Sixty years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, formally prohibiting segregation and employment discrimination across the United States.
The landmark law ended racial segregation in public spaces and made employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin illegal.
By forbidding the use of federal funds for discriminatory purposes, the law also accelerated the desegregation of schools nationwide.
The bill’s path to Johnson’s desk was arduous: President John F. Kennedy first proposed a civil rights bill in 1963 after Alabama Governor George Wallace attempted to physically block two Black students from enrolling at the University of Alabama.
After Kennedy’s assassination, Johnson took up the bill, vowing to pass it in his first State of the Union address.
“As far as the writ of federal law will run, we must abolish not some, but all racial discrimination. For this is not merely an economic issue, or a social, political, or international issue. It is a moral issue, and it must be met by the passage this session of the bill now pending in the House.
All members of the public should have equal access to facilities open to the public. All members of the public should be equally eligible for federal benefits that are financed by the public. All members of the public should have an equal chance to vote for public officials and to send their children to good public schools and to contribute their talents to the public good.”
The U.S. House took up the bill in February 1964, passing it by a 290–130 vote, despite opposition from segregationists.
In the Senate, senators from the South launched a 60-day-long filibuster against the bill — the longest in Senate history.
In June, the Senate voted 71–29 to break the filibuster; the chamber later voted 73–27 to pass the bill.
Johnson signed the bill into law on July 2, 1964, noting, “those who are equal before God shall now all be equal.”
“The purpose of this law is simple; it does not restrict the freedom of any American, so long as he respects the rights of others. It does not give special treatment to any citizen. It does say the only limit to a man’s hope for happiness and for the future of his children shall be his own ability. It does say that there are those who are equal before God shall now also be equal in the polling booths, in the classrooms, in the factories, and in hotels, and restaurants, and movie theaters and other places that provide service to the public. I am taking steps to implement the law under my constitutional obligation to, ‘take care that the laws are faithfully executed.’”
The law was consequential; it later paved the way for the Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, and Title IX.
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