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Civil Rights Act of 1964
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Civil Rights Act of 1964
An Act
To enforce
the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district
courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination
in public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits
to protect constitutional rights in public facilities and public education,
to extend the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally
assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted
by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Civil Rights Act
of 1964".
To
see the entire document click here: www.ourdocuments.gov
On July 2, 1964 the
Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. It was made
aware to the media so that it would be heard by all of the United
States. At the signing “all the leaders of the civil rights movement, the
most powerful members of Congress, and the key figures of the Justice Department
had been invited to share the moment that would crown their labors and establish
the law” (3 Levine).
This law abolished
job discrimination and because of this law the Equal Employment Opportunities
Commission was born. “It outlawed segregation in all publicly supported facilities
and certain establishments serving the general public. It strengthened protections
of equality in voting and in education. It required policies of racial equity
in every institution that accepted a dollar of federal assistance (4 Levine).
Many
different events had lead up to this monumental event like the landmark case
Brown vs. The Board of Education, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the Little
Rock Standoff. Many horrific acts of violence occurred during the years of
the civil rights movement, murders of civil rights activists, black churches
and homes burned, and assaults by law enforcement officials on peaceful protesters.
Ten years of racial violence had occurred to finally achieve desegregation
and the equal treatment of not only blacks, but all minorities and including
women.
Civil
Rights Today
Today there still is segregation as seen in
affordable housing, healthcare, education, and income. Segregation was made
illegal in 1964, but it has found ways to creep back into today’s society.
It has taken different forms that people do not recognize as segregation today.
Many of the decisions that were made in the 60’s have greatly influence today
for the better. Not only has the Civil Rights Act helped African Americans,
it has helped all other minorities. It has also made it equal for women, such
as women in the work place. Women now have the same rights as everyone else.
Women have overcome obstacles in the workplace like the glass ceiling, not
being able to advance in their place of work. Sexual harassment is also an
issue that has found its roots from the Civil Rights Act. The Civil Rights
Act has also leaded to the Disabilities Act, which has helped disabled Americans
in the work place and in today’s society.
There will never be a separation between whites
and blacks like what was seen in the pre-Civil Rights era. Today many of these
issues have been built on and many great accomplishments have been made. The
goal of an equal society is perfect, but it is better than what it has been
in the past.
Works Cited
100 Milestone Documents. 11 Dec. 2007 <www.ourdocuments.gov>
"The Civil Rights Coalition
for the 21st Century."Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund. 23 Nov. 2007 <http://www.civilrights.org>
Collier-Thomas, Betty and V.
P. Franklin. Sisters in the Struggle: African American Women in the Civil
Rights & Black Power Movement. New York: New York University Press,
2001.
Klarman, Michael. From Jim
Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Patterson, James. Brown
v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its troubled Legacy.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Raffel, Jeffery. Historical
Dictonary of School Segregation & Desegregation: The American Experience.
CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998.
"Segregation and Uneaqual -
42 Years After the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Ascribe Law News Service
25 July, 2006.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
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