Why was the civil rights act of 1964 passed?
The bill was passed into law in 1964 because the Democrats who had (forever it seems) opposed it, could not stop it. They opposed it when Truman had pushed for it (cost him the election). They opposed in in ’57 when Republican President Eisenhower pushed for it — it cleared the lower house and stalled in the Senate until 2 Democrat senators (future presidents JFK and LBJ) rewrote the bill rendering it useless, at which point the Democrats signed on en mass. They tried to stop it in ’63/64 by filibustering against it, but the Republicans pushed it through anyway. Many will try and tell you that after it was signed into law that the political parties suddenly and mysteriously switched side, Democrats becoming Republicans and Republicans becoming Democrats. But this is not true. If it were, how then do you explain Democrat Governor George Wallace and his campaign promise in the run ups for the ’72 presidential election of “No More Desegregation!” Nor does it explain Sen. Byrd who remains
