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[Gordon Shumway]

The longest continuous debate in Senate history took place in 1964 over the Civil Rights Act. Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who had proposed the legislation, it was strongly advocated by his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. Addressing a joint session of Congress just after Kennedy’s death, Johnson urged members of Congress to honor Kennedy’s memory by passing a civil rights bill to end racial discrimination and segregation in public accommodations, public education, and federally assisted programs. In his address, Johnson declared, “we have talked long enough in this country about equal rights. We have talked for one hundred years or more. It is time now to write the next chapter, and to write it in the books of law.”

On February 10, 1964, the House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill, HR 7152. When the House-passed bill arrived in the Senate on February 26, 1964, Majority Leader Mike Mansfield placed it directly on the Senate calendar rather than refer it to the Judiciary Committee, chaired by civil rights opponent James Eastland of Mississippi. On March 9, when Mansfield moved to take up the measure, southern senators launched a filibuster against the bill. The Senate debated the bill for sixty days, including seven Saturdays.

At the time, a two-thirds vote, or sixty-seven senators, was required to invoke cloture and cut off debate in the Senate. Since southern Democrats opposed the legislation, votes from a substantial number of senators in the Republican minority would be needed to end the filibuster. Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic whip who managed the bill on the Senate floor, enlisted the aid of Republican Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen of Illinois. Dirksen, although a longtime supporter of civil rights, had opposed the bill because he objected to certain provisions. Humphrey therefore worked with him to redraft the controversial language and make the bill more acceptable to Republicans. Once the changes were made, Dirksen gained key votes for cloture from his party colleagues with a powerful speech calling racial integration "an idea whose time has come."

On June 10, a coalition of 27 Republicans and 44 Democrats ended the filibuster when the Senate voted 71 to 29 for cloture, thereby limiting further debate. This marked the first time in its history that the Senate voted to end debate on a civil rights bill. Nine days later, the Senate passed the most sweeping civil rights legislation in the nation's history. The House followed by accepting the Senate version on July 2. When President Johnson signed the bill into law that same day in a nationally televised broadcast, he was joined by civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who had been instrumental in leading the public mobilization efforts in favor of civil rights legislation. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 remains one of the most significant legislative achievements in American history.

Photo of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil Rights act of 1964, as Martin Luther King Jr watches.

Source..

 

[The Wall]

It's kind of crazy to think of just how recently this was signed and began to be implemented.

Great read/excerpt. Thanks OP!

 

[Lightning_Roller]

It's kind of crazy to think of just how recently this was signed and began to be implemented.

Great read/excerpt. Thanks OP!

That is exactly what I was thinking. This only happened a few decades ago! That's insane. I'm just glad it happened though, real glad. Thank you everyone who got the Civil Rights Act into law!

 

[JCX]

It's kind of crazy to think of just how recently this was signed and began to be implemented.

Great read/excerpt. Thanks OP!

It's crazy that my parents saw open discrimination (whites only signs and all that) as kids. People are so quick so say how long ago it was, but it's really less than a generation.

 

[Slayven]

yet still a long way to go

 

[Ricky Ricardo]

It's crazy that my parents saw open discrimination (whites only signs and all that) as kids. People are so quick so say how long ago it was, but it's really less than a generation.

It's no wonder we still have so many issues with institutional racism. We're still just a generation and a half ahead of the CRA. We'll need at least another 3 or so generations before we can truly put down some of the systematic discrimination that's been woven into this country's very foundations.

 

[RDreamer]

It's kind of crazy to think of just how recently this was signed and began to be implemented.

Great read/excerpt. Thanks OP!

What's kind of crazy to me is that my dad and others in his generation (mainly conservative) seem to trot out the "racism is dead. Slavery is done. I never had a slave" thing so goddamned much, but then I'm thinking holy shit dude you were alive when we signed the civil rights act. You were fucking there. It hasn't been that long, man. This shit doesn't erase overnight.

 

[AxelFoley]

yet still a long way to go

Indeed.

As a GAFrican American, I'm proud of what we've accomplished, but still with eyes on the prize.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

It's kind of crazy to think of just how recently this was signed and began to be implemented.

Great read/excerpt. Thanks OP!

Any time. It's even crazier how some would have you believe it was so long ago..like some ancient history.

yet still a long way to go

.

 

[D i Z]

Lyndon B. Johnson isn't ever going to be legitimately recognized for his role as a prez for the people is he? Once in a while I'll still run across some rather hush hush remark about him being a race traitor and striking his name from the annals of American history.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

It's been a long time coming, but there's still a lot of fixing to do. For those who were there I wonder what there stances are on the current situation.

 

[Oblivion]

Seems appropriate to post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U4FTd-1m-o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27r0y8hZGRo