July 2 marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s signing of the landmark Civil Rights Act in 1964. The legislation outlawed discrimination based on race, religion, color, national origin, or sex and formally ended segregation in public institutions and facilities. Of the act President Johnson noted: “This Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to go to work in our communities and our states, in our homes and in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country. So tonight I urge every public official, every religious leader, every business and professional man, every working man, every housewife — I urge every American — to join in this effort to bring justice and hope to all our people, and to bring peace to our land.”
In what ways has the country progressed since 1964? Have we regressed? What are actions we can take, like President Johnson suggests, to improve racial and social justice in our own communities?
For more on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, follow the Lyndon B Johnson Presidential Library's recreation of the signing of the Act on Twitter @LBJLibraryNow, and #CRAat50 on Twitter (and below).
#CRAat50 Tweets
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