The Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964
By Denis Mueller

What do Al Gore and George Bush have in common? The answer is that their father's voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It has been forty years since the passage of that piece of historic legislation. It is a different world now and it is easy to forget just how important this moment was. Not everybody was for the passage at the time. The Democrats of the south fought hard against the legislation and they were joined by Republicans like George Bush and soon to be Governor of California, Ronald Reagan.

We must remember that it was a life threatening act to call for simple justice at the time and the politicians of the time were dragged, including the Kennedy's, kicking and screaming by the brave men and women who fought for simple justice. It was regular citizens who made up the movement, people like Herbert Lee, Fanny Lu Hamer and many others who were killed and beaten so that black people in this country could achieve the simple rights that we so deeply cherish.

But there was one brave politician, who was from Texas, that championed this great cause and his name was Lynden Baines Johnson. It was President Johnson's finest hour and it showed that a person could go beyond their upbringing and political opportunism to be on the side of justice. The arrogance of people like Gore and Bush reveals the worst side of our political system. They placed their own political careers before what is just. President Johnson knew the political risks he was taking but he had seen racism first hand, and although it meant delivering the south to the Republican Party, he did the right thing.

Many of the Democrats, like Trent Lott, switched sides rather than vote for the act and they deserve our eternal scorn. It is hard to imagine but at the time black people in the south could not vote, they could not stay at hotels, use the same bathrooms, drink from water fountains, eat at restaurants, go to state supported schools, and if they opposed these restrictions they could be killed. The fact that politicians like Gore, Bush and Reagan were against this cause says a lot about them.

The success of the act is remarkable. The poverty rates among blacks have dropped from 41% of the population to 23.9% and the number of college graduates has risen from 4% to 17%. This is not to say that things are equal but no one can deny that this is progress. As always the politicians lagged far behind the American public and without the courage of ordinary people none of this would ever have been possible.

So we do make progress but we must remember struggle is eternal and nothing comes easy. We must always remember as well that our elected officials are often opportunistic cowards who place themselves above what is right. But we should also remember, as in the case of President Johnson, that they can rise above the crowd and display enormous courage if they want to.