Civil Rights Laws

1
Civil Rights Laws

• 1866 - 1968

2
Emmett Till

• In 1955, a 14-yr-old Black boy from Chicago,
  Emmett Till, went to visit family in Mississippi.
• After talking in too friendly a manner with a
  young white woman in a store, he was kidnapped in
  the night at gunpoint and brutally murdered by
  two white men.
• An all-white jury failed to convict the accused
  murderers, adding a further sense of injustice.

3
Civil Rights Laws in Our History

• Civil Rights Act of 1866
• Reconstruction Act of 1867
• 14th Amendment 1868
• 15th Amendment 1870
• Enforcement Act of 1870
• Civil Rights Act of 1871
• Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871
• Civil Rights Act of 1875

• Brown v Board of Education 1954
• Civil Rights Act of 1957
• 24th Amendment (No poll taxes) 1962 (ratified in
  1964)
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Fair Housing Act of 1968

4
Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Proposed by JFK in 1963, signed into law by
  Johnson in 1964.
• Outlawed segregation in businesses such as
  theaters, restaurants, and hotels.
• Banned discrimination in employment.
• Opponents attempted to talk the bill to death in
  a filibuster.
• The filibuster was overcome by Senator Hubert
  Humphrey of Minnesota and Senate Minority Leader
  Everett Dirksen of Illinois, who convinced
  Republicans to support the bill.