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Response to the Bill
Besides the response within the world of education, there was also a great deal to be said and felt regarding this law in the general public.

In an article about white southerner's reactions to the Civil Rights act, the book //Free at Last// discusses how there was an overnight shift in how the two groups (Caucasians and African-Americans) had to relate to one another. For example, there was the matter of politics and government office. With the bill declaring that there could not be any "unequal application of voter registration requirements", and this was reinforced with the Voter Rights Act in 1965, more and more African-Americans could vote, and when they did, they often supported African-American politicians. This completely transformed the make-up of the government in some parts of the South.

Because of the shift in how, by law, African-Americans had to be treated, the authors of //Free at Last// claim that there was a change, however slow it was to happen, in how African-Americans were perceived in the South (and presumably elsewhere in the country). No longer could African-Americans be looked upon as second class citizens or people who were only capable of so much. Instead it became obvious (though it should have been before) that they were a people who demanded the rights they very much deserved. As the authors write, "It stripped the veneers of docility from African Americans and invested them with a new dignity."

A lot has changed since the 1964 bill was passed, and thankfully much of the bigotry of those days has dissipated, but some still lingers. One clear example of the complete idiocy (for lack of a better word) of some of even //today's// lawmakers is evident in politicians like senate candidate Rand Paul, who explained in an interview over the summer that if he had been in the senate in 1964, he would not have passed the bill because it infringed on the rights of private businesses to decide who their customers would be. While we've made great gains since the 1960s, it's truly sad and disappointing to think that there are people who are so willing to turn the clock back.



Impacts on Education
The Civil Rights Laws represents a way to end segregation and discrimination in education. The law forces schools to integrate people who were previously excluded. It sought to bring down the barriers that prevented minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities the same educational opportunities and careers. (Impacts of the Civil Rights Law) All schools were racially segregated until the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka decision was made in 1954. However, it took a long time for all schools to become desegregated and the most resistance was seen in the south (History Learning Site).

In 1956 2,000 whites stopped African American students from entering a school in Clinton, Tennessee. The most notable of these resistances was in 1957 in Arkansas when a federal court ordered the desegregation of Little Rock. Orval Faubus ordered the National Guard to stop 9 African American students from entering Central High School. President Eisenhower then made the National Guard part of the federal army and also sent 1,000 paratroopers to protect these students. (Civil Rights: Law and History). Some Statistics of Improvements: The number of females participating in high school sports increased from 294,000 in 1971 to over 2.4 million in 1996-97. Today, 39 percent of all high school athletes are females. [Data obtained from National Federation of State High School Associations, published in //Federal Register//, December 11, 1979, vol. 44, page 71419; and //New York Times//, December 16, 1996.]

In 1971, only 14 percent of doctoral degrees went to women - in 1996 that figure increased to 40 percent. Also, the number of women earning doctorates continues to increase. For example, in 1996, women received 17,811 doctorates compared to 17,540 doctorates in 1995. [//Digest//, table 244, page 261; and //Degrees and Other Awards//, table A-1, page V.]

In 1990, 66.2 percent of African Americans age 25 and over had completed high school. In 1997, 74.9 percent of African Americans age 25 and over had completed high school. [//Ibid//.] Since 1990, the number of Latino students enrolled in higher education increased by 47 percent; the number of African American students increased by 20 percent; and the number of American Indian students increased by 30 percent. [//Ibid.//]

In 1975, over 1 million children with disabilities were excluded from public school. Another 4 million children with disabilities, while attending school, were not receiving educational services they needed - either because their disabilities were undetected or because schools did not offer the services they needed. Virtually no disabled preschoolers received services. [Files of the Office for Civil Rights.]

Since the enactment of IDEA in 1975, 90 percent fewer developmentally disabled children are living in institutions. [President Clinton: signing ceremony for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, June 4, 1997.]

History of the Bill
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, also known as Public Law 88-352, was officially signed into law on July 2, 1964 by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. The official bill was a mighty piece of legislation, but the major parts of the bill were titles I-V which stated:

**Title I** Barred unequal application of voter registration requirements, but did not abolish literacy tests sometimes used to disqualify African Americans and poor white voters. **Title II** Outlawed discrimination in hotels, motels, restaurants, theaters, and all other public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce; exempted private clubs without defining "private," thereby allowing a loophole. **Title III** Encouraged the desegregation of public schools and authorized the U. S. Attorney General to file suits to force desegregation, but did not authorize busing as a means to overcome segregation based on residence. **Title IV** Authorized but did not require withdrawal of federal funds from programs which practiced discrimination. **Title V** Outlawed discrimination in employment in any business exceeding twenty five people and creates an Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to review complaints, although it lacked meaningful enforcement powers. (Affirmative Action) These laws greatly affected the state of the country, especially in the Jim Crow South which saw forced segregation for much of the 20th century. The bill itself was introduced in the House of Representatives in 1964. In order for the bill to pass, it had to survive a series of committee and subcommittee reviews, most notably the House Judiciary Committee – for the most part, the bill received bi-partisan support from the Democrats and Republicans. After an initial hold-up, the Civil Rights bill was put in front of the entire House for vote on January 30, 1964.

After nine days of deliberation and the voting down of over one-hundred amendments to the bill (all aimed at weakening the power of the legislation), the bill passed the House on February 10, 1964. Of the 420 members of the house, 290 voted in favor of the bill and 130 voted against the bill. Republicans favored the bill 138 to 34; Democrats supported it 152-96 – it is important to note that southern Democrats were stoutly against the bill and voted 92-11 to prevent the bill from passing. Luckily, there was enough bi-partisan support for the bill to pass; the next step was for the U.S. Senate to take the bill into consideration.

The bill made its way to the Senate, but was in for a tough battle. The Senate majority leaders circumvented usual proceedings and prevented the bill from going to committee. Instead, the Senate voted to begin open debate on the legislation. The only way for the bill to be officially voted on by the Senate was to have the senators take a vote to “end debate” which is also called cloture. This took time, but eventually, the Senate managed to break a Democratic filibuster and achieved cloture (which is achieved by super-majority of 60 senators). The original bill passed by the House was not well received by the Senate, and in order to pass legislation, they introduced the “Clean Bill” led by Senator Dirksen. The major change to the overall legislation was to allow for fewer federal regulations on desegregation and basically allow for states to “regulate themselves”. After much deliberation, the Senate voted 73-27 to approve the “Clean Bill”; of the 27 who did not vote for the bill were 6 Republicans and 21 Democrats.

Since the bill was, it had to be sent back to the House for a revote. On July, 2, 1964, the House voted 289 to 126 to allow the bill to head to the President’s desk. On that same day, President Johnson signed the bill into law and forever changed the state of America.

Before signing the bill, Johnson had some wise and timely words:

//We believe that all men are created equal -- yet many are denied equal treatment. We believe that all men have certain inalienable rights. We believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty -- yet millions are being deprived of those blessings, not because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skins.// //The reasons are deeply embedded in history and tradition and the nature of man. We can understand without rancor or hatred how all this happens. But it cannot continue. Our Constitution, the foundation of our Republic, forbids it. The principles of our freedom forbid it. Morality forbids it. And the law I sign tonight forbids it....//

-President Lyndon Johnson

Life Before the Law
The need for change was evident before the passing of the civil rights act. Laws required segregation at schools, business places and even bathrooms. African Americans had separate taxis and entrances from whites. They were excluded from the majority of things. Voting rights were also restricted from African Americans. Many towns did anything they could to stop African Americans from voting. They could be placed in jail. Many African Americans grew tired of this and the civil rights movement was born. “Direct Action” was the strategy employed. Boycotts of segregated buses were started. Protesters walked or car-pooled with one another to prove their point. The segregated bus issue was a shared common concern and united the black communities. Students held sit-ins in public places to create awareness. When arrested, the students would make “jail no bail” promises, making their point and causing problems for the jailers. While some demonstrators used force to get their point across, most of the movement was nonviolent. Many protesters of the movement were violent against the demonstrators which helped to capture the nation’s attention. The reporters captured, mainly through television, retaliators using acts of violence on peaceful crowds.