Lyndon B. Johnson: The Civil Rights Act Of 1964

The civil rights act of 1964 was passed under Lyndon b. Johnson, following the death of the former president john f. Kennedy. The act that would ban public discrimination on the premises of race, gender, color, religion, and nationality. This would also allow all men to vote freely. In succeeding of the civil war, a series of constitutional amendments granted citizenship to former slaves abolished slavery and allowed all men to vote regardless of race. However many states, mainly in the south, created literacy and other laws to stop people of color from voting, these were the Jim Crow laws. This continued for decades with little to no changes being done. Countless protest and uproars and nothing seemed to be changing. Everything from schools to water fountains was separated from blacks and whites use. It wasn’t until john f. Kennedy was elected into office in 1961 change started to happen. At first, Kennedy delayed the anti-discrimination laws, not doing much to change racial segregation. It wasn’t until the protests became more and more livid the president started to take action. In 1963 president Kennedy presented the most extensive and inclusive civil rights legislation to date. Unfortunately, President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, leaving the clause to Lyndon b. Johnson. Although the law was passed there were some states against the act, wanting to obstruct the outcome of the act being passed. Five days after JFK assassination Lyndon b. Johnson gives a joint session to the congress were advocates for the civil rights act, pulling a kind of guilt trip into the act, like “JFK would’ve wanted this” kind of deal (those aren’t his exact words but you get the point). Now Lyndon b. Johnson did have an advantage over JFK because he was the former senate majority leader. This gives johnson the upper hand because he knows how to gather votes and get those numbers he needed. The only issue is there was a southern block of nineteen senators, eighteen of them democrats, so the people pushing against this is the democratic party. The southern block is going to do whatever they have to, to stop the legislation. Democratic Senator James Eastland from Mississippi was in charge of the judiciary committee and could stop the bill but the leadership did not do a second reading the bill and changed the rules to get it to the floor. Where the legislation ended up in a 75-day filibuster. John Robert Byrd, another Democratic Senator from West Virginia did a filibuster speech to stop this act from being further finalized. The bill got a two-thirds vote ending the debate. The bill got a total of 73-27 in favor of the act and was signed into law by Lyndon b. Johnson.

Now I briefly discussed the topic of what the law actually covers and how it protects the right we have as citizens of the united states of America. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 end all discrimination and racial segregation in America. It was also a law that set fourth a new spark in creating an equal country, it sparked new acts just a mear yer later the equal employment opportunity commission which created equal opportunities for everyone no matter of race or gender. The time was right for change that was long over due and the voices of our fellow African American and black were finally heard. Now we have come a long way from then to now but this doesn’t and would never end the racial bigotry that comes and live and breathes with our society and n matter what we do we will never see equality amongst everyone, but it did spark a whole new generation of fighters and activist wh fight for equal rights till this day. Who are the people that spark the 1950-1964 activism well this is them? Martin Luther King jr was the civil right leader who had his very famous speech “I have a dream” speech. He leads the civil rights movement with a non-violent protest practice and stood his ground as a black man. Picked by his community King was an American baptist minister born and raised in Atlanta Georgia. King successfully conducted the Montgomery bus boycott, which was a boycott of a bus line because they wanted a black woman, rosa parks, to give up her seat in the front to a white man. Rosa Parks did not give up her seat and was arrested, later she to be a civil rights activist icon who we still tell her story to this day along with other like, Bayard Rustin, John Lweis, Hosea Williams, Malcolm X, and many more. These people, and many more, stepped up and fought and yelled and did all they could till they were heard and their needs and rights were met and given. To this very day, we are fighting for equality and for a chance to become equal. It has become more than black and white, but black, gay, queer, Asian, female, and many more groups fighting for equality and equal opportunities as the white man. We learned from these people who have taught us not to fear who we are but embrace ourselves and make them accept them. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave us the rights to live in an equal ground, but we till are always having to constantly validate and fight for our voices and our need to be seen and met. We all want to fit into this country as free and the white man next to us, as privileged and as lucky as that man we see across the room. But those men are the same white supremacy mind set men, they strip our rights, they take our voices, they kick us out of a country made on stolen land. Our very own president is one of these men. In fact, our president is trying to erase us, but we are fighters, we are human and we will continue to keep our rights as people.

The civil rights movement has pushed us to see and to be equal and to treat all humans with the same respect, now do people follow that? No. Now, people, are entitled to their own beliefs and such but no one is allowed to hurt or kick others out based on their sexual orientation, or race. That is an issue we have today because even though the civil rights movement has a no-discrimination policy, people are still refused service and kicked out of places like bars because of sexual orientation or other things. Should this be allowed or should it be banned, and if so is it going to be a state to state ordeal or another civil rights act? These are the things we still question and fight over today. And with the political climate being as hot as our current climate, please save the earth, I question whether (or should I say weather? Ba-dum-tiss okay ill stop) we are moving forward or backward. We live a generation of political correctness and cancel culture but when does something like this go too far? Ruining someone’s career because controversial actions are very common in our culture due to social media, and we hardly ever check to see if that person has made a change in who they were because like I’ve said, we are constantly changing and learning, but is it in the right direction? We are so quick to call out someone’s bluff and send just as much hate as that person as they are sending to us and for what? Why are using attacks and hate to spread our message of equality and peace? We should be educating and trying to understand each other, we dot have to agree just meet in the middle ground. So how does this relate the to civil rights act of 1964? Using techniques from civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, we can educate and use peaceful protest to demand our needs and hopefully receive them. Do not go sending F-this, and F-yous all over twitter for your two hundred followers to see, instead try to meet with them and understand why they feel that way, you may not change their opinions but at least you to could try to understand and see your point to views and live alongside each other. If we could pass more legislative laws that would benefit our own equalities and give everyone equal caches and do it a peaceful and monumental way, we could change history and change the way we see our world, we will no longer have to live n a place where we have to fear because of the unequal opportunity in our country. No longer will we have a bigoted, closed-minded man running the country to the ground because he believes that cis white men’s lives are the only lives that matter. We start with change, we start the movement, and we are the only hope to push and keep our rights. The Rights Act of 1964 granted us thee rights and gave us these liberties to elect our officials and make a change in our world, now exercise your right and stand up for equality. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was very successful in ending the voting and the segregation in our country. Now its time for a new act to give us the rights to be free and be who we are without judgment and without fear. We need justice in our courthouses, in your neighborhoods, in our own households sometimes, and that change started with them and will not end until we are all equal. It may take another 200 years or maybe even next week, but we will never know unless we try and continue to try. The moment is now so gone and do it. We have black men rotting in cells for crimes that a white man did. We have black trans women being killed because a man or woman does not believe that they deserve to live as themselves. We have gay men being beaten to death because a make-believe man says they are born a sinner. So what is stopping us? Bigotry, unacceptance, ignorance, and people not willing to hear each other out. Exercise and know your rights, they fought for them for a reason, so keep fight, keep pushing, but also keep an open mind and an open heart. Thank you, Martin Luther King and all the other African American men and women, all the allies, and peole who have fought in every protest or in a protest, to allow me to exercise my rights as an amercan, the people who inspire us to be better and live true to ourselves. Thank you to the people who say we can not do what we want to do and push us even harder to do what we please and live true to ourselves. Thank you the the people who say no, stop, surrender, and try to kill us all, its goig to be an up hill battle, and remember history will always repeat itself. A movement is coming, a movment pushing us all.

Work cited

1. “Civil Rights Act of 1964 (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 22 Mar. 2016, www.nps.gov/articles/civil-rights-act.htm.
2. Editors, History.com. “Civil Rights Act of 1964.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Jan. 2010, www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act.
3. Hughes, Hip. “The 1964 Civil Rights Act Explained: US History Review.” YouTube, Hip Hughes, 11 June 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqJaAvKPrEM.
4. “Search.” Home – Supreme Court of the United States, 1 Feb. 2013, www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?Search=civil rights movement&type=Site