The Civil Rights Act of 1964 aimed to end discrimination, protect the rights of African Americans, and prohibit gender discrimination. It abolished unfair voting practices, prohibited discrimination in public businesses, desegregated schools, and authorized the EEOC to enforce fair employment practices. The act faced opposition from Southern Democrats and Republicans, but was supported by Northern Democrats and Republicans. It has been amended to include protections for pregnant women and clearer definitions of sex discrimination and sexual harassment.
Arguably one of the most important pieces of legislation enacted by the US government in the 20th century is the Civil Rights Act of 2000. It was a huge leap forward in an effort to end the hatred, discrimination and marginalization created by racism, sexism or intolerance of religious choice. Primarily, the law aimed to protect the rights of African Americans and other people of color, but it also included provisions to protect the rights of people of all religious backgrounds and genders.
Although African Americans had long been free from slavery, phrases like “separate but equal” and Jim Crow laws, particularly in the South, denied them the right to compete for the highest jobs, eat in restaurants, shop in either to stay, in the hotels of their choice or to make choices regarding where they wanted to live. More importantly, many African Americans have been barred from attending some of the best schools in the country due to segregated policies and have been subjected to unfair testing in order to gain the right to vote. This was in no way the fair or equal standing deserved by the fact that they were full citizens of the United States.
Interestingly, the fact that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also prohibits gender discrimination is a matter of controversy among historians. Many people are not in favor of fully equal rights for women, particularly in the workforce. The addition to the bill was added by a Virginia Democrat, Senator Howard W. Smith, who in his initial response to the bill as part of the Rules Committee was to attempt to block it for as long as possible. Some argue that Smith deliberately added gender to make the bill less palatable, and others suggest that Smith’s well-known association with feminist Alice Paul made adding him understandable.
The act was supported by President John F. Kennedy, who sent the bill to Congress in 1963. Kennedy was greatly inspired by the civil rights movement, led by people such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and also by the high degree of participation in the movement by many of the nation’s young people, many of them strongly in favor of Kennedy. Clearly, the time was ripe to reconsider how Americans viewed one another from a legal perspective. Kennedy’s assassination in late 1963 halted the bill’s progress, however, and the credit for continuing to seek passage of him must be given to Kennedy’s successor, President Lyndon Johnson.
The basic provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 include the following:
Abolition of unfair or unequal questions for black voters, but provisions remain in force for the administration of literacy tests to black voters.
Prohibition of discrimination or segregation policies in publicly owned businesses such as hotels, restaurants and theaters. Exceptions to this rule included those clubs such as “gentlemen’s clubs” which were considered private.
Public facilities should be open to all and no one should be denied access to use them.
Desegregation of schools and the Attorney General’s authorization to bring lawsuits against schools that maintained desegregation policies.
Withdrawal of federal funds to any organization that practices discrimination.
Prohibition of discrimination in the workforce based on race, gender or religious orientation, or based on association with persons of other race, gender or religious orientation, unless a specific national origin, gender or religious orientation is required for the job.
Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) authorization to take action to enforce laws relating to fair employment practices and equal pay.
Although the act passed the House and Senate, it was not unanimously approved. Opposition to and support for the bill was, by and large, divided along geographic lines rather than party lines, with Southern Democrats and Republicans opposing the bill and Northern Democrats and Republicans supporting it. The law can also be seen simply as an initial step in a series of battles to end the unfair treatment of marginalized populations, and some argue it is not yet as sweeping as it should be. There have been additions to the act since it was first enacted, including banning discrimination against pregnant women and adding clearer definitions of sex discrimination and sexual harassment.
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