Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. waves to supporters on August 28, 1963 during the March on Washington, where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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AFP via Getty Images
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. waves to supporters on August 28, 1963 during the March on Washington, where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
AFP via Getty Images
In the summer of 1963, an estimated quarter of a million people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington.
It was where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his iconic 'I have a dream' speech. And listening in the crowd was civil rights activist Cortland Cox.
Cox was a founding member of the Student Non-violence Coordinating Committee – or SNCC, and was one of many Black activists who helped organize the march.
"The March on Washington only took six weeks to organize," Cox recalled. "But one of the only reasons it took six weeks to organize is that Black people by that time had been going through demonstrations for three years: sit-ins, freedom rides and so forth, and they were sick and tired of being sick and tired."
During this time, Cox was working to register Black people to vote in the south. It was dangerous work for Cox and dangerous for Black people who wanted to vote.
The right to vote was one of the many reasons people of all races gathered at the March on Washington. They were protesting against discrimination and segregation based on race, and demanding civil rights regardless of skin color. And soon after, it yielded an outcome they had been fighting for.
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The Civil Rights Act
The march was a precursor to the historic signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who said the bill was "a challenge to all of us to go to work in our communities and our states, in our homes and in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country."
It was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, and outlawed discrimination on the basis of:
- Race
- Color
- Religion
- Sex
- National origin
It also made tactics aimed at preventing Black people from voting, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, illegal.
But Cox, like many other activists, says that the bill wasn't enough to resolve everything. Not then, and not now.
"These things were just not landmarks that created new environments. They allowed for new opportunities, but they didn't change the total environment. I mean, what would change the environment was our willingness to continue to fight."
The decades after
So has this legislation continued to fulfill its initial goal, 60 years on? Lerone Martin, the director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University says the answer varies.
Civil Rights Act turns 60: Activist Elaine Lee Turner reflects
Martin believes that, while the bill was able to fundamentally change what citizenship meant in the U.S., there are signs that some want to restrict the freedoms it has afforded so many Americans.
"I think we are seeing in this country, certain parts, that want to argue that religious freedom is a license to discriminate against people based on race, sex or national origin or religious belief," Martin says. "And I think that we have to be careful with this, because of all the effort and all the work that went into creating this vision of an America where all are created equal, that there is a danger of some of this being rolled back today."
When it comes to the legacy of the civil rights bill, Martin says it should serve as a reminder of how important it is to build a coalition of people from all backgrounds that believe the U.S. should be equal for all people.
"I think that we have to remember that this was not inevitable, that this did not have to happen. It took people coming together and demonstrating nonviolently in the streets and pressing and moving their elected officials to vote according to the will of the people," he says.
"And I think that's an important legacy for us to remember, because it's very, very, very, very possible for this legislation to be clipped and rolled back and anesthetized and made anemic to the point where it no longer has any teeth."
This episode was produced by Brianna Scott, Jordan-Marie Smith and Linnea Anderson. It was edited by Jeanette Woods and Christopher Intagliata. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
FAQs
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.
How was the Civil Rights Act successful? ›
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 hastened the end of legal Jim Crow. It secured African Americans equal access to restaurants, transportation, and other public facilities. It enabled blacks, women, and other minorities to break down barriers in the workplace.
How did the Civil Rights Act make America a better place to live for all citizens? ›
Six decades ago, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ushered in a new era of equality and justice for all Americans. This landmark legislation was intended to dismantle racial segregation and advanced equity for all Americans, by prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Was the Civil Rights Act controversial? ›
The Civil Rights Act was a highly controversial issue in the United States as soon as it was proposed by Pres. John F. Kennedy in 1963. Although Kennedy was unable to secure passage of the bill in Congress, a stronger version was eventually passed with the urging of his successor, Pres.
What was the promise of the civil rights movement? ›
Rather than rejecting an America that discriminated against a particular race, the movement fought for America to fulfill its own universal promise that “all men are created equal.” It worked for American principles within American institutions rather than against them.
What did the Civil Rights Act of 1875 promise? ›
The bill guaranteed all citizens, regardless of color, access to accommodations, theatres, public schools, churches, and cemeteries.
Was the civil rights movement a success or failure? ›
The Civil Rights Movement had many failures as do all social movements. But its strengths outweighed the mistakes it made and its legacy as a whole is a positive one. It was an INCLUSIVE movement — it included everyone who believed in justice and that was its lasting legacy.
What was the biggest success of the civil rights movement? ›
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 The two most significant pieces of civil rights legislation since Reconstruction were passed within two years of each other. Between the two, these Acts outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Why did the civil rights movement win? ›
Its crowning achievement was its legal victory in the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education (1954), when the Warren Court ruled that segregation of public schools in the US was unconstitutional and, by implication, overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson of 1896.
How has the Civil Rights Act impacted us today? ›
Since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, disenfranchised Americans have used it to challenge discrimination and harassment based upon race, national origin, religion, gender, and more.
Civil liberties protect people from undue government interference or action. Civil rights, on the other hand, protect people from discrimination. It is DoD policy to prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, mental or physical disability, or age.
What are examples of civil rights? ›
Examples of civil rights include the right to vote, the right to a fair trial, the right to government services, the right to a public education, the right to gainful employment, the right to housing, the right to use public facilities, freedom of religion.
Why was the Civil Rights Act good? ›
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement.
How did people react to the Civil Rights Act? ›
Indeed, although most supported the new civil rights law soon after it was passed, a national Opinion Research Corporation poll showed 68% of Americans wanting to see moderation in its enforcement, with only 19% wanting vigorous enforcement of the new law.
What was the argument against the Civil Rights Act? ›
Southern Democrats, also known as Dixiecrats, portrayed the law as an attack on the “southern way of life” and prime evidence of the federal government's intent to force racial mixing on the South. The idea of a civil rights act stirred old resentments among segregationists.
What does the Civil Rights Act guarantee? ›
This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. It was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
What was the purpose of the civil rights Acts? ›
Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 marked a milestone in the long struggle to extend civil, political, and legal rights and protections to African Americans, including former slaves and their descendants, and to end segregation in public and private facilities.
What did the Bill of rights promise? ›
It spells out Americans' rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion. It sets rules for due process of law and reserves all powers not delegated to the Federal Government to the people or the States.
What was the major promise of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that led to passage of the 13th Amendment? ›
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
