Today, July 2, is the 48th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, passed within seven months of Lyndon B. Johnson becoming President, a truly miraculous event, considering the strong and vehement opposition by Southern Democrats and many conservative Republicans.
The Civil Rights Act ended discrimination in all public accommodations, and promoted integration in education and the work force, and was a step toward the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ending all discrimination in voting in the South, and dramatically changing the South forever.
Of course, the South, which had been heavily Democratic switched to support of the Republican Party, much of which saw an opportunity to exploit the racial issue, as they have continued to do ever since, mostly in a veiled, but obvious way, including their constant racism regarding President Barack Obama. And it is Republican Governors who are trying to take away voting rights in time for the election, and in so doing, are violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965, leading to lawsuits by Attorney General Eric Holder, which helped to cause his being cited for contempt of Congress last week, a purely vindictive political act!
While there are indeed many whites in America who would wish for the “good old days” before the Civil Rights Act, everyone realizes the changes back then are permanent, like it or not!
The same is happening with the transformative event of the Obama Presidency, the Affordable Care Act, also called “ObamaCare”!
The Republicans are pledging to fight “tooth and nail” to repeal the law, but it will not happen, and they will have to get used to it, like it or not!
LBJ is best remembered for Civil Rights and Medicare, also bitterly opposed by Republicans and conservatives, and Barack Obama will be best remembered for the Affordable Care Act, and the elimination of Osama Bin Laden, another issue that the GOP avoids giving Obama much credit.
The Republicans fight the future, but the Democrats BRING the future, and on this day, just a few after Obama’s signature achievement on health care, let us salute LBJ for the Civil Rights Act accomplishment!