
An act to enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States of America to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and for other purposes.
50 years ago today, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law.
Originally pushed for by President John Kennedy, the bill was championed by President Johnson, who pressed Congress to swiftly pass the bill after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.
“No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought so long.” – President Johnson
[Could you imagine THIS Congress passing anything this historic? *Shake. My. Head.*]


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