The Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Essay Example

Research Paper: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Civil rights acts are civil rights policies or civil rights legislations in the United States of America that guide that guide its citizens against discrimination based on race, national origin, gender, color and religion in the United States of America. After a long time of struggle and discrimination in the United States of America, the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 was crowned one of the most successful achievement against discrimination in the history of the Civil Rights Movement struggle (Critchlow, Donald and Nancy 47). The Civil Rights Act was first brought to light by President John Kennedy, a move that was opposed by members of the Southern Congress. It was signed into law at the White House by President Lyndon Johnson, on the 2nd of July 1964. In the latter years, the Congress widened the act and added several legislations with an objective of bringing equality to African Americans (Bringle 33). The Power used to drive the act was initially weak. Congress emphasized its powers to constitute under different parts of the US Constitution, more so its mandate to control interstate commerce, which is found in the Act (section 8). Its powers to provide protection to all citizens under the 14th Amendment and to guarantee citizens equal voting rights under the 15th amendment. President Lyndon Johnson signed The Civil Rights Act of 1964 with close to 75 pens, which he presented to the Congress supporters. He presented it to Congress supporters such as Everett Dirksen and Hubert Humphrey, who were accompanied by Civil Rights activists such as Roy Wilkins and the famous Martin Luther King Jr. More emphasis had been on the bill by President John F. Kennedy in a moving civil rights speech unveiled in June 1963 calling for equal rights for all American to access public facilities such as Hospitals, Hotels, Schools, and other public institutions, regardless of gender, race or national origin (Critchlow, Donald and Nancy 47). He delivered the speech after mass protests by African Americans after incidents such as the Birmingham Campaigns in which children and Black Students experienced attacks by Police Dogs and Pressure Fire horses during their demonstrations against segregation in the United States of America. In the Bill, more emphasis was placed on the ban on discrimination and segregation in public amenities. Kennedy also put pressure on the US Attorney to take legal action against states that experienced segregation in public utilities. In the meantime, the bill did not touch on critical issues that affected African Americans such as police brutality, the end of discrimination in employment opportunities and granting more powers to the Justice Department to enable it fight discrimination and segregation of the African Americans (Bringle 90). John Kennedy met with Republican leaders on 11th June 1963 to discuss the bill before he made a nation address on national TV on the same day. In two days’ time, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and Minority Leader Everett Dirksen declared their support for the Presidents bill but opposed legislation issuing equal accessibility opportunities to places of public accommodation. It triggered the drafting of a compromise bill for consideration by the Republican Congressmen. ON June 19th, Kennedy presented the bill in its originality. It was then sent to the House of Representatives after which it was presented to the Judicial Committee, which was then chaired by Emmanuel Celler, a Democrat from the New York. Caller’s committee empowered the act with the addition of a provision to access to Public Utilities, providing protection for segregation to African Americans and strengthening the anti-segregation clauses in the bill. The Judicial Committee also added powers to the Attorney Generals Unite to protect citizens from deprivation of any rights outlined in the new Civil Rights Act (Bringle 92). Civil Rights Groups also pressed for the for these provisions a move that could see Black Americans get protected during public protests and protection of voters against police brutality that had been witnessed in the recent years. The bill was finally released by the Judicial Committee in November 1963 and then presented to the Rules Committee chaired by Howard W. Smith. Passage of the bill in the Senate After the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22nd, 1963, his successor, President Lyndon Johnson began to show intent for support of the bill during his first address to the Congress. In his address to the Congress, he commanded the late John F. Kennedy for his loyal push for the Civil Rights Acts and vowed to continue with the good work he had commenced (Newman 99). Meanwhile Judiciary Committee Chairman, Emmanuel Celler filed a petition to reject the bill from the Rules Committee, which needed the support of a majority of House members to floor the bill. Due to the huge wave that supported the Civil Right Bill in the north of America by means of public opinion, the bill was allowed to go through the Rules Committee. In the Senate, President Lyndon Johnson’s hopes flew high with regards to the passage of the bill. The Bill was given a second reading on February 1964 and proposed to the full senate-house on March 30th, 1964. During that time, eighteen Southern Democratic Senators and One Republican commenced a campaign to oppose the passage of the bill through the Senate. The movement was led by Richard Russell. The movement publicly declared its opposition to oppose any intermingling or integration of the races. They termed the Civil Rights acts as unconstitutional, and the worst ever presented before the House of Congress. After 54 days of procrastinations against the bill, Senators, Hubert Humphrey, Mike Mansfield, Thomas Kuchel and Everett Dirksen introduced another bill to attract other Republican swing voters to end the successful passing of the Civil Rights Bill. The substitute bill was though weaker with regards to the states’ ability to control the business of the house (Smith 37. On June 10th, 1964, Senator Robert Byrd addressed the Senate, thereby opposing the legislation. By then, Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota had gathered 67 votes to end the filibuster with the tally standing at 71 to 29; a record that had never seen more than enough votes availed to end a filibuster concerning a civil rights bill. The bill was therefore passed by both Congress Houses and signed into law on July 2nd, 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson (Wright 101). Provisions of the Civil Rights Act 1964 The Civil Rights Act was seeking to bring to an end to segregation and discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, and national origin. The bill aimed at bringing to an end the denial of service accessibility and voting rights as witnessed by the African Americans. The Act also ended the discrimination by employers on the basis of the grounds of religion, race, and national origin. The act created an Equal Employer Opportunity Commission to look into the issues of employment discrimination and help the affected file case suits against employers discriminating blacks on the grounds of religion, race, and national origin. The act also abolished the use of state funds on discriminatory projects, assisted begun the desegregation of public schools and hospitals and provided grounds for equal voting rights within the United States of America (Grofman 202). Outcomes of the Civil Rights Act 1964 After the signing into law of the Civil Rights Act, it was later expanded, and more legislative clauses were embedded into it. The disabled Americans, Women in America and the Elderly were all brought into consideration after the expansion of the laws. As a result of the Civil Rights Act, two major laws followed up: the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act of 1988. The Civil Rights Act saw the segregation of black Americans brought to an end in the United States of America (Mayer 26). In my opinion, the Civil Rights Act improved the lives of African-Americans who were living in America. The Civil Rights Act saw gender balance brought to the state; this was witnessed a year after passage of the Equal pay Act, 1963, which brought the end of the wage differential on the basis of sex. The law on sexual discrimination as embedded in the Civil Rights Act by a powerful Democrat from Virginia known as Howard Smith. Mayer (33) suggests that through the Civil Rights Act, voter registration increased from below 7% in 1964 to more than 75% in 1967.The globe has also evolved with more black contesting for a superior position as in the case of President Barack Obama, who was elected in 20008.Without the Civil Rights Act in 1963m, the election of President Barack Obama would be a nightmare for Americans. A growing number of Supreme Court decision has also been witnessed in the America. A growing number of Women rights, gay rights, and immigrant rights have also been witnessed in the state. Annotated Bibliography Grofman, Bernard. Legacies of the 1964 Civil Rights Act: ...papers given at a 1994 Conference..., Held at the Federal Judicial Center. Charlottesville, Univ. Press of Virginia, 2000. Print. Groham, the Author of the book “ Civil Rights Act of 1964” suggests the bill was invented by President John Kennedy’s 1963 proposal that House of Congress develops civil rights laws to guarantee equal treatment for all Americans. Mayer, Robert H. The Civil Rights Act of 1964. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Print. Mayer reviews the history of the US legislations through essays and articles written at the time and more recent pieces that examine the progress made. The anthology collects the selections by such noted participants as Barry Goldwater, Roy Wilkins, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as supporters such as Robert Novak and Nicholas Lemann. Richard L Wiener; Steven L Willborn. Texas Journal on Civil Liberties & Civil Rights, 2003 The Journal of Richard Wiener and Steven Willborn argues that as the average age of our citizens rises, success in ameliorating the effects of disability and age-related bias, prejudice, and discrimination requires a psychological approach. Michael Perlin, Alabama Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review, 2011 Examining the undermining of citizens with mental disabilities around the globe, Michael Perlin, a senior researcher and Author cites the universal factors that contaminate mental disability law, including lack of comprehensive laws and of independent counsel; inadequate care; poor or nonexistent community programming; and inhumane forensic systems. Harvard Journal of Racial & Ethnic Justice, 2010 William Derek Green came with this article after several interviews in which he reviewed trends in university speech codes and to explain the moral and practical reasons why hate-speech laws are not the answer to intolerance and offensive language. Thesis Statement The Civil Rights Act of 1964 initiated by the late John. F. Kennedy led to the desegregation of black African Americans in public places and brought an end to discrimination in employment opportunities. Works Cited Bringle, Jennifer. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, 2015. Internet resource. Critchlow, Donald T., and Nancy MacLean. Debating the American Conservative Movement: 1945 to the Present. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009. Print. Davies, David R. Mississippi Journalists and the Civil Rights Movement. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001. Print. Grofman, Bernard. Legacies of the 1964 Civil Rights Act: [...papers given at a 1994 Conference..., Held at the Federal Judicial Center]. Charlottesville, Va. [u.a.: Univ. Press of Virginia, 2000. Print. Mayer, Robert H. The Civil Rights Act of 1964. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Print. Newman, Mark. The Civil Rights Movement. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2004. Print. Smith, Robert C. Encyclopedia of African American Politics. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2003. Internet resource Wright, Susan. The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Landmark Antidiscrimination Legislation. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2006. Print. Read More