Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the nation's premier
civil rights legislation. The Act outlawed
discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion,
sex, or national origin, required equal access to public
places and employment, and enforced desegregation of
schools and the right to vote. It did not end
discrimination, but it did open the door to further
progress.
Although the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments outlawed
slavery, provided for equal protection under the law,
guaranteed citizenship, and protected the right to vote,
individual states continued to allow unfair treatment of
minorities and passed Jim Crow laws allowing segregation
of public facilities. These were upheld by the Supreme
Court in
Plessy v. Ferguson
(1895), which found state laws requiring racial
segregation that were "separate but equal" to be
constitutional. This finding help continue legalized
discrimination well into the 20th century.
Following World War II, pressures to recognize,
challenge, and change inequalities for minorities grew.
One of the most notable challenges to the status quo was
the 1954 landmark Supreme Court case
Brown v. Board of Education
of Topeka, Kansas which questioned the notion of
"separate but equal" in public education. The Court
found that "separate educational facilities are
inherently unequal" and a violation of the 14th
Amendment. This decision polarized Americans, fostered
debate, and served as a catalyst to encourage federal
action to protect civil rights.
Marshals standing by fence near crowd during the March
on Washington, 1963
Warren K. Leffler, LOC, LC-U9- 10361-23
Each year, from 1945 until 1957, Congress considered and
failed to pass a civil rights bill. Congress finally
passed limited Civil Rights Acts in 1957 and 1960, but
they offered only moderate gains. As a result of the
1957 Act, the United States Commission on Civil Rights
was formed to investigate, report on, and make
recommendations to the President concerning civil rights
issues. Sit-ins, boycotts, Freedom Rides, the founding
of organizations such as the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC), local demands for
inclusion in the political process, all were in response
to the increase in legislative activity through the
1950s and early 1960s.
1963 was a crucial year for the Civil Rights Movement.
Social pressures continued to build with events such as
the Birmingham Campaign, televised clashes between
peaceful protesters and authorities, the murders of
civil rights workers Medgar Evers and William L. Moore,
the
March on Washington,
and the deaths of four young girls in the bombing of
Birmingham's
16th Street Baptist Church.
There was no turning back. Civil rights were firmly on
the national agenda and the federal government was
forced to respond.
President John F. Kennedy addresses the nation on civil
rights, June 11, 1963
In response to the report of the United States
Commission on Civil Rights, President
John F. Kennedy
proposed, in a nationally televised address, a Civil
Rights Act of 1963. A week after his speech, Kennedy
submitted a bill to Congress addressing civil rights
(H.R. 7152). He urged African American leaders to use
caution when demonstrating since new violence might
alarm potential supporters. Kennedy met with
businessmen, religious leaders, labor officials, and
other groups such as CORE and NAACP, while also
maneuvering behind the scenes to build bipartisan
support and negotiate compromises over controversial
topics.
Following Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, both
Martin Luther King, Jr.
and newly inaugurated President Lyndon B. Johnson
continued to press for passage of the bill – as King
noted in a January 1964 newspaper column, legislation
"will feel the intense focus of Negro interest...It
became the order of the day at the great March on
Washington last summer. The Negro and his white
compatriots for self-respect and human dignity will not
be denied."
The House of Representatives debated H.R. 7152 for nine
days, rejecting nearly 100 amendments designed to weaken
the bill. It passed the House on February 10, 1964 after
70 days of public hearings, appearances by 275
witnesses, and 5,792 pages of published testimony.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the 1964 Civil
Rights Act, July 2, 1964.
Cecil Stoughton, White House Press Office
The real battle was waiting in the Senate, however,
where concerns focused on the bill's expansion of
federal powers and its potential to anger constituents
who might retaliate in the voting booth. Opponents
launched the longest filibuster in American history,
which lasted 57 days and brought the Senate to a virtual
standstill.
Senate minority leader Everett Dirksen nurtured the bill
through compromise discussions and ended the filibuster.
Dirksen's compromise bill passed the Senate after 83
days of debate that filled 3,000 pages in the
Congressional Record. The House moved quickly to approve
the Senate bill.
Within hours of its passage on July 2, 1964 President
Lyndon B. Johnson, with
Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Dorothy Height, Roy
Wilkins,
John Lewis, and
other civil rights leaders in attendance, signed the
bill into law, declaring once and for all that
discrimination for any reason on the basis of race,
color, religion, sex, or national origin was illegal in
the United States of America.
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