However, many southern states found ways around the laws to disenfranchise the black populations. They did this by introducing a ‘Grandfather Clause’, which is that only people whose grandfather voted, gave them the ability to vote. Also literacy test was another method used, which in most ways wasn’t made fairly and even well educated people were disenfranchised and not allowed to vote. However, in 1946 President Truman established The President’s Committee on ‘Civil rights’, producing a report examining the experiences of racial minorities in America. The report was called ‘To Secure These Rights’, this report highlighted the problems facing African Americans and proposed radical changes to make American society better.
This was achieved by passing local laws, which denied black Americans access to facilities used by white Americans. These laws were known as the ‘Jim Crow’ laws. For example, education, healthcare, transport, and public facilities more generally, were segregated. This included restaurants, cinemas, toilets, bus stations and drinking fountains. These laws denied black Americans the equal rights of white citizens which re-imposed white supremacy and meant they remained as second-class citizens.
Although the end of the American civil war marked the end of slavery for African Americans, it did not mark their acceptance and equality with white people. Many southern states resented losing their slaves and were determined to keep African Americans as second class citizens. In 1950 segregation was in full force, meaning African Americans had separate churches, public transport, theatres, schools, hotels, swimming pools and many other facilities to white people. Segregation also applied to where people lived, so African Americans could only live in certain areas separate from white people, with these areas being much worse than the white suburbs, despite the separate but equal principle. Even when this was challenged in the Plessy vs Ferguson Supreme Court case the separate but equal principle was found to be constitutional.
Another provision, known as Section 203 or the Bilingual Election Requirements, forces hundreds of jurisdictions nationwide to print ballots in languages other than English-an expensive and divisive practice. Neither section should be reauthorized, but Congress may find it difficult to do the right thing. Section 5 was included in the original Voting Rights Act in 1965 because many Southern states consistently changed their voting laws and procedures to keep blacks from voting. In 1965, for example, only about 6% of blacks in Mississippi were registered to vote, having been subjected to literacy tests, poll taxes, intimidation and even death threats to prevent them from voting. Yet only two years after Congress passed the act, some 60% of eligible black voters were
Topic: Voter Fraud or Voter Suppression Date: 10/26/12 There is no right more important than the right to vote. The civil rights act of 1965 expanded voting rights to African Americans by prohibiting the use of literacy test and other forms of discriminatory qualifications. The voting booth is the one place where all are presumed equal, yet the reality is that the playing field is far from level. Citizens are still denied an equal opportunity to cast a ballot and have it counted. Today we are witnessing the greatest attack on voting rights in over a century.
The state of Florida is in need of a law that prevents drivers from texting and driving. As the state of Florida we are considered the 46th state to have received this law. Texting and driving is considered illegal in the state of Florida because it’s better to have safe drivers that distracted drivers who can put others at risk. Yes the act of texting and driving is illegal but we don’t do too much to actually stop drivers from still doing breaking this law. In early October of 2013 Florida was alongside the rest of the states that were prohibiting texting while driving.
The legislation made it unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire or discharge any person due to his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Title VII of the act created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to implement the law. Today, I feel as though people still discriminate on both sides of employment opportunities. Many women are paid less than men who do the same exact work. Even though there is a law preventing this, it still happens.
Everything in life has a foundation that it was built upon, and the EEOC was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. So what is the Civil Rights Act of 1964? The employment section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, known as Title VII, prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, and religion, and also prohibits employers from retaliating against any employee who exercises his or her rights under Title VII (Cornell, 2014). The Civil Rights movement of the early 1960s peaked in the spring and summer of 1963. On June 19, 1963, President John F. Kennedy sent comprehensive civil rights legislation to Congress, asking it to “make a commitment it has not fully made in this century to the proposition that race has no place in American life or law (Cornell, 2014).” However, there was stiff political and social opposition to the legislation (Cornell, 2014).
The Court, in that time, helped to protect private property, prevented labor strikes, took down the federal income tax, limited the antitrust law, prevented states from setting maximum hours of work, and restricted railroad rates. Between 1887 and 1910, the Supreme Court upheld state regulations over 80 percent of the time. The problems the Supreme Court has and generally will continue to face is the question of where to draw the line because the Constitution does not explicitly state what is reasonable versus unreasonable in cases dealing with issues such as business and private property. After much debate, the Court decided to continue segregation in schools and did not allow lacks to vote in a number of states. Starting in 1936, the Supreme Court became slightly less involved and the states had many more powers over economy than before.
Spartacus.com states, “The 1964 Civil Rights Act made racial discrimination in public places, such as theaters, restaurants and hotels, illegal. It also required employers to provide equal employment opportunities. Projects involving federal funds could now be cut off if there was evidence of discriminated based on [color], race or national origin.” But the states like Mississippi ignored