Modern civil rights legislation

¶ … Civil Rights Legislation

Due to events and developments, such as police-dog attacks, cattle prods, high-pressure water hoses, beatings, bombings, the March on Washington, and the emergence of the black militancy, Congress acted on behalf of the African-Americans, resulting in the second era of civil rights acts, generally referred to as the second Reconstruction (Modern 156).

The Civil Rights Act of 1957 established a Civil Rights Commission and a new Civil Rights Division within the Justice Department, while the Civil Rights Act of 1960 provided legal protection against the documented practice of discrimination, and enabled the Justice Department to bring suit event against a state (Modern 156). The 1960 act also established penalties for obstructing a federal court order by threat of force and for illegally using and transporting explosives Modern 156). However, overall, neither the 1957 or the 1960 acts had substantive impact (Modern 156).

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbade discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, and national origin, was the most far-reaching bill on civil rights of the modern era (Modern 156). The major provisions of this act outlawed arbitrary discrimination in voter registration, barred discrimination in public accommodations, such as hotels and restaurants, authorized federal prosecution to desegregate public schools and facilities and the withholding of federal funds, established the right to equality of opportunity in employment, and expanded the power of the Civil Rights Commission and extended it life (Modern 156).

Violence perpetrated against protesting African-Americans and whites in the South led to a dramatic change in the climate of public opinion, thus spurring the passage of the 1964 act (Modern 156). Moreover, many believe that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 had a significant effect on the national conscience, thus the act served as a tribute by Congress to the martyred President (Modern 156). However, the act was passed only after an eighty-three day filibuster, the longest in the history of the Senate, and cloture was imposed for the first time to cut off a civil rights filibuster (Modern 157).

Title VII of the 1964 act is the cornerstone of employment discrimination law, by prohibiting discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin, and under which banned employment discrimination by firms that received any federal funding (Modern 157). The 1964 act also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a five member commission to administer Title VII (Modern 157). The EEOC can issue interpretive guidelines and regulations, and has investigating powers, and has broad authority to require the production of documentary evidence, to hold hearings, and to subpoena and examine witnesses under oath (Modern 157).

In 1960, less than 30% of African-Americans of voting age were registered in the southern states, compared to over 60% of whites, leading Martin Luther King, jr. In 1965 to organize a 50-mile march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, where marchers attempted to register to vote (Modern 157). When then Governor George Wallace ordered state troopers to disband the marchers, using tear gas, clubs and whips, President Lyndon Johnson federalized the National Guard and the march continued (Modern 157). The national media coverage of these events led Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discriminatory voter-registration tests, and authorized federal registration of persons and federally administered voting procedures in any political subdivision or state that discriminated electorally against a particular group (Modern 157).

Nine days after the assassination of King on April 4, 1968, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which banned discrimination in most housing and provided penalties for those attempting to interfere with individual civil rights, thus adding protection for civil rights workers and others (Modern 157). Additional legislation added enforcement provisions to the federal government's rules concerning discriminatory mortgage-lending practices, which means that all lenders must report to the federal government the race, gender, and income of all mortgage-loan seeker, as well as the final decision on their loan application (Modern 158).

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 dramatically increased political participation by African-Americans, and by 1980, some 55.8% of African-Americans of voting age in the South were registered to vote (Modern 158). In the 108th Congress, there were thirty-four African-Americans, and in 1989, Virginia became the first state to elect an African-American governor (Modern 158). In 1989, General Colin Powell became the first African-American to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in 2001, became Secretary of State (Modern 158). According to a 1958 Gallup poll, only 38% of the public said they would vote for an African-American for president, however in 2003, the percentage had reached 95% (Modern 158).