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65-551: The district includes the entire parish. The current superintendent is Denis Rousselle. The school district refused to follow the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , and refused to desegregate its schools until 1967. All Plaquemines Parish public schools require school uniforms . All schools are located in unincorporated areas . The following consolidated into South Plaquemines High School after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita : This Louisiana school-related article

130-415: A filibuster to prevent its passage. Russell proclaimed, "We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would tend to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our [Southern] states." Strong opposition to the bill also came from Senator Strom Thurmond , who was still a Democrat at the time: "This so-called Civil Rights Proposals [ sic ], which

195-782: A 72-day filibuster, it passed the United States Senate on June 19, 1964. The final vote was 290–130 in the House of Representatives and 73–27 in the Senate. After the House agreed to a subsequent Senate amendment, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by President Johnson at the White House on July 2, 1964. In the 1883 landmark Civil Rights Cases , the United States Supreme Court had ruled that Congress did not have

260-416: A Democrat and staunch segregationist from Virginia , indicated his intention to keep the bill bottled up indefinitely. The assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, changed the political situation. Kennedy's successor as president, Lyndon B. Johnson , made use of his experience in legislative politics, along with the bully pulpit he wielded as president, in support of

325-587: A coalition of 70 liberal and labor organizations. The principal lobbyists for the Leadership Conference were civil rights lawyer Joseph L. Rauh Jr. and Clarence Mitchell Jr. of the NAACP. After the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , on August 28, 1963, the organizers visited Kennedy to discuss the civil rights bill. Roy Wilkins , A. Philip Randolph , and Walter Reuther attempted to persuade him to support

390-511: A compromise bill to be considered. On June 19, the president sent his bill to Congress as it was originally written, saying legislative action was "imperative". The president's bill went first to the House of Representatives , where it was referred to the Judiciary Committee , chaired by New York Democrat Emanuel Celler . After a series of hearings on the bill, Celler's committee strengthened

455-435: A filibuster on a civil rights bill, and only once in the 37 years since 1927 had it agreed to cloture for any measure. The most dramatic moment during the cloture vote came when Senator Clair Engle (D-CA) was wheeled into the chamber. Suffering from terminal brain cancer , unable to speak, he pointed to his left eye, signifying his affirmative " Aye " vote when his name was called. He died seven weeks later. On June 19,

520-525: A long-term change in the demographics of the support for each. President Kennedy realized that supporting this bill would risk losing the South's overwhelming support of the Democratic Party. Both Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Vice President Johnson had pushed for the introduction of the civil rights legislation. Johnson told Kennedy aide Ted Sorensen that "I know the risks are great and we might lose

585-669: A provision establishing a Fair Employment Practices Commission that would ban discriminatory practices by all federal agencies, unions, and private companies. Kennedy called the congressional leaders to the White House in late October 1963 to line up the necessary votes in the House for passage. The bill was reported out of the Judiciary Committee in November 1963 and referred to the Rules Committee , whose chairman, Howard W. Smith ,

650-488: A stronghold of the Republican Party by the 1990s. Although majorities in both parties voted for the bill, there were notable exceptions. Though he opposed forced segregation, Republican 1964 presidential candidate, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, voted against the bill, remarking, "You can't legislate morality." Goldwater had supported previous attempts to pass civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960 as well as

715-465: A substitute bill that they hoped would overcome it by combining a sufficient number of Republicans as well as core liberal Democrats. The compromise bill was weaker than the House version as to the government's power in regulating the conduct of private business, but not weak enough to make the House reconsider it. Senator Robert Byrd ended his filibuster in opposition to the bill on the morning of June 10, 1964, after 14 hours and 13 minutes. Up to then,

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780-487: A supportive memorandum at the behest of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women . Griffiths also argued that the laws "protecting" women from unpleasant jobs were actually designed to enable men to monopolize those jobs, and that that was unfair to women who were not allowed to try out for those jobs. The amendment passed with the votes of Republicans and Southern Democrats. The final law passed with

845-497: A variety of jobs, such as writers, artists, and photographers. WPA murals were painted and WPA sculptures were commissioned for numerous federal buildings that were constructed during this period. Photographers documented families across the South and in northern cities. The Federal Writers' Project paid its workers $ 20 a week, and they wrote histories of every state in the Union, covering major cities in addition. Under Roscoe E. Lewis ,

910-627: A violation [of the Constitution], because it would be handling the matter on the basis of race and we would be transporting children because of race." Javits said any government official who sought to use the bill for busing purposes "would be making a fool of himself," but two years later the Department of Health, Education and Welfare said that Southern school districts would be required to meet mathematical ratios of students by busing. The bill divided both major American political parties and engendered

975-513: A young economist from Harvard University and a race relations adviser. He worked with the White House to provide more opportunities for African Americans. In 1966 he became the first African American cabinet member, appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson as Secretary of the newly created Department of Housing and Urban Development . During the 1970s, Weaver served as the national director of the Municipal Assistance Corporation , which

1040-676: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Civil Rights Act of 1964 This is an accepted version of this page District of Columbia The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( Pub. L.   88–352 , 78  Stat.   241 , enacted July 2, 1964 ) is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race , color , religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations , and employment discrimination. The act "remains one of

1105-610: The 24th Amendment outlawing the poll tax . He stated that the reason for his opposition to the 1964 bill was Title II, which in his opinion violated individual liberty and states' rights . Democrats and Republicans from the Southern states opposed the bill and led an unsuccessful 60 working day filibuster, including Senators Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN) and J. William Fulbright (D-AR), as well as Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), who personally filibustered for 14 hours straight. There were white business owners who claimed that Congress did not have

1170-714: The March on Washington Movement , just before the U.S. entered World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 , the first federal anti-discrimination order, and established the Fair Employment Practices Committee . Roosevelt's successor, President Harry Truman , appointed the President's Committee on Civil Rights , proposed the 20th century's first comprehensive Civil Rights Act, and issued Executive Order 9980 and Executive Order 9981 , providing for fair employment and desegregation throughout

1235-577: The National Youth Administration (NYA) attempted to direct 10 percent of funds to African Americans (as their proportion of the US population). These agencies set up separate all-black units with the same pay and conditions as those in white units, to which black voters responded favorably. Mary McLeod Bethune served as an informal organizer of the council, as well as the Director of Negro Affairs in

1300-584: The National Youth Administration . Rayford Wittingham Logan drafted Roosevelt's executive order prohibiting the exclusion of African Americans from the military in World War II. Other leaders included William H. Hastie and Robert C. Weaver . The leaders associated with the Black Cabinet are often credited with laying part of the foundation of the Civil Rights Movement that developed in strength in

1365-524: The 11 states that had made up the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War . "Northern" refers to members from the other 39 states, regardless of their geographic location including Southern states like Kentucky. House of Representatives: Senate: House of Representatives: Note that four Representatives voted Present while 13 did not vote. Senate: One year earlier,

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1430-597: The 1930s, during the New Deal , the majority of the Supreme Court justices gradually shifted their legal theory to allow for greater government regulation of the private sector under the Commerce Clause, thus paving the way for the federal government to enact civil rights laws prohibiting both public and private sector discrimination on the basis of the commerce clause. Influenced in part by the " Black Cabinet " advisors and

1495-491: The 1960s and the start of the 1970s in the aftermath of the Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968) court decision. In June 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in three cases ( Bostock v. Clayton County , Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda , and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ) that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which barred employers from discriminating on

1560-585: The 1964 bill in his Report to the American People on Civil Rights on June 11, 1963. He sought legislation "giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public—hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments"—as well as "greater protection for the right to vote". In late July, Walter Reuther , president of the United Auto Workers , warned that if Congress failed to pass Kennedy's civil rights bill,

1625-755: The Civil Rights Act of 1957 did establish the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division . By 1960, black voting had increased by only 3%, and Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1960 , which eliminated certain loopholes left by the 1957 Act. In winning the 1960 United States presidential election , Kennedy took 70% of the African American vote. But due to his somewhat narrow victory and Democrats' narrow majorities in Congress, he

1690-611: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a breach of the Fourteenth Amendment and also violated the Fifth and Thirteenth Amendments by depriving him of "liberty and property without due process". In Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964), the Supreme Court held that Congress drew its authority from the Constitution's Commerce Clause, rejecting Rolleston's claims. Resistance to the public accommodation clause continued for years on

1755-503: The Constitution or U.S. law. In essence, this was the controversial "Title III" that had been removed from the 1957 Act and 1960 Act . Civil rights organizations pressed hard for this provision because it could be used to protect peaceful protesters and black voters from police brutality and suppression of free speech rights. Lobbying support for the Civil Rights Act was coordinated by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights ,

1820-590: The Justice Department power to initiate desegregation or job discrimination lawsuits. On June 11, 1963, President Kennedy met with Republican leaders to discuss the legislation before his television address to the nation that evening. Two days later, Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield both voiced support for the president's bill, except for provisions guaranteeing equal access to places of public accommodations. This led to several Republican Representatives drafting

1885-607: The New Deal, in large part because Southern Democrats had influenced the structure and implementation of programs to aid their white constituents. For instance, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration helped farmers but did not help farmworkers; farm owners were given the incentive to cut farm production, reducing the need for labor. Programs such as the Works Projects Administration (WPA), and

1950-563: The President has sent to Capitol Hill for enactment into law, are unconstitutional, unnecessary, unwise and extend beyond the realm of reason. This is the worst civil-rights package ever presented to the Congress and is reminiscent of the Reconstruction proposals and actions of the radical Republican Congress." After the filibuster had gone on for 54 days, Senators Mansfield, Hubert Humphrey , Everett Dirksen , and Thomas Kuchel introduced

2015-590: The South or address economic retaliation, police repression, or physical violence against nonwhite voters. While the Act did require that voting rules and procedures be applied equally to all races, it did not abolish the concept of voter "qualification". It accepted the idea that citizens do not have an automatic right to vote but would have to meet standards beyond citizenship. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 directly addressed and eliminated most voting qualifications beyond citizenship. Black Cabinet The Black Cabinet

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2080-462: The South, but those sorts of states may be lost anyway." Senator Richard Russell, Jr. later warned President Johnson that his strong support for the civil rights bill "will not only cost you the South, it will cost you the election". Johnson, however, went on to win the 1964 election by one of the biggest landslides in American history. The South, which had five states swing Republican in 1964, became

2145-586: The Virginia Writers' Project sent out an all-black unit of writers to interview formerly enslaved African Americans. Such accounts were also solicited in interviews in other states. The Slave Narrative Collection of the Federal Writers' Project stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Members of the group worked officially and unofficially in their agencies to provide insight into

2210-495: The act, adding provisions to ban racial discrimination in employment, providing greater protection to black voters, eliminating segregation in all publicly owned facilities (not just schools), and strengthening the anti-segregation clauses regarding public facilities such as lunch counters. They also added authorization for the Attorney General to file lawsuits to protect individuals against the deprivation of any rights secured by

2275-544: The amendment. Along with Representative Martha Griffiths , he was the amendment's chief spokesperson. For 20 years, Smith had sponsored the Equal Rights Amendment (with no linkage to racial issues) in the House because he believed in it. For decades he had been close to the National Woman's Party and its leader Alice Paul , who had been a leading figure in winning the right to vote for women in 1920, co-authored

2340-586: The basis of sex, precluded employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity . Afterward, USA Today stated that in addition to LGBTQ employment discrimination, "[t]he court's ruling is likely to have a sweeping impact on federal civil rights laws barring sex discrimination in education, health care, housing and financial credit." Title I barred unequal application of voter registration requirements. This title did not eliminate literacy tests , which acted as one barrier for black voters, other racial minorities, and poor whites in

2405-442: The bill because he opposed civil rights for Black people and women or attempted to support their rights by broadening the bill to include women. Smith expected that Republicans, who had included equal rights for women in their party's platform since 1944, would probably vote for the amendment. Historians speculate that Smith was trying to embarrass northern Democrats who opposed civil rights for women because labor unions opposed

2470-487: The bill would have been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee , which was chaired by James O. Eastland , a Democrat from Mississippi , whose firm opposition made it seem impossible that the bill would reach the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield took a novel approach to prevent the Judiciary Committee from keeping the bill in limbo: initially waiving a second reading immediately after

2535-418: The bill's opponents' most damaging arguments was that once passed, the bill would require forced busing to achieve certain racial quotas in schools. The bill's proponents, such as Emanuel Celler and Jacob Javits , said it would not authorize such measures. Leading sponsor Hubert Humphrey wrote two amendments specifically designed to outlaw busing. Humphrey said, "if the bill were to compel it, it would be

2600-468: The bill. In his first address to a joint session of Congress on November 27, 1963, Johnson told the legislators, "No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy's memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought so long." Judiciary Committee chairman Celler filed a petition to discharge the bill from the Rules Committee; it required

2665-488: The clause. Representative Carl Elliott of Alabama later said, "Smith didn't give a damn about women's rights", as "he was trying to knock off votes either then or down the line because there was always a hard core of men who didn't favor women's rights", and according to the Congressional Record , laughter greeted Smith when he introduced the amendment. Smith asserted that he was not joking and sincerely supported

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2730-630: The compromise bill passed the Senate by a vote of 73–27, quickly passed through the conference committee , which adopted the Senate version of the bill, then was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by Johnson on July 2, 1964. Totals are in Yea – Nay format: Original House version: Cloture in the Senate: Senate version: Senate version, voted on by the House: Note that "Southern", as used here, only refers to members of Congress from

2795-481: The constitutional authority to ban segregation in public accommodations. For example, Moreton Rolleston, the owner of a motel in Atlanta, Georgia, said he should not be forced to serve black travelers, saying, "the fundamental question [...] is whether or not Congress has the power to take away the liberty of an individual to run his business as he sees fit in the selection and choice of his customers". Rolleston claimed that

2860-518: The country would face another civil war. Emulating the Civil Rights Act of 1875 , Kennedy's civil rights bill included provisions to ban discrimination in public accommodations and enable the U.S. Attorney General to join lawsuits against state governments that operated segregated school systems, among other provisions. But it did not include a number of provisions civil rights leaders deemed essential, including protection against police brutality, ending discrimination in private employment, and granting

2925-550: The federal government and the armed forces. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 , signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 9, 1957, was the first federal civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to become law. After the Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education , Southern Democrats began a campaign of " massive resistance " against desegregation, and even

2990-458: The few moderate white leaders shifted to openly racist positions. Partly in an effort to defuse calls for more far-reaching reforms, Eisenhower proposed a civil rights bill that would increase the protection of African American voting rights. Despite having a limited impact on African-American voter participation, at a time when black voter registration from 0% (in 11 counties) to less than 5% (in 97 counties) despite being majority-Black counties,

3055-421: The first Equal Rights Amendment, and had been a chief supporter of equal rights proposals since then. She and other feminists had worked with Smith since 1945 to find a way to include sex as a protected civil rights category, and felt now was the moment. Griffiths argued that the new law would protect black women but not white women, and that that was unfair to white women. Black feminist lawyer Pauli Murray wrote

3120-476: The first reading, which would have sent it to the Judiciary Committee, he took the unprecedented step of giving the bill a second reading on February 26, 1964, thereby bypassing the Judiciary Committee, and sending it to the Senate floor for immediate debate. When the bill came before the full Senate for debate on March 30, 1964, the " Southern Bloc " of 18 southern Democratic Senators and lone Republican John Tower of Texas, led by Richard Russell (D-GA), launched

3185-461: The ground, especially in the South. When local college students in Orangeburg, South Carolina, attempted to desegregate a bowling alley in 1968, they were violently attacked, leading to rioting and what became known as the " Orangeburg massacre ." Resistance by school boards continued into the next decade, with the most significant declines in black-white school segregation only occurring at the end of

3250-428: The group, although First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged it. Although many have ascribed the term to Mary McLeod Bethune , African American newspapers had earlier used it to describe key black advisors of Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. Although the council was concerned with civil rights, Franklin D. Roosevelt believed there were larger problems to be addressed than racial inequality during

3315-480: The laws under the 14th Amendment , and its duty to protect voting rights under the 15th Amendment . The legislation was proposed by President John F. Kennedy in June 1963, but it was opposed by filibuster in the Senate. After Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the bill forward. The United States House of Representatives passed the bill on February 10, 1964, and after

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3380-415: The measure had occupied the Senate for 60 working days, including six Saturdays. The day before, Humphrey, the bill's manager, concluded that he had the 67 votes required at that time to end the debate and the filibuster. With six wavering senators providing a four-vote victory margin, the final tally stood at 71 to 29. Never before in its entire history had the Senate been able to muster enough votes to defeat

3445-588: The most significant legislative achievements in American history". Initially, powers given to enforce the act were weak, but these were supplemented during later years. Congress asserted its authority to legislate under several different parts of the United States Constitution , principally its enumerated power to regulate interstate commerce under the Commerce Clause of Article I, Section 8 , its duty to guarantee all citizens equal protection of

3510-521: The needs of African Americans. In the past, there had never been so many African Americans chosen at one time to work in the federal government together for the express benefit of African Americans. The 45 primarily comprised an advisory group to the administration. Eleanor Roosevelt was said to encourage the formation of the Black Cabinet to help shape New Deal programs. Most members were not politicians but rather community leaders, scholars, and activists. Prominent members included Dr. Robert C. Weaver ,

3575-540: The postwar years. The Council tried to create jobs and other opportunities for unemployed African Americans; concentrated in rural areas of the South, African Americans made up about twenty percent of the poor in the Depression Era. They were often the first to be let go from industrial jobs. Most African Americans did not benefit from some of the New Deal Acts. The WPA created agencies that employed creative people in

3640-484: The power to prohibit discrimination in the private sector, thus stripping the Civil Rights Act of 1875 of much of its ability to protect civil rights. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the legal justification for voiding the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was part of a larger trend by members of the United States Supreme Court to invalidate most government regulations of the private sector, except when dealing with laws designed to protect traditional public morality. In

3705-549: The same Congress had passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 , which prohibited wage differentials based on sex. The prohibition on sex discrimination was added to the Civil Rights Act by Howard W. Smith , a powerful Virginia Democrat who chaired the House Rules Committee and strongly opposed the legislation. Smith's amendment was passed by a teller vote of 168 to 133. Historians debate whether Smith cynically attempted to defeat

3770-457: The support of a majority of House members to move the bill to the floor. Initially, Celler had a difficult time acquiring the signatures necessary, with many Representatives who supported the civil rights bill itself remaining cautious about violating normal House procedure with the rare use of a discharge petition. By the time of the 1963 winter recess, 50 signatures were still needed. After the return of Congress from its winter recess, however, it

3835-523: The votes of Republicans and Northern Democrats. Thus, as Justice William Rehnquist wrote in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson , "The prohibition against discrimination based on sex was added to Title VII at the last minute on the floor of the House of Representatives [...] the bill quickly passed as amended, and we are left with little legislative history to guide us in interpreting the Act's prohibition against discrimination based on 'sex. ' " One of

3900-498: The wartime years; he was also struggling to maintain the support of the Southern white Congressional Democrats. Roosevelt declined to support legislation banning the use of the poll tax in the South and did not support legislation to make lynching a federal offense. The Black Cabinet, with Eleanor Roosevelt's support, worked to ensure that African Americans received 10 percent of welfare funds. The Council argued that black citizens were underrepresented among recipients of aid under

3965-583: Was an unofficial group of African-American advisors to President Franklin D. Roosevelt . African-American federal employees in the executive branch formed an unofficial Federal Council of Negro Affairs to try to influence federal policy on race issues. In his twelve years as president, Roosevelt did not appoint or nominate a single African American to be either a secretary or undersecretary in his presidential cabinet, but by mid-1935, there were 45 African Americans working in federal executive departments and New Deal agencies. Roosevelt gave no formal recognition to

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4030-496: Was apparent that public opinion in the North favored the bill and that the petition would acquire the necessary signatures. To avert the humiliation of a successful discharge petition, Chairman Smith relented and allowed the bill to pass through the Rules Committee. Johnson, who wanted the bill passed as soon as possible, ensured that it would be quickly considered by the Senate . Normally,

4095-593: Was formed during New York City's financial crisis . Another prominent member of Roosevelt's Black Cabinet was Eugene K. Jones , the Executive Secretary of the National Urban League , a major civil rights organization. One of the most well-known members, and the only woman, was Mary McLeod Bethune . Bethune's political affinity to the Roosevelts was so strong that she changed her party allegiance. Bethune

4160-404: Was very closely tied to the community and believed she knew what African Americans really wanted. She was looked upon very highly by other members of the cabinet, and the younger men called her "Ma Bethune". Bethune was a personal friend of Eleanor Roosevelt and, uniquely among the cabinet, had access to the White House . Their friendship began during a luncheon when Eleanor Roosevelt sat Bethune to

4225-525: Was wary to push hard for civil rights legislation for fear of losing southern support. Moreover, according to the Miller Center , he wanted to wait until his second term to send Congress a civil rights bill. But with elevated racial tensions and a wave of African-American protests in the spring of 1963, such as the Birmingham campaign , Kennedy realized he had to act on civil rights. Kennedy first proposed

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