Analyzing The Civil Rights Act Of 1964 And Interest Groups

Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Interest Groups

Ayden Coleman General Education, Greenville Technical College PSC 201: American Government Dr. Jamie Roughton April 4, 2024 Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Interest Groups The Civil Rights Act of 1964 eliminated legalized discrimination throughout America, no matter on what grounds that discrimination was based on (Aiken et al., 2013). This would include segregation of the data. While the act did include everyone (although not gender equality until later), it was intended for African Americans since they were the primary driving force of the movement (Aiken et al., 2013). Despite this, the Civil Rights Act didn’t come to be based on unorganized efforts. The Civil Rights Act had help from several interest

The NAACP started with the sole purpose of securing rights for the underprivileged (Meier & Bracey, 1993). This means that every action they take will be an attempt to get closer to that goal of equality. Because of this, they had a division that tended to legal affairs (Meier & Bracey, 1993). This would give them the upper hand concerning the passage of any laws. Not only with passage of laws, however, as NAACP lawyers were able to make several victories in the legal field, one of which was defeating the previously instated idea from the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case of “separate but equal” (Aiken et al., 2013). Not only did they help on the legal side, but they also educated African Americans on the rights they should have, in turn sparking a flame for change (Aiken et al., 2013). In their later stages of campaigning for Civil Rights, the NAACP would organize marches and other forms of peaceful negation, with one of these marches even being the illustrious March on Washington D.C. (Meier & Bracey, 1993). Events such as these led up to the eventual support of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with the NAACP being one

CORE was also an influential group concerning the Civil Rights Act. They also started with the purpose of equality; however, CORE was founded by a white man who secretly supported African Americans where they would not have been supported otherwise (Rich, 1965). Early movements by CORE took place in the North, pushing for equality and support for African Americans there, then later in the early ‘50s CORE began influencing southern border states (Rich, 1965). As CORE grew in the south, members would rally and participate in sit-ins at southern restaurants, in hopes of desegregating and being rewarded with their goal (Rich, 1965). These sit-ins and other rallies, not dissimilar to those that the NAACP organized, rewarded African Americans with the end goal: the Civil Rights Act (Rich, 1965). The NAACP and CORE are two among many influential interest groups that helped gain support to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Without the help of these interest groups, support would not have been rallied in organized ways and the bill would ultimately not have been passed. With the help of these organizations, all people in America, especially African Americans, can have the rights that they deserve. References