According to President John F. Kennedy, this act was supposed to completely terminate all types of discrimination within the workplace and the rest of the public domain. Ending discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion as well. This act was much opposed during the Kennedy administration, especially by southern members of Congress because it was much too much change to take in all at once. When Kennedy's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into office he almost immediately signed and passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 in under a year of his election in 1963.
Background of Civil Rights Act of 1964:
Right after Lyndon B. Johnson was elected as 36th President of the United States, he decided to avenge his predecessor by signing Kennedy's Civil Rights Act and passing it into law. LBJ encountered a ton of trouble doing so, mostly because of southern members of Congress. The first time President Johnson had declared to pass the bill was in his first State of the Union address, in which he said, "Let this session of Congress be known as the session which did more for civil rights than the last hundred sessions combined." After having said that, LBJ was faced with quick opposition from members of Congress. One of the very first instances of opposition President Johnson had to deal with, was with a self-proclaimed segregationist representative from Virginia, who proposed an amendment which would ban the discrimination of women in the workplace. Even though this amendment was passed, Johnson realized that it was also a way to counteract the Civil Rights bill. By replacing African Americans with women this Virginia representative was trying to convey that women were more greatly tolerated than African Americans in the workplace. The next obstacle he encountered was a 75-day filibuster in which one Senator Robert Byrd from West Virginia had spoken for over 14 consecutive hours from a former Ku Klux Klan member's point of view. The bill was finally passed by a 290-130 landslide vote from the House of Representatives and a two-thirds approval from members of the Senate.
Civil Rights and L.A. Riots:
The L.A. Riots were claimed to have begun after Rodney King, a black taxi driver was stopped by the LAPD and beaten nearly to death for proclaimed potential acts of violence towards the previously mentioned police officers. Rodney King proceeded to suffer from severe brain damage and fractured bones. When a certain police officer was trialed for the unnecessary beating of Rodney King, he was found innocent by a jury of his white peers along with on Asian and one Hispanic jury member. After Chief Daryl Gates of the LAPD was given a 60-day leave from the department for allowing the brutal beating of Rodney King, he was instantly reinstated a day later by the L.A. City Council. Since the Rodney King incident, many people were outraged against the LAPD for having done the opposite of what they had promised to obey when entering law enforcement, which was to "protect and serve." As riots began to form within Central L.A., more tragic events such as the Rodney King event took place to innocent people who were minding their own business. This led to a united uprising of L.A. inhabitants who started considering the idea that race was behind all these events.
How the Civil Rights Act made things worse:
Racism had always been an issue in this country, and more clearly at some points in its history than not. After the Civil Rights Act was passed, President Johnson assured the citizens of the U.S. that segregation and discrimination had officially been ended by this act. Unfortunately, one measly act cannot automatically erase a 300 year-long problem. This gave birth to a new subject, which is underlying racism. Now African Americans were being quietly segregated against in schools, and other public places. The most apparent form of segragation shown during this post civil rights time was demonstrated none other than local law enforcement. African Americans were given much harsher punishments than white people for committing the same criminal act. These punishments varied but many were given in court as prison sentences. Some innocent African Americans were beaten or even shot to death by white police officers for doing nothing more than jaywalking. Point being that many more events happened to African Americans for very little to no reasons at all.
- Alex Gulsoy
- Alex Gulsoy
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