted the act, the congressmen opposing the abolition were either from Southern states or from constituencies where Democrats gathered in Republican states.

Having determined the situation within the Democratic Party, the three Democratic bigwigs had finished their main course. The Whip wanted to take out the flask from his pocket and take a sip. But the Prohibition Act had been passed, so drinking openly like this was inappropriate. So the Whip picked up his coffee and asked, "I think we can talk to Hoover."

The Democratic leaders of the Senate and House were hesitating about what to do. Hearing this suggestion, their brows immediately smoothed. Appointed as the head of the US Food Administration in 1917, Hoover's political prestige climbed all the way with his outstanding work. Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party extended olive branches to Hoover, who was then an independent.

Hoover joined the Republican Party in 1920 and became Secretary of Commerce in 1921, working until now. During this period, many of Hoover's policies were deeply recognized by both parties. Especially in the current Coolidge Prosperity period, Hoover's prestige was even higher. It was generally believed that Hoover was very likely to become the next US President.

The Democratic leaders of the Senate and House both believed Hoover would provide a better political trade. Making Hoover owe the Democratic Party a favor now could yield more returns in the future. Listening to the discussion of these two guys, the Whip put down the half-drunk coffee and asked in a somewhat deliberate tone, "Do you two remember the proposal Hoover promoted in 1917?"

The two Democratic leaders were somewhat surprised. Hoover had promoted very many proposals. Since 10 years had passed since 1917, the two couldn't immediately think of which outstanding promotion the Whip valued.

The Whip was not unhappy because of the dullness of these two guys. The leaders of the Senate and House were very powerful, but their power mainly lay in passing or rejecting bills. US Congressmen were all arrogant; how could they obey easily? When congressmen did not listen to the party caucus decision, the Whip needed to act.

Now was the time for the Whip to show his strength. Facing the two leaders, the Whip said, "The rule preventing low-income families from moving into middle-income communities."

The two leaders thought for a moment. The Senate leader's brow smoothed, but the House leader was still not quite clear.

The Whip felt somewhat confident. The abolition of the Chinese Exclusion Act concerned US national interests. Although the US President held military and diplomatic power, and the US Congress could restrict it through various proposals, it was indeed inconvenient to do so this time. Appeasing US domestic political forces was a state right, and the President's power was at a disadvantage. Contacting Hoover in this field could largely achieve political transactions that the Democratic Party could not complete before.

The next day, US Secretary of Commerce Hoover received a dinner invitation from the Democratic Speaker of the House. According to American political tradition, this meal was definitely to negotiate terms. Hoover didn't really want to go. As Secretary of Commerce, he certainly agreed with abolishing the Chinese Exclusion Act. Such a clear stance put Hoover in a passive position naturally.

But Hoover indeed intended to compete for the next US presidency, so he knew he had to go. In US politics, failing to reach an agreement was very common, but daring not to confront an opponent was another matter. Not losing momentum even if losing the argument was a basic requirement for American politicians.

In the evening, Hoover left his office. The secretary handed a bouquet of lilies to Hoover as a gift for the wife of the Democratic Speaker of the House. Sure enough, the Speaker's wife came out to welcome him wearing a cooking apron. This middle-aged Southern woman took the flowers with that simple Southern smile, but didn't even look at the lilies, just simply expressing gratitude to Hoover.

Walking into the Speaker's home, the children of the family were already waiting in the living room. The Speaker introduced his children to Hoover, and Hoover shook hands with these young people one by one with his fleshy hand. The Speaker sent the children away and was about to chat with Hoover when the Speaker's wife walked into the living room, "Dinner is about to be served. I don't allow you to talk politics during mealtime."

Hearing his wife's words, the Speaker laughed, "Alright, Clarice, you are the master of the house."

Hoover had long heard that the Speaker and his wife were deeply in love. Seeing it now, he was also somewhat emotional. So, the whole family sat around the dining table. The Speaker's wife asked the eldest daughter to lead the recitation of the grace. Everyone crossed their hands on their chests, closed their eyes, and listened to the Speaker's eldest daughter recite: "The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord shall praise him; may your hearts live forever! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

Southerners were generally pious, and Hoover felt it again at this time. In the North, grace before meals was basically a simple 'Thank God for giving us food'. Actually, grace before meals was not that simple; it was different before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The prayer of the Speaker's eldest daughter was a standard dinner prayer.

After reciting the prayer, everyone said in unison, "Amen." Only then did the meal begin. At the dinner table, the Speaker's children said nothing, just eating quietly. Hoover, who had been intriguing at various high-class dinner tables for many years, felt a long-lost emotion. That was the feeling when he prayed before meals with his parents when he was a child. Hoover's parents were devout Christians and always did so when eating. But when Hoover was still a child, both parents died of illness. Hoover had developed considerable resistance to religion since then.

Even though the experience of losing both parents in childhood made Hoover dislike religion, Hoover remembered his parents' persistence in cherishing food. So in 1917, when appointed by Wilson as the head of the US Food Administration, Hoover formulated a decentralized management theory contrary to previous US politics, that is, devolving power from the central government to states to counties to individuals, hoping people would consciously save food. Under Hoover's vigorous promotion, the policy achieved significant results.

Perhaps influenced by his parents, Hoover himself did not waste food. Any rice served must be finished, which also created his chubby figure.

Finishing the meal with a calm mood, the Speaker and Hoover finally sat under the eaves of the house facing the garden. The garden couldn't be seen clearly at night, but bursts of floral fragrance proved that the Speaker's wife spent a lot of time on gardening. Amidst the fragrance, the Speaker said, "Mr. Secretary, your promotion of the creation of the Federal Zoning Committee in 1917 was really a very good proposal."

The emotion brought to Hoover by religion and family flew beyond the highest heavens the moment he heard this sentence. Hoover immediately calculated what this Democratic Speaker wanted to do.

Hoover created a federal zoning committee in 1917 to persuade local committees to adopt rules preventing low-income families from moving into middle-income communities. There were indeed a large number of white people among 'low-income families' in the United States, but in the entire low-income group, colored people were the majority. To put it more bluntly, blacks were the main body of low-income families.

Preventing low-income families from moving into middle-income communities meant prohibiting blacks who ran to northern cities from entering white communities to live. In 1917, Hoover was still a 'non-partisan person'. Now Hoover was a highly valued political star in the Republican Party. It was no longer suitable to take actions that 'would be misunderstood'.

But the Speaker did not pester him relentlessly. He said frankly, "Mr. Secretary, we hope to pass a bill authorizing the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the Home Owners' Loan Corporation to provide marked areas of adverse mortgage risk in urban areas. The Federal Housing Commission should screen community occupancy qualifications based on these area marks."

Hoover did not express his opinion, just listened quietly. The idea of the bill proposed by the Democratic Speaker was essentially a segregation law. After the Civil War, the North did not liquidate the Southern landlord class. Especially after Lincoln was assassinated, the Republican Party had to accept a Democratic president to stabilize the US political situation. This allowed American blacks, although no longer slaves, to still fail to obtain equal civil rights.

In order not to tear the United States apart again, the US Supreme Court did not propose federal bills for black equality rights, which led to states being able to enact their own state laws. Southern states took this opportunity to universally implement segregation laws, and many southern towns even implemented 'Sundown Town' laws. This law stipulated that once the sun set, if a black person appeared in a white town or white community, white police could kill the black person immediately.

Of course, these laws would not be written directly like this; 'black people' were replaced by other nouns, such as 'suspicious persons' or 'low-income suspicious persons'. This is the 'wonderful use' of legal provisions. Even the most venomous segregation and racial oppression can be whitewashed with high-sounding words.

Just like the 'areas of adverse mortgage risk' mentioned by the Democratic Speaker, they were black neighborhoods. This was exactly the same as the 'preventing low-income families from moving into middle-income communities' promoted by Hoover back then.

The Democratic Party added a clause to the policy promoted by Hoover in 1917, 'authorizing the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the Home Owners' Loan Corporation to provide marked areas of adverse mortgage risk in urban areas', giving whites who opposed blacks moving into white communities a legal basis. Black areas were poor areas. With the double insurance of the 'Federal Home Loan Bank Board and Home Owners' Loan Corporation', black areas were destined to be marked as adverse mortgage loan areas, and blacks in this area would never have the opportunity to move into white communities. It fully displayed the application of linguistic art in politics.

After completing the 'elegant description completely unrelated to racial discrimination', the Speaker said bluntly, "Mr. Secretary, if you can play a promoting role in the subsequent communication between the two parties, I think the probability of abolishing the Chinese Exclusion Act will be very high."

Hearing this, Hoover, who had been mute all along, asked, "Is this the view of Democratic congressmen?"

"At least it is the view of the Representatives." The Speaker answered Hoover's question clearly.

Hoover didn't ask more, but stood up and said, "In that case, I will take my leave."

When parting, the Speaker's wife stuffed a large bag of food into Hoover's hands, all Southern food like fried meat patties cooked by her personally. Looking at the simple smile of the lady, Hoover took the food, barely expressed his gratitude to the lady, and got into his car.

Watching the car drive away in a flash, the Speaker's wife asked her husband puzzledly, "Does Secretary Hoover not like Southern food?"

The Speaker did not answer. He looked in the direction Hoover's car left in the darkness for a while, then put his arm around his wife's shoulder and answered, "I don't think so. Maybe Secretary Hoover feels unwell."

After speaking, the Speaker said, "Let's go, my dear. Let's go back inside." The couple leaned on each other and walked into the home lit with warm lights.