Martin Luther King Jr. and LBJ at the White House bill signing.
July 2, 1964
50 years ago today, LBJ signed into law perhaps the most profound piece of legislation the country has yet known, the landmark Civil Rights Act. It outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, ended unequal voter registration, and made racial segregation in schools and workplaces a thing of the past. Reflecting on it later that night LBJ said, "We just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come."
50 years ago today, LBJ signed into law perhaps the most profound piece of legislation the country has yet known, the landmark Civil Rights Act. It outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, ended unequal voter registration, and made racial segregation in schools and workplaces a thing of the past. Reflecting on it later that night LBJ said, "We just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come."