Civil Rights Act of 1964

The 1964 Civil Rights Act was the most far-reaching civil rights act passed by the U.S. Congress since the Reconstruction Era (1865–77; the period after the American Civil War, during which the southern states were reorganized and brought back into the Union). The act eliminated some of the obstacles to voting faced by African Americans, prohibited segregation (separation of blacks and whites) in public accommodations, ordered the desegregation of public schools , and made it illegal to discriminate against minorities in the workplace. Although many observers felt that the act did not go far enough, it was a milestone in the civil rights movement .

Background

The road to the passage of the Civil Rights Act was long and difficult. In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63), under intense pressure from civil rights groups, urged Congress to enact a bill to meet the demands of African Americans for equality. The bill he proposed included sections dealing with segregation and discrimination in public facilities, employment, federally assisted programs, and education.

Two days after the bill was put before Congress, Kennedy was assassinated. His successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973; served 1963–69), urged Congress to pass the bill. Earlier in his political career, Johnson had opposed most civil rights measures, but during his years in the Senate his views had changed. As vice president and then as president, he surprised the nation by making a vigorous commitment to civil rights. He faced strong opposition in the Senate from southerners who feared that the Civil Rights Act would allow the federal government to interfere in their local affairs. Johnson continued to press Congress to pass the act even though he knew his own Democratic Party could lose

its large base of southern voters because of it. After a major struggle in the Senate, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed on July 2.

Voting rights

In the early 1960s, unfairly administered literacy (reading and writing) tests were being used in some southern states to keep blacks from voting. Though the 1964 act did not eliminate literacy tests, it prohibited local officials from applying different standards to blacks and whites when administering the tests in federal elections.

Simply making a law against voter discrimination was not enough; some areas of the South had been finding ways to block African Americans from voting since Reconstruction. Thus, the Civil Rights Act provided the U.S. attorney general (the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government) with authority to bring federal lawsuits if he or she found a “pattern of discrimination” that prevented citizens from voting. Unfortunately, the process of going to court to prove voter discrimination remained long and difficult under the act.

Public accommodation discrimination

The results of the public accommodations provisions of the 1964 act were more impressive. Hotels, restaurants, service stations, entertainment centers, and government-owned public facilities were forbidden to discriminate or refuse service because of race, color, religion, or national origin. The Civil Rights Act dramatically reduced discriminatory practices in this area; in a short time the rigid separation of the races in public places was over.

Education

In 1954, the Supreme Court had ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that public schools must be desegregated (eliminating separation of the races). Unfortunately, the Court had little power to enforce the ruling and many American schools remained segregated. With the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress took its place with the Court in the stand against discrimination in schools. Desegregation of public schools, however, proved extremely difficult, and in some areas it is still not accomplished today.

Employment and the addition of women's rights

Under the Civil Rights Act, employers were forbidden to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin. Unlike the other parts of the 1964 act, the section dealing with employment practices also covers discrimination based upon sex, protecting women as well as minority groups. The prohibition of sex discrimination set forth in the bill was actually introduced by the Civil Rights Act's opponents. They hoped that members of Congress would be so outraged by the idea of equality for women they would refuse to pass the bill. Their plan backfired. The bill passed, revolutionizing the legal status of female workers.

The employment section of the Civil Rights Act was not as effective in practice as many had hoped. An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was established, but it did not have power to bring suit against an employer. In cases of discrimination, the process to resolve the problem was difficult.

Milestone

The 1964 Civil Rights Act was one of the most significant milestones in the decade-long nonviolent struggle for civil rights. Bringing Congress and the federal government fully into the civil rights struggle along with the Supreme Court, the act made it clear for the first time that the government would live up to its constitutional requirements to protect all its citizens.

It is nearly impossible to measure how much the Civil Rights of Act of 1964 contributed to bringing equality between the races. Most observers agree that the act greatly changed public life in many southern communities through its ban on discrimination in public accommodations. By most accounts, however, it did not go far enough in the quest to end discrimination against African Americans and other minorities.