The Civil Rights Act Of 1964 Essay

"Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the single most important piece of legislation that has helped to shape and define employment law rights in this country (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2001)". Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, gender, disability, religion and national origin. However, it was racial discrimination that was the moving force of the law that created a whirlwind of a variety of discriminations to be amended into Title VII. Title VII was a striving section of legislation, an effort which had never been tried which made the passage of the law an extremely uneasy task. This paper will discuss the evolution of Title VII as well as the impact Title VII has had in the workforce.

Civil Rights Movement in the United States, was a political, legal, and social struggle to gain full citizenship rights for African Americans and to achieve racial equality. The civil rights movement was a challenge to segregation, the system of laws and customs separating blacks and whites.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 resulted from one of the most controversial House and Senate debates in history. It was also the biggest piece of civil rights legislation ever passed. The bill actually evolved from previous civil rights bills in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The bill passed through both houses finally on July 2, 1964 and was signed into law at 6:55 P.M. EST by President Lyndon Johnson. The act was originally drawn up in 1962 under President Kennedy before his assassination. The bill originated from two others, and one of which was the Equal Opportunity Act of 1962 that never went into law. This bill made up the core of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Bureau of National Affairs 18-20).

African American people have come a long way from the illiterate slaves, who were once picking cotton in fields, to powerful political leaders. A prime example would be President Barack Obama, the first African American president of the United States of America. But first we must ask ourselves, how did this occur? Who lead African Americans to better living standards? Civil rights leaders, such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks, just to name a few. However, among these great names in history, there is one that stands out, and that man is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King gave hope to those in need with his awe inspiring sermons he performed at the church his grandfather founded. He changed foes to

African Americans have been struggling for equality for many decades. It only seems that during the 1960?s is when there were actual significant advances made. This was about the same time that civil rights came into the political scene. Throughout the South, Blacks were still in the majority, but had no political power what so ever. The Civil Rights Movement gave African Americans a voice and a chance to make a difference. The 1960's helped open up hope and expectations for Black Americans.

Chapter 21 Question 2: What key issues and events led the federal government to intervene in the civil rights movement? What were the major pieces of legislation enacted, and how did they dismantle legalized segregation?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was known as an end to racial segregation. It was brought about by a number of things including the effects of major events mostly involving riots. State and federal legislation needed it to be passed along with many social movements that influenced its decision. It is no question that it heavily changed America for the better by turning us into a melting pot and making us see that everyone should be treated as equals. It is important to remember that this act was not only beneficial to the time in which it was enacted, but it has affected our future by sustaining society. Today we continue to fight to outlaw discrimination within our nation, and thanks to the passing of this act we are able to be strong and help support the removal of unequal protection for all citizens. The general public has always deserved to be treated with the same rights that every White American is given. This act needed to be passed in order to see the harm we were causing by segregating people. America has grown so much since the act was established, and with it by our sides everyone can be able to have the rights they all truly deserve. Without this act in effect, the impacts on our country would be dire. We needed this act in order to flourish as one nation and continue to build movements against any discrimination.

Tracing back to the time period of the Triangular Trade, African-Americans were brought to America as slaves and were treated as the inferiors. Most of them were not granted for the basic human rights that they deserved. After the Civil Wars, the African- Americans were finally freed form the identity of slaves, but still treated unequally. During the 1950s and 1960s, the era of the Civil Rights Movement has occurred, which involved numerous movements that many of the Africans-Americans participated eagerly. Equal rights, educational opportunities, prohibit discriminations, and end of the segregations were the main focus of these movements. Civil Rights Act of 1964 was one of the most important acts that marked the end of the unequal application of voter registration requirement and racial segregation. The most significant events that led to the Civil Rights Act of

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an important act that was passed. It is the nation's premier civil rights legislation. Even though there were three amendments having to do with ending slavery, people still treated minorities unfairly until the act was passed. The federal government had to do something because of all of the conflict that was happening. It deeply affected American society.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered by some to be one of the most important laws in American history. (The Most Important Cases, Speeches, Laws & Documents in American History) This Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964 and it is a “comprehensive federal statute aimed at reducing discrimination in public accommodations and employment situations.” (Feuerbach Twomey, 2010) Specifically, it aimed at prohibiting “discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), and religion.” (Civil Rights Act of 1964, 2010) Additionally, it also

The civil rights act of 1957 was issued by president Dwight D. Eisenhower to give all african americans their right to vote. President Dwight D. Eisenhower Signed into the law on September 9, 1957. The law was passed to ensure that all African Americans could exercise their right to vote. Although the law didn’t pass any new laws, it cancelled attempts to prevent African Americans from enforcing their right to vote.The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was made to give African Americans their right to vote and ensure their rights but the act wasn’t really used as it should’ve been as it wasn’t really enforced.

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution form what is known as the Bill of Rights. In essence it is a summary of the basic rights held by all U.S. citizens. However, Negro citizens during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950-70’s felt this document and its mandate that guaranteed the civil rights and civil liberties of all people; were interpreted differently for people of color. The freedoms outlined in the Constitution were not enforced the same by the government of the United States for the black race as it did for the white race.

There were many factors to the civil rights act of 1964 from presidents to normal “civilians”. In today’s society the Civil Rights Act is allowing equal opportunities for everyone. The Civil Rights was not just an act it was a movement fought for almost twenty years. Starting in 1948 with Truman’s executive order 9981 that gave equality in the military (infoplease.com, Brunner). Then in 1054 the case of Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, was finalized with the decision that segregation within public schools was wrong. In august of 1955 the tragedy of Emmett Till occurred, where he was brutally murdered. There are many more effects of the Civil Rights act, but these were some of the turning points.

In 1965 African-Americans could not vote for who they wanted in the White House or who they wanted as their governor. African-Americans started doing a march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama to get their word out about how they felt about the situation. The town had police come in to stop the march, and if the marchers would not leave then the police would attack the marchers using their nightsticks. There were also whites cheering on the police that were attacking the marchers. Even though the United States is a free country there were many issues in 1965 with civil rights for African Americans. The Selma to Montgomery march had a huge impact on getting the right to vote for African Americans, after the march to Montgomery had finished President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and it would then lead to African Americans not needing to pay just to vote in the United States.

The Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King The Civil Rights movement is still identified by people across the world with Dr Martin Luther King. His day of birth is remarked with a national holiday in the United States and there are many historic sites dedicated to MLK across the nation. His funeral in Atlanta on 9th April 1968 was attended by political leaders from around the world and later in 1977 King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom which stated that MLK was “the conscience on his generation” who…”saw the power of love could bring down segregation”.