Winning Independence was not the end of the challenges facing America, but the beginning. Keeping and protecting our freedoms requires constant attention and wisdom above the din of public clamor for conflicting claims that benefit only a few at the expense of the many.

Our politics of today seem stalled in the inability to resolve the issues of importance to all of us, like budgeting and taxation, immigration, health care and foreign policy. While America has always had adversarial politics as its norm, today’s failure to legislate is energized by a failure to understand the essentials of governing in a republican system; the art of compromise.

It may be instructional to examine one of the essential examples of the America spirit to work together when the needs of the nation demand it. And there could be few if any better examples than the Civil Rights Act of 1964, celebrating its 50th anniversary just this week.

The civil rights movement had seen advances in the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1957 under President Eisenhower and the CRA of 1960. Both had addressed issues in voter registration and voting obstruction, with the 1960 bill marking the beginning of the end for school segregation.

In June of 1963 President Kennedy had advanced a new civil rights bill that fell upon President Johnson to push forward. And Johnson did so, arguing that such a bill would acknowledge Kennedy’s efforts after his assassination.

The bill originated in the House Judiciary Committee under Chairman Emmanuel Celler (D-NY) and with the support of Republicans in the House. The original bill was strengthened in committee and easily passed the house with support from both parties.

But passage in the Democratic Senate was far from assured. The bill was treated “creatively” in the Senate by bringing it to a full Senate floor debate without ever referring the bill to the Senate Judiciary committee. The Judiciary committee was chaired by Mississippi Senator James Eastland, a Southerner who would have killed the bill in committee.

This legerdemain brought about the next obstacle, a Senate filibuster by 18 Southern Democrats and one Republican Senator that lasted for 54 days.

The filibuster was broken by a first ever two thirds majority override with a historic vote of 71 to 29.

President Johnson signed the bill into law on July 2, 1964, advancing the nation in its quest to fulfill the rights enumerated in our constitution.

President Obama this week commented “…few pieces of legislation have defined our national identity as distinctly or as powerfully…”

The 1964 Civil Rights Act both serves our individual rights and protects the rights of those who are minorities, recognizing that every citizen may call upon the constitution for equal protection under our republic.

But the law also serves as a much needed reminder that difficult issues before those elected to govern require compromise in our system of government. Ideology has little role in the work of governing, where practicality rules if success is ever to be granted.

On the Fourth of July we come together as Americans all to note and remember the moment of our freedom. It is not enough to look backward on this day, for to protect its meaning we must also look forward.

America needs and deserves representation that addresses the challenges of our times and does not look away to the next election while ignoring the historic moment we face.

Our fireworks should ignite our desire to solve the problems we face with courage and conviction.

 

Jim Crawford is a retired educator and political enthusiast living here in the Tri-State.