Civil Rights Act Of 1957 Essay

803 Words4 Pages

Segregation and racism are only two of many things people of color have to go through. On top of segregation and racism, voting was something that really impacted the lives of African Americans. Voting rights were not fundamental human rights for African Americans. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was only the beginning of the future acts of voting rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was crucial to history because it created opportunities for future acts. Life before the Civil Rights of 1957 was brutal for African Americans. Even though they were free from slavery and had some voting rights, it never changed how they were treated. The Klu Klux Klan (KKK) would go to voting ballots, and they would try to intimidate the African Americans trying …show more content…

The Civil Rights Act of 1957 had four parts back then. Each part had an important part on the bill. Part 1 made a Civil Right Commission within the executive branch to create, and study civil rights. Part 2 made an assistant attorney general for civil rights. The attorney general led to the advancement of the Department of Justice to the Civil Rights Division. Part 3 was about the bill they proposed had broad language. The broad language ended up expanding the department's authority to apply civil rights through civil and criminal procedures. Lastly, part 4 forced the attorney general to carry out lawsuits, and collect preventive ruling court orders for the protection of voting rights (“Civil Rights, 1957.” 1). The south and the citizens of the north did not like the bill of 1957. One of the biggest obstacles to the evolution of the bill of 1957 was the South. The bloc of Southern democrats was led by Senator Richard Russell of Georgia. The South had blocked every piece of civil rights introduced since the late 1800s(Carrasco 2). Senator Russell even made their personalized bill saying they didn’t want colored people, mainly African Americans to have voting rights let alone rights. The south also wanted to be separated from the North, but they couldn’t do that because it was illegal. After the act is when things started to change for the better, but also for the …show more content…

Even though some of them were not the best changes, the good ones really stood out; they loved them. The Act of 1957 opened up so many opportunities for the future. The act of 1957 started a new point in history in enforcement and civil rights legislation after more than 3 quarters of congressional inaction (Carrasco 1). The civil rights division was slow to mature. In the first 2 years of the act, only three enforcement proceedings were in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana. None in Mississippi. Even after the act, the south had a 5% color voting rate (Sheppard 1). Since the bill of 1957 wasn’t the strongest the south could’ve easily countered it with another act saying otherwise. Before the south could do that the north created the bill of 1960. Basically saying that it was illegal to try to stop, or intimidate someone from voting. Locking the bill of 1957 in. The Civil Rights Act of 1960 was to protect the franchise (Bill of 1957) (“Civil Right Act of 1960”