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Civil Rights

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The Civil Rights Act of 1964
English/101
September 2, 2012

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How would Americans feel if there were not equal rights in the United States? Civil Rights are basic legal rights a person must possess. They are rights that constitute free and equal citizenship which includes personal, political, and economic rights. (Stanford 2012 Encyclopedia of Philosophy). According to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, all Americans are entitled to equal rights. There are many cases of how African Americans struggled for civil rights in this country. This paper will explore many of them. American history saw a dramatic change when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted. The U.S. National Archives & Records Administration keeps well documented records of the Civil rights movement. Civil Rights for black Americans have been an issue from the beginning of time.
All Americans have the right to vote under the Civil Rights Act. The fundamental right to vote is the most important right that we as American citizens possess. The Civil Rights Act barred unequal voter registration requirements. Voting rules and procedures had to be applied equally to all races. Before the Voting Rights Act was passed, some states used literacy tests and poll taxes to keep minorities from voting. These are some of the same tactics that are being implemented today to suppress the vote for minorities. The American Civil Liberties Union made this statement:
Modern day efforts to suppress voter turnout and registration has taken many forms including photo ID requirements; proof of citizenship requirement for registration; reducing the number of days for early voting; restrictions on third-party voter registration activities; limiting the opportunity to make an address change at the polls on election day; systematic purges of registered voters; challenges to student voters as non-

3 residents; unfounded allegations of voter fraud; and moving or closing precincts in minority communities. (2012. American Civil Liberties Union). The Voting Rights Act is the single most effective piece of legislation ever passed by Congress. Right after the Voting Rights Act was passed, black voter registration increased. Due to the efforts of private citizens and the Department of Justice, the right to vote that is guaranteed by the 14th and 15th Amendments has been restored.
Every individual should have the same opportunity to have an equal education under this law. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 has helped many minorities over the years to receive an equal education at many schools. It encouraged desegregation of public schools and gave the U.S. Attorney General authority to file suits to enforce these acts. In April 1951, students at Robert Russa Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Va. went on strike. This was an all-black school built in 1939 where black teachers were paid a lot less than the white teachers in the county. The school also had no gymnasium or cafeteria. The principal at Moton tried to get the school board to build a new black high school, with no results. In 1951, the students of Moton led by 16 year-old Barbara Johns, went on strike and asked for the NAACP’s help. The NAACP lawyers told them that the only way they could get involved in the case would be for them to sue to end segregation. May 23, 1951, a NAACP lawyer took on the case for the 117 students and parents of Moton High. In 1952, a three judge District Court decided in favor of the school board and upheld segregation. After appealing, the case made it to the Supreme Court where it would be decided with three other segregation cases from South Carolina, Delaware, and Kansas in

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Brown v. Board of Education. Prince Edward County resisted the Supreme Court’s decision and closed its public schools from 1959 to 1964 to avoid desegregation. Brown versus Board of Education also helped end segregation in public schools. Reaction to Brown v. Board of Education was mixed. African Americans were visibly happy about the decision. Most white Americans accepted the decision and hoped that the process would take place peacefully. “The Supreme Court has spoken and I am sworn to uphold the constitutional processes in this country, and I am trying. I will obey” (President D. Eisenhower). Privately, he disagreed with the Court’s decision. Not everyone was willing to obey. The ruling caused many southern whites, especially in the south, to react in fear and anger. Georgia’s governor Herman Talmadge made it very clear that the state would not tolerate the mixing of races in the public schools. More than 90% of Congress was opposed to the Court’s ruling. This was known as the “Southern Manifesto”. They argued that the Supreme Court overstepped its bounds and had “no legal basis for such action.” Congress claimed that the decision violated state’s rights and was an example of “judicial usurpation.” They believed that desegregation would lead to violence in some southern states. They refused to comply with the court’s ruling. “We pledge ourselves to use all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision, which is contrary to the Constitution, and to prevent the se of force in its implementation.” (84th Congress, 2nd Session). Even though most Americans see Brown v. Board of Education as a triumph, was it really? How useful are court ordered busing and affirmative action? Has racial mixing really helped the academic achievements of black children? These are questions that still haunt this landmark case. Every individual should have the same opportunity to have an equal education under this law.

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Discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin is prohibited. Hubert Humphrey and other civil rights supporters Lyndon B Johnston and Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois helped turn back the determined southern filibuster in the U.S. Senate. (2012. Our documents.Civil rights act of 1964). This was essential in understanding the full meaning and effect of the Civil Rights Movement. On July 2, 1964, President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This prohibited discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion or natural origin. Sit- ins were held in the 1960s, there were African American student protests in which black students occupied “white only” lunch counters and other white only public places to protest segregated seating. One particular protest happened on February 5, 1960, where 4 African American students sat down at a “white only” department store lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. This lunch counter was in the Woolworth department store. The restaurant refused to serve them. They remained there until the store closed every night for 5 days. With angry white mobs and the student protests, the store was forced to close. These individuals Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and David Richmond started the beginning of the sit-in movements. African American students chose public “white only” facilities to hold their sit-ins until they were served or removed from the facility. Amazingly by the end of 1960, about 70,000 black students had participated in a sit-in or marched in support of the demonstrators. Black students saw this as a way to protest in a non-violent way.

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The success of these sit-ins encouraged black students in other southern states to follow suit. These demonstrations, with support from Ella J. Baker of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, helped to train their members to protest in a non-violent way. Even though in states including Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, white supremacy was seen more in the community and local government. Some cities outlawed the demonstrations and white store owners felt that this was their private property and they could make the rules. Throughout the South, protesters faced arrest and vigilante violence as the Ku Klux Klan worked with some law enforcement agencies. “By appealing to conscience and standing on the moral nature of human existence, non-violence nurtures the atmosphere in which reconciliation and justice become actual possibilities” (SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee members). Then anger was ready to erupt. “The Negro himself no longer believes in the good faith of white Americans, if indeed he ever could have” (James Baldwin). Overtime the passing of two civil rights acts would help African Americans to win court battles that would tear down segregation. In the meantime, African Americans still faced economic and social discrimination many were angry at the slow pace of change. Discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin is prohibited but not practiced. One thing the Act failed to do is challenge the concept of voter qualification, a voter still had to meet certain standards. The bill divided a long term change in how both political parties developed. The struggle lasted for years and will continue. Dr. King composed a letter from the
Birmingham jail:
“When you are living constantly at a tip-toe-stance never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments. When you are forever
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fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and we are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience” (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1963).
As stated, this struggle has gone on for generations. Civil Rights are basic rights that all citizens must possess. According to The Civil Rights Act of 1964, all Americans are entitled to Equal Rights.

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References
American Civil Liberties Union, Voting Rights, Your Voice Your Vote. Retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/voting-rights

SNCC we shall overcome. Retrieved September 2012 from http://www.charlesmcdew.com/sncc/index.html

Famous Speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Letter from Birmingham jail. Retrieved September 2012 from http://www.dcpages.com/Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Speeches.html

Our Documents. Civil rights act of 1964. Retrieved August 2012 from http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=97

The supreme court.Expanding civil rights. Retrieved September 2012 from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/sources_document2.html

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