Changes

===1957 Civil Rights Act===

===1957 Civil Rights Act===

[[File:Nixon-and-Martin-Luther-King.png|right|300px|thumb|Dr. King's meeting with Vice President Nixon  marked national recognition of King as leader of the civil rights movement.]]

[[File:Nixon-and-Martin-Luther-King.png|right|300px|thumb|Dr. King's meeting with Vice President Nixon  marked national recognition of King as leader of the civil rights movement.]]

Republican Attorney General Herbert Brownell originally proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Vice President [[Richard Nixon]] invited Dr. King to the White House for a meeting on 13 June 1957. This meeting, described by [[Bayard Rustin]] as a “summit conference,” marked national recognition of King’s role in the civil rights movement (Rustin, 13 June 1957). Seeking support for a voter registration initiative in the South, King appealed to Nixon to urge Republicans in Congress to pass the 1957 Civil Rights Act and to visit [[the South]] to express support for civil rights. Optimistic about Nixon’s commitment to improving race relations in the United States, King told Nixon, “How deeply grateful all people of goodwill are to you for your assiduous labor and dauntless courage in seeking to make the civil rights bill a reality.”  

Republican Attorney General Herbert Brownell originally proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Vice President [[Richard Nixon]] invited Dr. King to the White House for a meeting on 13 June 1957. This meeting, described by [[Bayard Rustin]] as a “summit conference,” marked national recognition of King's role in the civil rights movement (Rustin, 13 June 1957). Seeking support for a voter registration initiative in the South, King appealed to Nixon to urge Republicans in Congress to pass the 1957 Civil Rights Act and to visit [[the South]] to express support for civil rights. Optimistic about Nixon's commitment to improving race relations in the United States, King told Nixon, “How deeply grateful all people of goodwill are to you for your assiduous labor and dauntless courage in seeking to make the civil rights bill a reality.”  

Democrat Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson had Judiciary chairman Sen. James Eastland drastically water-down the House version, removing stringent voting protection clauses.<ref>https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1951-2000/The-Civil-Rights-Act-of-1957/</ref><ref>Caro, Robert, ''Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson'', Chapter 39</ref> The bill passed 285-126 in the House with Republicans providing the majority of votes 167–19 and Democrats 118–107.<ref>HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. PASSED. YEA SUPPORTS PRESIDENT'S POSITION. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42</ref> It then passed 72-18 in the Senate, with Republicans again supplying the majority of votes, 43–0 and Democrats voting 29–18. Sern. [[John Kennedy]] voted against it.<ref>HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. PASSED. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/s75</ref> It was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875. Johnson told Sen. Richard Russell, {{quotebox|"These Negroes, they're getting pretty uppity these days and that's a problem for us since they've got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we've got to do something about this, we've got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference. For if we don't move at all, then their allies will line up against us and there'll be no way of stopping them, we'll lose the filibuster and there'll be no way of putting a brake on all sorts of wild legislation. It'll be Reconstruction all over again."<ref>Said to Senator Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA) regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1957. As quoted in [http://books.google.com/books?id=HS9aAAAAYAAJ ''Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream''] (1977), by Doris Kearns Goodwin, New York: New American Library, p. 155.</ref>}}

Democrat Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson had Judiciary chairman Sen. James Eastland drastically water-down the House version, removing stringent voting protection clauses.<ref>https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1951-2000/The-Civil-Rights-Act-of-1957/</ref><ref>Caro, Robert, ''Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson'', Chapter 39</ref> The bill passed 285-126 in the House with Republicans providing the majority of votes 167–19 and Democrats 118–107.<ref>HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. PASSED. YEA SUPPORTS PRESIDENT'S POSITION. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42</ref> It then passed 72-18 in the Senate, with Republicans again supplying the majority of votes, 43–0 and Democrats voting 29–18. Sern. [[John Kennedy]] voted against it.<ref>HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. PASSED. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/s75</ref> It was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875. Johnson told Sen. Richard Russell, {{quotebox|"These Negroes, they're getting pretty uppity these days and that's a problem for us since they've got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we've got to do something about this, we've got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference. For if we don't move at all, then their allies will line up against us and there'll be no way of stopping them, we'll lose the filibuster and there'll be no way of putting a brake on all sorts of wild legislation. It'll be Reconstruction all over again."<ref>Said to Senator Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA) regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1957. As quoted in [http://books.google.com/books?id=HS9aAAAAYAAJ ''Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream''] (1977), by Doris Kearns Goodwin, New York: New American Library, p. 155.</ref>}}

====1964 Civil Rights Act====

====1964 Civil Rights Act====

President Johnson finally signed the [[bi-partisan]] [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which he called "the N****r Bill."<ref>http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/lyndon-johnson-civil-rights-racism</ref> In lobbying fellow Democrats  for the bill, Johnson said, {{quotebox|"I'll have them n*gg*rs voting Democratic for two hundred years."<ref>Said to two governors regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to then-''Air Force One'' steward Robert MacMillan as quoted in [http://books.google.com/books?id=lJz-yIZNE2sC ''Inside the White House''] (1996), by Ronald Kessler, New York: Simon and Schuster, p. 33.</ref>}} Democrats tried to block passage by filibustering for 75 hours, including a 14 hour and 13-minute speech by the [[Exalted Cyclops]] Sen. [[Robert Byrd]], who later became Senate Democrat Leader in the Reagan era.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Civil_Rights_Filibuster_Ended.htm|title=Civil Rights Filibuster Ended |work=Art & History Historical Minutes|publisher=United States Senate|accessdate=}}</ref> The law was intended to block Republican gains in the South and buy off Blacks with [[affirmative action]] programs.

President Johnson finally signed the [[bi-partisan]] [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which he called "the N****r Bill."<ref>http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/lyndon-johnson-civil-rights-racism</ref> In lobbying fellow Democrats  for the bill, Johnson said, {{quotebox|"I'll have them n*gg*rs voting Democratic for two hundred years."<ref>Said to two governors regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to then-''Air Force One'' steward Robert MacMillan as quoted in [http://books.google.com/books?id=lJz-yIZNE2sC ''Inside the White House''] (1996), by Ronald Kessler, New York: Simon and Schuster, p. 33.</ref>}} Democrats tried to block passage by filibustering for 75 hours, including a 14-hour and 13-minute speech by the [[Exalted Cyclops]] Sen. [[Robert Byrd]], who later became Senate Democrat Leader in the Reagan era.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Civil_Rights_Filibuster_Ended.htm|title=Civil Rights Filibuster Ended |work=Art & History Historical Minutes|publisher=United States Senate|accessdate=}}</ref> The law was intended to block Republican gains in the South and buy off Blacks with [[affirmative action]] programs.

====1965 Voting Rights Act====

====1965 Voting Rights Act====