Reforms Passed As A Result of Protests

1956-65
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
8:54 AM
 The US government passed the Civil Rights Acts in 1964, followed by
the signing of the Voting Rights Acts in 1965
 Legislation wiped out Jim Crow laws
o Banned segregation in public places and racial discrimination in
schools, jobs and public accommodations
o Ensured that Blacks were not prevented from registering to vote
 Both Acts were implemented with greater efficiency and scrutiny than
previous civil rights legislation and it seemed that the main goals of the
Civil Rights Movement had been achieved
 But many in the Civil Rights Movement remained unconvinced that the
struggle was over and thought that greater benefits were still to be had
 
The Civil Rights Act 1964
 
 Enabled federal government to end segregation in the South
 President Lyndon Johnson signed it on July 2 1964
 US congress added to the legislation and also passed the Voting Rights
Act of 1965
 Civil Rights Act stated the following:
o Ban on exclusion from restaurants, stores and other public
facilities
o Racial, religious, ethnic and sexual discrimination by employers
and labor unions was banned
o Attorney general could file lawsuits to fast-track or speed up
desegregation, mixed education and voting rights
o Office of Education had to assist with school desegregation
o An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was created
o No discrimination on any federally aided programs
o In equality in voting requirements was outlawed
 Civil Rights Act was later expanded to accommodate the disabled
within the legal system
o Protection of the elderly
o Women in athletics
o Voting Rights Act of 1965
o Fair Housing Act of 1968
 
Passage of the Civil Rights Bill
 
 It was not easy to get this legislation through Congress
  Civil Rights Bill had passed for a variety of reasons including the
following:
o Joint lobbying of Congress by the NAACP, trade unionists and the
churches
o Hard work of key congressional leaders like Hubert Humphrey,
Johnson devoting a huge amount of time to win members over and
break the Senate filibuster
o Emotive appeals by people to honor the recently assassinated
Kennedy
 The passing of the bill was:
o A career triumph for Johnson
o It propelled Humphrey towards the vice presidency
o It justified the approach of Martin Luther King Junior and his
non-violent followers
 Luther and followers had achieved success by working with existing
political system - whatever their misgivings - as opposed to rebelling
against it
 
Consequences of the Act
 
 Supreme Court moved quickly to uphold the Act so segregation and
discrimination were now prohibited by law
 Government had the power to penalize or withhold funding from any
school, business or institution that failed to comply with the law
 It opened up the prospect of more equal employment and educational
opportunities
 Although unemployment remained higher among Blacks than among
Whites, a more prosperous Black middle-class was emerging
 Segregation still remained notably in the urban areas of LA, Detroit,
Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York
 Black communities in those urban areas still remained in a rut with
poor housing, mensal jobs and inadequate schooling
 It also provoked a White reaction with Alabama governor George
Wallace who barely hid his racism
 There were signs of growing discontent among working-class Whites in
the North
 Both Blacks and Whites were disgruntled for varying reasons
 A loophole existed with respect to voting rights and the Civil Rights
Movement became aware that some states were not registering Black
votes
 
Selma to Montgomery March
 
  The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led by Martin
Luther King decided to test the provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act in
Alabama town of Selma
 In Alabama despite having 57% total population being Black on 2%
were registered to vote
 Alabama was also home to Governor George Wallace and Jim Clark the
sheriff who were both racists
 On February 1 1965, King was arrested with more than 700 others
when they attempted to march to the state capital
 Governor Wallace deemed the march illegal
 On February 7th 1965, 165 students who were demonstrating about
voting rights were arrested then sent on a forced 4-kilometre run by
Clark
 On March 7, 600 people again set off to march from Selma to
Montgomery - they were violently forced back by the police using whips,
sticks and tear gas.
 King again attempted to march to Montgomery on March 9 and
Governor Wallace tried to ban it legally but was overruled by the district
court
 Again they were stopped by the police and King abandoned the march
 President Johnson backed the marchers on national television and
pledged that he would introduce legislation in Congress to give new
voting rights
 On March 21 a third march began with 2000 workers protected by the
US Army troops and Alabama national Guard
 They walked 12 hours 2 day for 3 days, and reached Montgomery of
March 25th raising awareness of the position of Black voters in the South
 
Voting Rights Act of 1965
 
 The 1965 Voting Rights Act was carved out of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
 Methods like literacy tests, constitutional interpretation tests and other
measures all administered by White voter registration officials in a
patronizing and discriminatory manner
 The actions of Jim Clark, the meanness of George Wallace and the
general brutality of police meant that public opinion virtually guaranteed
the passing of Johnson's legislation involved in Congress in March 1965
 The voting rights act passed in August 1965 stated that:
o Literacy rates and ability to read and interpret material became
illegal
o Demonstrators of academic achievement was now illegal
o Ability to pay poll taxes or furnish proof of moral character were
outlawed
 o American citizenship and an individual's name on an official
electoral list were the only voting requirements
 Selma, Alabama had registered over 60% of its Black population within
a month
 Hard-line state of Mississippi had registered almost 60% by 1968
 In the long term, more African Americans were elected into public
office which demonstrated the ability of Blacks to have responsibility
 The Voting Rights Act was clearly the boost that the Civil cause needed
and the US president deserved great credit for using his power wisely
 However 5 days after signing the Voting Rights Act, a drunk-driving
arrest and ensuing scuffle between a Black woman and White police in
the Watts District of Los Angeles ignited the most destructive race riots
for years
 
The Watts Riots
 
 August 11th 1965 Marguette Frye, a young African American motorist
was driving his brother home when he was pulled over and arrested by a
White, California highwayman
 This turned into a grappling scene with the office when Mrs. Frye
turned up at the scene
 Anger and rumors spread quickly and residents stoned cars and beat
White people who entered the area
 This triggered looting, arson and further assaults
 Eventually a curfew was set, with 15000 police
 In 5 days, 34 people were dead, more than 1000 injured and 4000
arrested
 Martin Luther King Junior was swift to disapprove of the rioting, but he
hastened to state that the violence-related problems were more to do
with the environment than racism
 He also offered to act as an intermediary between local people and
government officials who were insistent that rioting was part of 2
leftwing plot by agitators from outside the area
 Investigator revealed that the unrest was a result of long standing
community grievances, and King told President Johnson that it was about
personal dignity and working and living conditions in the North-West, not
simply racism and civil rights as in the Deep South
 
The Significance and the Legacy of Johnson's Reforms
 
 The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Right Act are seminal events in US
history, touchstones for addressing wrongs
 Their enactment was also the culmination of years of work by civil
rights groups and open-minded, liberal politicians
 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 fundamentally changed things by
eradicating discrimination and segregation laws
 It also targeted the long-standing tradition of second-class citizenship
for women by outlawing job discrimination based on gender as well as
race
 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 however did not go for enough with respect
to the franchise - it can thus be said it did not address deeper social
problems away from the South
 Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a comprehensive follow up to the
shortcomings of the Civil Rights Act
 It aimed to remove any legal barriers that prevented African Americans
from voting
 It also helped increase Black congressional representation from the
1970s onwards - a real victory in the civil rights struggle
 It also coincided with the expanding era of television, linking the nation
as never before
 Government shortcomings and social failures were now exposed
 The sight of poverty in the midst of plenty and the ironies of urban
unrest, social squalor and racial discrimination were difficult to reconcile
when the USA was claiming to be the leader of the free world
 While a Black middle-class was developing in the aftermath of the Civil
Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act, a social imbalance was going
unnoticed by the federal government
 White northerners were deserting their cities for the suburbs, and a
Black inner-city ghetto was developing
 Poor education and housing plus limited opportunities still persisted,
and the income of most White households was almost double that of any
Black family
 In 1967, Johnson created a commission to examine civil disorder