麻豆影院

CU 麻豆影院 scholar Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders reflects on what has and hasn鈥檛 changed since 1964

Over a five-year span between 1865 and 1870, following the end of the Civil War, three constitutional amendments were ratified to end slavery (), make formerly enslaved people U.S. citizens () and give all men the right to vote regardless of 鈥渞ace, color, or previous condition of servitude鈥� ().

In the decades that followed, however, and despite provision that 鈥渢he Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation,鈥� various states and municipalities passed 鈥淛im Crow鈥� laws, abused poll taxes and literacy tests to limit voting and condoned racially motivated violence to enforce segregation and disenfranchise African Americans.

But on July 2, 1964, in the midst of a civil rights movement that had been growing in voice and numbers for many years, President Lyndon Johnson signed the (CRA) into law. This act integrated public schools and facilities; prohibited discrimination based on race, sex, color, religion and national origin in public places and in hiring and employment; and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Sixty years later, the Civil Rights Act is still considered a landmark of U.S. legislation, but does it mean today what it did in 1964?听 听听

鈥淪imilar to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the CRA is something we almost take for granted as something that has existed for a good chunk of most people鈥檚 lifetimes,鈥� says Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders, an assistant professor of African American and U.S. history in the 麻豆影院 Department of History. 鈥淓verything from Brown v. Board on鈥攖he Montgomery bus boycott, sit-ins, all these things were leading to this Civil Rights Act.

鈥淚 think for civil rights activists, though, it鈥檚 a complicated story. A lot of the actual issues that lead to material conditions being different for Black people still have not changed enough. We haven鈥檛 closed the racial wealth gap, there鈥檚 still structural racism in policing, housing and employment. As violent as the moments at lunch counter sit-ins were, in a way the harder thing is saying, 鈥楤lack people should be able to live in this neighborhood鈥� or 鈥楤lack and white kids should be going to the same schools鈥� or 鈥楤lack people are experiencing discrimination at these jobs and people in positions of power are keeping them away.鈥� People now are being told it鈥檚 either unfixable or it鈥檚 not a problem, and this is where we鈥檙e at 60 years later.鈥�

Protecting civil rights

For almost 100 years following the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction, and despite three constitutional amendments that ostensibly ensured equal rights and legal protections for African Americans, most experienced anything but鈥攁nd not just in the South, but throughout the United States. In in 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court even ruled that segregation didn鈥檛 violate the 14^th Amendment.

So, it wasn鈥檛 just a culmination of big events that occasionally garnered media attention鈥擪u Klux Klan marches, the Tulsa and Rosewood massacres, the murder of Emmett Till鈥攂ut the daily experiences of 鈥渞edlined鈥� neighborhoods, 鈥渟undown鈥� towns, denial of employment, wage inequity, separate entrances and a hundred other inequalities and injustices that germinated the civil rights movement.

鈥淥ne of the things I always show my students about the March on Washington is what people were actually asking for, and that the desire for jobs and equal employment were such a huge part of why the march occurred,鈥� Lawrence-Sanders explains. 鈥淲e get caught up in MLK鈥檚 famous speech about integration, but one of the demands of the march was an end to police brutality and police violence, which is something they wanted in the Civil Rights Act that didn鈥檛 make it in there.鈥�

As the civil rights movement increasingly gained footing and voice, federal officials were increasingly called on to respond. In the , Congress established the of the Department of Justice as well as the 鈥渢o provide means of further securing and protecting the civil rights of persons within the jurisdiction of the United States.鈥�

When John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, he initially postponed supporting anti-discrimination measures, but soon couldn鈥檛 ignore the state-sanctioned violence being perpetrated against civil rights activists and protesters throughout the country. In June 1963, Kennedy proposed broad civil rights legislation, that 鈥渢his nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.鈥�

After Kennedy鈥檚 assassination, Lyndon Johnson continued pursuing civil rights legislation. After a 75-day filibuster, the Senate voted 73-27 in favor of the bill and Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law July 2.

鈥楾he activism continues鈥�

鈥淣ow we tend to forget that this was not the end of the movement,鈥� Lawrence-Sanders says. 鈥淎 lot of further legislation followed. We were still seeing violent desegregation and busing well into the 鈥�70s.鈥�

Housing discrimination, addressed in the , was another big issue鈥攁nd remains one today, Lawrence-Sanders says. 鈥淲e still deal with housing segregation and discrimination, and it鈥檚 often treated as the exception instead of structural racism, which has become a boogeyman term. The act in 鈥�68 had provisions about how renting and selling and financing a house can鈥檛 be discriminatory based on race or sex, and people violate that constantly. There was last month about a woman trying to buy a condo and the seller backed out because she鈥檚 Black.

鈥淭he frustrating thing about this is that Black people have always suspected that these incidences of racism happen and been called crazy or paranoid, and when these articles appear, Black folks are saying, 鈥楴o, we鈥檝e proven it, not just with the knowledge of how we鈥檝e been treated over time, but it鈥檚 finally been exposed by data.鈥� When I was living in New York City, there were undercover investigations that discovered that taxis don鈥檛 stop for Black people, rental apartments don鈥檛 rent to Black people at same rate as white people, real estate agents are steering Black people to certain places and steering white people away.鈥�

An important legacy of the CRA is that it established enforcement mechanisms for addressing discrimination, but it stopped short of addressing all the ways structural racism exists in society, Lawrence-Sanders says. It also often gets caught in selective historical memory.

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 why people tend freeze Martin Luther King in 1963 and the March on Washington,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ecause after the CRA passed, activists were asking for things that went too far for the government. Collectively, we tend to have no use for activists when they demand more and say, 鈥楾hat wasn鈥檛 enough, we want more, we want to go further.鈥� The CRA shows what a major legislative change can accomplish, but beyond that, what else happens? The activism continues.鈥�

Top image: President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. (Photo: Cecil Stoughton/Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum)

Did you enjoy this article?听听Passionate about history?听Show your support.

听