When starting a research on the topic, I, as a first generation immigrant, decided to: a) challenge my “literacy” and check what I knew about the Civil Rights Act before digging for details and b) check the online resources to help me find info and interesting facts I didn’t know. Sadly, to my great disappointment and embarrassment, I only knew that the act was implemented in sixties and its main purpose was to outlaw different kinds of discrimination. Some names and acts popped in to my memory: Dr. Martin Luther King, President Kennedy, Medicare, and that’s about it. With the help of internet, I was able to get much more information on this pivotal act for all Americans. In the light of the 50th anniversary when the act was signed and passed by president Johnson in 1964, there was a summit that took place at a presidentional library in Austin, Texas.
Fifty years have passed since the Civil Rights Act was enacted, one of the result of which is that we have a Diversity Class, that we are not segregated by race, sex or religion (at least officially), etc. On its anniversary, president Obama who was one of the four presidents to speak at the conference (B. Clinton, George W. Bush and J. Carter) paid tribute at the Lyndon B Johnson Library in Austin. America’s first black president was talking about how he and others of his generation benefited from the act since it was passed in 1964. “Because of the civil rights movement, because of the laws that president Lyndon passed, new doors were swung open.” He did admit that despite of the law, there was still race that colors political debates. Obama gave his assessment of the historical event along with the profile of the president Lyndon Johnson: “… he was charming when he wanted to be, ruthless when required.” When listing other reforms that followed the Civil Rights Act, such as immigration reforms, The Fair Housing Act, and a Healthcare law (known as a Medicare), Obama was humorous when rephrasing the reaction of opponents’ of those days: “… they (opponents) described the new health reform as socialized medicine, that curtail America’s freedom”, the comment somewhat similar to what Obama’s administration was facing when trying to implement the new health reform of nowadays. The president was also criticizing the efforts to restrict voting through voting identification laws and other methods. A quick re-cap of the latter: in thirty US states the voter ID is required (in order to register to vote some kind of a state issued ID is needed). The law received criticism by the Democratic Party as they stated it could lead to the disenfranchisement of poor, minority, and elderly voters, as well as Latinos and Blacks (abcNews).
President Clinton gave a speech on immigration and voting identification law. Interesting observation: Clinton’s brave critique was given in one of those states where the ID law is implemented (Texas).
Former US president George Bush, Jr. was primarily focused on education reform. Seems like he wanted to remind the world (country) about the No Child Left Behind act that was passed by in his era of reign (The Daily Texan).
President Carter was talking about the sexual abuse on college campuses. Although, unlike others whose speeches were more in a rhetoric or historic mode, he suggested the solution to a problem: the Title IX clause that allows federal funds to be withheld from universities if administrators fail to address sexual assault cases should be invoked to help address the problem (The Daily Texan).
All in all, the summit speakers and its attendees agreed upon the positive effect of the event as it “…was inspiring us to carry the conversation of civil rights forward and consider how those rights are being negotiated by different groups today.”
olgamartinez1977 