Lyndon Baine Johnson and Martin Luther Kings Impact on the Voting Rights Act of the 1965 Year - Research Paper Example

Lyndon Baine Johnson and Martin Luther King’s Impact On The Voting Rights Act Of 1965 The VotingRights Act of 1965 has been considered by many people as one of the most important and successful civil rights laws ever enacted. The prevailing conditions against which the act was brought before the congress and passed perhaps is what leaves many to wonder how the then President of the United States, Baine Johnson, appealed to the house on the matter (Richard, 78). Nevertheless, it is in good spirit to understand the background against which these developments took place. Therefore, an appreciation of the importance of this historic Act is best understood when analyzed with regard to historical development of civil rights Acts. It is also of utmost importance to mention that this was a culmination of efforts of several proponents of change. Change, as usual, is normally met with resistance and this was not an exception. This change was still being waited for despite the provisions in the fifteenth amendment. After a speech to the congress on the importance of the matter, the president set the mood for a second thought on how American society was going to effect changes that forever set USA on a democratic course (Taylor, 49). One cannot fail to observe that Fifteenth Amendment of the US Constitution was clear that it guaranteed every US citizen the right to vote. This right to vote was supposed to be observed without regard to race or color. Nonetheless, almost a decade later, there were elements of discriminatory practices, intimidation, and violence that still persisted. These practices were what led to the rise of the civil movement led by Martin Luther King since they were transformed into policies that aimed at depriving the minorities, particularly African Americans in the Jim Crow South, of their right to vote. The life of Martin Luther King Junior has deservingly been accorded very many citations and legendary recognition for the simple fact that he believed in justice and equality and fought relentlessly for the rights of the oppressed minorities. He is the major character that is associated with the civil rights movement given his vocal opinions about the matter (Laughlin, 65). It has been observed that although there were other proponents of the movement, perhaps his oratory skills that echoed the concerns is what earned him the recognition. True, he deserved it. During the early middle and late 1950, Luther was one of the nation’s frontline black leaders. As an eloquent speaker blessed with an oratorical style and diction that was very compelling, he was calm, confident but serious when it was time for serious business. His contributions to peace and equality were emphasized through his non-violent philosophy. Dr. King fought for a policy that was to be inclusive. Martin Luther King started the climb to his career when he oversaw the successful launch of a Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) campaign. This was based in Selma, Alabama. The main purpose of forming this conference was to actually pressure the Congress to pass such legislation that would put an end to all the discriminatory practices. He believed that if there was a law then that could solve things, it would be a lasting solution rather than to appeal to pieces of human rights organization. He took the bull by its horns when he categorically stated that those who were at the receiving end were “negroes” more than any other minority group or race. One of the remarkable events that bring the real picture of the state of affairs during this time of struggle occurred on March 7 1965. There was a march from Selma to Montgomery by civil rights workers who were brutally attacked by white law enforcement officers. Martin had encouraged the oppressed to fight for their rights through peaceful protests. Martin’s contributions may not be so clear to the current generations, but just like many others that fought for emancipation of the black man; his contribution was so immense that a lot of success is attributed to him. Well, he deserves being recognized, though there is a high probability that there are also other heroes who may have gone unnoticed in the fight that led to the 1965 Act. Some of them may have paid with their lives prematurely. Jimmy Carter himself later recognized his contributions when he awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 posthumously (Taylor, 112). President Lyndon Baine Johnson is another figure whose contribution in actualization of the civil rights movements dream appears to have received very little praises, but one, which was a landmark in US politics, and policy (Nick, 42). He had managed to rally the congress behind him to visualize and walk in his direction as far as steering American policy was concerned (Taylor, 37). In fact, the success of the highly celebrated Civil Rights Acts 1965 should be a credit to him. My interpretation is that while Martin did the campaigns, Lyndon Baine Johnson did the pen part. Before that there were the 1957, 1960, and 1964 concerns and petitions in which the US Department of Justice was empowered to investigate voting rights violations. The department of justice was also tasked to litigate the voting rights violations. These can be seen as developments that indeed set the ground ready for the Act, which was to follow the assassination of John F Kennedy. The earlier challenge was that enforcement on such cases when taken on individual basis, as is the due process in law turned out to be expensive time wise. As noted earlier, cases of black voter registration exercises were, as was the order of the day, approached with high handedness. Lyndon Baine Johnson’s contributions are best exemplified by analyzing the preceding events before the enactment of the 1965 Act. The closest occurrence that depicts the necessity to have changes was an event that occurred in 1964. In this scenario, there was a gathering of student volunteers from around the country that came to Mississippi. The major aim for the gathering was for Freedom Summer. During this, even proponents of change such as Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner were arrested. The worst part of the whole twist and turn was that they were eventually handed to the Ku Klux Klan members to be murdered. Another immediate event was with regard to one Jimmie Lee Jackson who was shot dead by law enforcement officers from by Alabama State Troopers. His bid was an attempt to protect his grandmother from being roughed up and beaten during a registration exercise. Like Martin Luther King, Johnson’s contribution to the realization of civil rights movement dreams was more of a moral stand than prevailing circumstances. He, nevertheless, used the prevailing circumstances to push for the long awaited change. Both of them played critical roles, Martin at conception of the dream and John at the realization of the dream. For sure, Luther made ready the path for Johnson to finalize the quest. In my opinion, Johnson is the uncelebrated champion of the civil rights movement. It is Johnson’s speech that had the biggest impact on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He was fully convinced that discrimination was not morally right and so un-American given the constitution and the nation’s history. Works Cited Branch, Taylor. At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–68. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. Print Hasen, Richard. The Supreme Court and Election Law: Judging Equality from Baker v. Carr to Bush v. Gore. New York: New York University Press, 2003. Print Kotz, Nick. Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Laws that Changed America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005. Print McDonald, Laughlin. A Voting Rights Odyssey: Black Enfranchisement in Georgia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print Read More