CaseStudy3-CivilRightsAct1.PDF

MBA 800-001 BUSINESS POLICY I

CASE STUDY 3

Due Date: 6. 26. 2021 – Case Study Format1

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

The civil rights movement deeply affected American society. Among its most important achievements were two
major civil rights laws passed by Congress. These laws ensured constitutional rights for African Americans and
other minorities. Although these rights were first guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution immediately after the Civil
War, they had never been fully enforced. It was only after years of highly publicized civil rights demonstrations,
marches, and violence that American political leaders acted to enforce these rights.

President John F. Kennedy proposed the initial civil rights act. Kennedy faced great personal and political conflicts
over this legislation. On the one hand, he was sympathetic to African-American citizens whose dramatic protests
highlighted the glaring gap between American ideals and American realities. Kennedy understood that black people
deserved the full equality they were demanding. He also knew that racial discrimination in the United States,
particularly highly public displays of violence and terror against racial minorities, embarrassed America
internationally. Moreover, his civil rights legislation generated considerable support among Northern liberals and
moderates as well as millions of African-American voters in states where they could vote without difficulty or
intimidation.

On the other hand, Kennedy worried about losing the support of white Southern Democrats, still the main political
force in that region. He was especially concerned about his re-election prospects in 1964. Facing strong Southern
opposition, a reluctant president finally proposed strong civil rights legislation to Congress, admitting privately to
civil rights leaders that street protests had forced his hand.

Johnson and the Civil Rights Bill
Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963, changed the political dynamics of the impending civil rights
legislation. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded Kennedy and almost immediately intensified the campaign
for a major civil rights bill. Although a Southern politician, he had developed compassion for the courageous
struggles of African Americans during the civil rights movement. His personal commitment to ensuring full equality
for minority citizens, in fact, surpassed Kennedy’s.

Johnson stood in a better position than his predecessor to push the civil rights legislation through Congress. An
extremely accomplished politician, Johnson thoroughly understood Congress and its complex operations. For many
years, he had served as the Senate majority leader. With the responsibility to guide legislation through Congress, he
had worked with colleagues of both parties and different outlooks. During his service, he mastered the art of
compromise, gaining many victories for his party’s legislative agenda. He also developed close relationships with
senators and representatives of both political parties. He regularly used that personal knowledge, combined with
charm, flattery, and threats, to achieve his legislative goals. This skill proved especially useful in getting Congress to
pass a major civil rights bill.

President Johnson used another key strategy to pass the civil rights bill. He took advantage of the national sympathy
and mourning surrounding Kennedy’s tragic death. In public speeches and private talks, he urged passage of the civil
rights act as a lasting legacy to the martyred president. Building widespread public support, he urged religious
leaders throughout the nation (especially in the South) to use their influence on behalf of the civil rights act.
The actual battle in Congress took all of Johnson’s political skills. Faced with strong opposition from many
Republicans and most Southern Democrats, he resorted to his forceful personal powers. He told Georgia Senator
Richard Russell, a major opponent of civil rights legislation, that “if you get in the way, I’m going to run you down.”

In the Senate, the president faced a filibuster, a delaying debate that could have killed the entire bill. The filibuster
lasted 83 days, the longest in Senate history. But Johnson managed to get the votes to end it. He worked the
telephones himself and lobbied personally, “twisting arms” of legislators still unsure of how to vote. Enlisting White
House aides, civil rights and labor leaders, and key congressional civil rights advocates, he pulled out all the stops to
gain a legislative victory.

Johnson’s persistence and political talents succeeded. On July 2, 1964, he formally signed the Civil Rights Act of

1 You are responsible for preparing your own individual report based on the “case study format” as discussed in the class lectures.
Please do not forget to write your name on your paper. Post a copy of your report in the discussion section on Blackboard by the
due date.

1964 into law, using 72 ceremonial pens. Many dignitaries, including Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and several
other national civil rights figures, attended the ceremony. This law banned racial discrimination in several areas,
including hotels, restaurants, education, and other public accommodations. This landmark act also guaranteed equal
job opportunities, fulfilling one major objective of the historic 1963 March on Washington. Many larger Southern
businesses had already desegregated in response to sit-ins and other civil rights protests. But the Civil Rights Act of
1964 added important legal protections to these political and social developments.

Almost immediately, the new civil rights law came under legal challenge. The owner of an Atlanta motel argued that
Congress did not have the authority under the U.S. Constitution to ban segregation in public accommodations. This
216-room establishment, which served an interstate clientele, had long refused to rent rooms to African Americans.
When Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States reached the Supreme Court, the court rejected the owner’s
argument. It ruled that the commerce clause of the Constitution authorized Congress to enact this type of legislation.
Civil rights advocates had achieved their most significant legal victory since the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education
decision banning school segregation.

President Lyndon Johnson signs the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Behind him stands the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.