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Tom Phan

History 1700

Jenel Cope

A Change in American History

With racial inequality and civil unrest still happening even after the end of the

Civil War, it would take many decades for African Americans as well as other minority

groups to finally get the equal rights and opportunities they truly deserve as Americans in

society. As civil rights activists and American citizens fought hard to achieve their goals

in obtaining equality during the Civil Rights Movement, their efforts urged the

government to take actions and with that came the creation of a piece of legislation that

was written as a result of their accomplishments. First drafted and proposed by President

John F. Kennedy, and with the support and hard efforts of President Lyndon B. Johnson

and supportive members of Congress in getting its passage possible, The Civil Right Act

of 1964 became a significant and important document toward Africans American and

other groups of minorities in that it prohibited discrimination, segregation, and tried

secure other rights such as voting to be guaranteed among American citizens regardless

of race, nationality, gender, or religion, one of the many goals that drove the movement

and its people involved.

While many attempts and efforts have been made by African Americans

throughout the years to end racial inequality, they never quite gained the momentum and
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impact that they needed to bring about change. Racial discrimination, segregation, and

violence continued to exist and were still prominent especially in the South. Unjust laws

like the Jim Crow laws allowed for the institution of segregation to exist; example being

public buildings and accesses that were open only for white people while non-whites

were forced go to places that were open only for them. Southern states government

tolerate the use of violence from white supremacists and terrorist group like the Ku Klux

Klan against those that they felt were inferior and a threat to the white dominated society,

but as more and more African Americans become more determined to end a problem that

have lasted throughout decades, the Civil Rights Movement and the important moments

that emerged from it will play a vital role in the creation of the Act as more people were

able to witness some of the key events that took place. With their perseverance and

sacrifices, these were only just some of the moment in their fights for equality.

On December 1, 1955, an African American woman named Rosa Parks refused to

give up her seats to a white passenger. Because the segregated laws in Alabama, she was

arrested. After Parks was bailed out, she decided to fight segregation laws in the court.

With the support from the Womens Political Council, they decided to organize a boycott

on Montgomerys buses. News about the boycott spread through the city and by

December 5, the first day of the boycott, 40,000 African Americans refused to use the bus

(Text Book Ch. 13 Sec. 1 page 5). For the next 381 days, African Americans would turn

to alternative forms of transportation to get where they needed to be. On June 1956, an

Alabama federal court found segregation laws to be unconstitutional and the citys buses

were desegregated. The success in Montgomery propelled the way toward other protests
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for it gave a sense of motivation and empowerment to African Americans for they knew

that they were able to create change if they came together. The events led ways to the

creation of the SCLC who were determined to help other states end segregation as well

as elevating prominent civil rights activists like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.

into the national spotlights.

As civil right activists and American citizens continued to fight for equality, white

resistance continued to increase and tensions from protests like the sit-ins throughout the

southern states and the Freedom Rides would continued to arise. In Birmingham,

Alabama in 1963, a peaceful protest led by the SCLC resulted in thousands of people

getting assaulted and arrested. Police brutality included protesters, including children,

getting clubbed, shot with high-pressure fire hoses and attacked by police dogs. In

response to what happened, along with many other protests that had been happening,

Kennedy urged the country to take action in guaranteeing equality among the people

regardless of race in a nationally televised address. He proposed Congress to consider a

civil right legislation, one that would address desegregation, voting right,

nondiscrimination, and many more (National Archives).

Not long after his assassination that one of the most famous events to come out of

the Civil Rights Movement happened in history. On August 28, 1963, about 250,000

people participated in the March on Washington for jobs and freedom and gathered

around at Lincoln Memorial to hear speeches and performances. It was where in this

moment that influential civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his iconic

speech I Have a Dream where King called for the end of racial injustice and inequality.
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The March on Washington was one of the highest points in the Civil Rights Movement in

which African Americans causes were truly being acknowledged and recognized

nationwide.

The African Americans Civil Rights Movement led way to other minority groups

who have experienced discrimination and inequality to start forming their own

movement. Mexican Americans, Native Americans, American women, as well as gays

and lesbians all participated in forming their own group of organizations with all different

causes and sought out to demand their rights in society. When President Lyndon B.

Johnson came into office in November 22, 1963, he set out an agenda to secure civil

rights among the American people and finished what Kennedy had sought out to do.

Through difficulties and struggles, the Civil Right Act of 1964 was later then signed into

law.

The Act would finally made segregation and discrimination in work and public

places illegal as well as securing equal rights among American citizens. It was piece of

legislation and this affect the way it was written in that it provided extremely specific

details in what is supposed to be addressed. It consisted of terms that are existed in the

political field and the way that it was structured include Title that describe the rights

being addressed in the Act and Section that further elaborate how those rights are to be

carried out. The first being voting rights from which it states, No person acting under

color of law shall-- in determining whether any individual is qualified under State law or

laws to vote in any Federal election, apply any standard, practice, or procedure different

from the standards, practices, or procedures applied under such law or laws to other
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individuals employ any literacy test as a qualification for voting in any Federal

election (Civil Rights Act of 1964) This was written to stop states governments in the

South to use literacy test and other forms of disenfranchisement as a way to prevent

African Americans and other ethnic groups from voting. Voting rights would then be

further strengthened with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 following the Act passage.

One of the other laws that was being addressed is the now illegal act of

discrimination in public places from which it states, All persons shall be entitled to the

full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges without

discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.,

(Civil Right Act of 1964) as well discrimination in the work place when it said It shall

be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to

discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual, because

of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin ;( Civil Right Act of

1964). These laws were created to stop the discriminatory practices in public and work

places in which people were denied of services, privileges, and opportunities most

prominently because of their race.

The Act also included desegregation in public facilities when it said, Whenever

the Attorney General receives a complaint in writing signed by an individual to the effect

that he is being deprived of or threatened with the loss of his right to the equal protection

of the laws, on account of his race, color, religion, or national origin, by being denied

equal utilization of any public facility, the Attorney General is authorized to institute

for or in the name of the United States a civil action in any appropriate district court of
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the United States against such parties (Civil Rights Act of 1964) The Act further

expands into addressing desegregation in public schools. These laws were written to

finally address that the institution of segregation is now illegal. The Act also included

nondiscrimination in federal assisted programs, establishment of a Commission on Equal

Employment Opportunity, as well as many others.

Kennedy, Johnson, and supportive member of Congress all contributed to creation

of this Act and because of their political platforms, it reflects upon what the document

was, what it was created to do, and why they are writing it in that it was a piece of

legislation meant to end discrimination, segregation, and trying to provide equal rights

among all Americans. With what was happening during the Civil Rights Movement and

the tension and violence that kept coming, they have a responsibility to keep a nation that

is united although they all have a different mindset into creating the piece of legislation.

John F. Kennedy first did not take much action with regard to civil rights legislation for

fear that he would lose southern white Democrats supports, but with what was happening

with all of the protests such as the violence that resulted in the events of the Freedom

Riders, he finally decided to take action (Text Book Ch. 13 Sec. 1 page 8). JFKs concern

was that the tension from all of the protests was affecting the countrys foreign policy in

regard to the Cold War as well as the U.S. chances of gaining allies from countries from

Asia, Africa, and Latin America (Text Book Ch. 13 Sec. 1 page 7). He then pushed for a

passage of the 24th Amendment which outlawed poll taxes, one the ways in which

southern states used to deprive African Americans the right to vote, and later sought to

create a civil rights legislation after the events that happened in Birmingham, Alabama.
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When Johnson stepped into office, he sought out to accomplish Kennedys goals

in securing civil rights as well as economic opportunities. Through many economic

reforms, the Johnson Administration helped to approve the lives of many Americans.

Realizing that civil rights is just as important as economic opportunities for poverty

cannot be lessen if the poor cannot have access to these opportunities due to

discrimination, Johnson sought to established the civil rights act that many Americans

have all waited for (Text Book Ch. 13 Sec. 3 page 3). Although the rights being

addressed seemed promising, the passage, however, was not easy. Opposition in the

House tried to refrains the bill from being passed in the House Rules Committee by

arguing that the bill was unconstitutional in that it goes against individual and states

rights (National Archive). Nonetheless, the House was able to approve the bill by a vote

of 290 -130. When the bill moved into the Senate, further opposition continued. Southern

and border state Democrats tried to talk the bill to death in a filibuster that lasted 75 days,

the longest in history (History.com). In the end, the filibuster was overcome through the

support of the President, the effort of Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, and the

leadership of Senator Hubert Humphrey, who was able to convinced Republicans to

support the bill (National Archive). Supporters of the bill were able to obtain two-thirds

of the vote to end the debate. With the filibuster now broken, the Senate voted 73-27 in

favor out the bill and President Johnson finally signed The Civil Rights Act of 1964 into

law on July 2, 1964.

In conclusion, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was one the most landmark document

in the 20th Century in that it was a turning point in American society. Up until this point,
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African Americans and other minority groups were being denied everyday rights that

were given to everyone else. They suffered through discrimination, segregation, and

unequal jobs and economic opportunities. They endured racial violence and social

injustice through their fight for equality. This Act had changed all of that by putting an

end to discrimination, segregation, as well as trying to secure individuals rights among

American citizens. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 also led the way to other pieces of civil

rights legislation such as Voting Rights Act of 1965 which further extending voting rights

by prohibiting state and local governments from passing laws that prevents voters on the

basis of race as well as the Civil Right of 1968 which prohibited discrimination in

housing on the basis of race, religion, and national origin. Its also significant in that it

influential into what it is our own society today. Racism is still something that existed in

today society, and this Act prevents action of discrimination from happening and is

constant reminder that everyone is born to be treated the same and have the same

opportunity as everybody else regardless of race, national origin, gender, religion, etc.
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Work Cited

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act

https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=97

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement