Civil Rights Act turned 50 with no fanfare

Originally published at DeskofBrian.com:
http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/civilrightsactturned50withnofanfare

From Wikipedia:

The Civil Rights Act of 1960 was a United State federal law that established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote or actually vote.

The Senate's debate over the passage of this bill actually started on February 29, 1960. However, a group of 18 Southern Democrats divided into three teams of six in order to be able to create a continuous filibuster wherein each member would only have to speak for four hours every three days. This system resulted in the longest filibuster in history, lasting over 43 hours from February 29 to March 2. On the morning of March 2nd, only a fifteen-minute break was allowed before the Senate sat for another 82 hours. By the time the 24-hour sessions were called off by majority leader Lyndon Johnson, the Senate had sat for 125 hours and 31 minutes minus a fifteen-minute break.

The act was signed into law by President Eisenhower on May 6, 1960.

We have the first black President and MSNBC, CNN, Newsweek, Times -- I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere.

You people are fired!

Aren't you sensitive to the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement.

Those 18 Democrats executed the LONGEST FILIBUSTER in history to stop blacks from voting. This bill was the precursor to the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

By the way, how did that '64 Civil Rights Vote Go:

By party

The original House version:

• Democratic Party: 152-96 (61%-39%)
• Republican Party: 138-34 (80%-20%)

Cloture in the Senate:

• Democratic Party: 44-23 (66%-34%)
• Republican Party: 27-6 (82%-18%)

The Senate version:

• Democratic Party: 46-21 (69%-31%)
• Republican Party: 27-6 (82%-18%)

The Senate version, voted on by the House:

• Democratic Party: 153-91 (63%-37%)
• Republican Party: 136-35 (80%-20%)

That included a 14 hour, 13 minute speech by Robert Byrd to delay the vote. Yes, that's the same Senator from West Virginia.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1960