In preparation for my 15 minute speech at a conference on July 17 (I’m scared!), I’m doing background research on the evolution of affirmative action and the legislative history of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Skin color preferences have rendered it obsolete, in my opinion.
This month is the 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking legislation, which is worthy of media coverage. I have yet to see the kind of coverage the Brown v. Board of Education received. But the month is not over. I wrote about the history of the law in my latest column. Here’s an excerpt:
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is like a long-forgotten song. Some of the words occasionally come to mind, and you might remember a few bars of the melody. But it fades away again, retreating to the recesses of your memory.
For all it’s worth in 2004, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (CRA) is probably obsolete. A high point of the Civil Rights movement, the CRA has become irrelevant, thanks to the existence of skin color preferences hiding behind “affirmative action.” Ambitious in purpose and far-reaching in scope, the CRA was not quite impressive enough for social engineers.
This month marks the 40th anniversary of the CRA, although it barely registered in the media, unlike the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. The legislation had its beginning in the post-Civil War amendments, which sought to protect the rights of newly-freed slaves. The 14th amendment was enacted to combat the “black codes”, laws designed to specifically limit the freedom of blacks; however, the rights of blacks were a low priority during the early part of the 20th century.
During the World War II era, civil rights enforcement picked up speed. By executive order in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlawed discrimination in federal employment and defense-related industries.
By 1954, legal segregation was dismantled, but the decision became a justification for unconstitutionally forced busing and racial bean counting in public schools. After the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960, which didn’t go far enough, demands for comprehensive civil rights laws began to grow louder.
On June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy went on national television and asked Congress to consider drafting legislation dealing with racial discrimination in public accommodations, federally-assisted programs and other areas. Ironically, one hundred years earlier, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Read the rest here.
Also see David Limbaugh’s “Republicans and Race Revisited”.
