Highlights From The Turbulent 1960s Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

President Kennedy had proposed a sweeping range of reforms and while it was commonly believed he didn’t have the votes to push these reforms through, he was assassinated before a vote could take place. His successor President Johnson, however, did present a bill to congress to enshrine civil rights in America.

Source: History

It passed, though not without incredible amounts of resistance – including 54 days of filibustering – from certain members of Congress. On the 2nd of July, 1964, Johnson was finally able to sign the bill into law and The Civil Rights Act of 1964 finally made it illegal to discriminate based on “race, color, religion, sex or national origin” in employment practices and public housing allocation.