SCR 130, as introduced, Mitchell. Civil Rights Act of 1964.
This measure would commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and encourage the citizens of California to observe the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as an important occasion in the history of the United States.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 people
2participated in the March on Washington, D.C., to demonstrate
3their support of civil rights for African-American citizens, and the
4mass demonstration, as well as the violent attacks on peaceful
5demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama, in the spring of 1963,
6galvanized support for national legislation against segregation,
7causing a cataclysmic change in the political and social order in
8America; and
9WHEREAS, On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson
10signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, legislation proposed
11by President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and the most sweeping civil
12rights legislation since Reconstruction; and
13WHEREAS, Upon the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
14President Johnson addressed the American public on July 2, 1964,
15stating that the newly passed act “does not restrict the freedom of
16any American, so long as he respects the rights of others. It does
P2 1not give special treatment to any citizen. ... It does say that there
2are those who are equal before God shall now also be equal in the
3polling booths, in the classrooms, in the factories, and in hotels,
4restaurants, movie theaters, and other places that provide service
5to the public. ... This Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to
6go to work in our communities and our States, in our homes and
7in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our
8beloved country”; and
9WHEREAS, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 subsequently has
10been amended by the Congress of the United States to extend the
11protections of the law to disabled Americans, the elderly, and
12women in collegiate athletics programs; and
13WHEREAS, In 2014, the nation will commemorate the 50th
14anniversary of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans
15segregation on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or national
16origin at all places of public accommodation and prohibits
17discrimination by employers and labor unions and the use of federal
18funds for any discriminatory program; and
19WHEREAS, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended legal
20segregation, and it is fitting and appropriate that the enactment of
21this historic legislation be commemorated in the State of California;
22now, therefore, be it
23Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
24thereof concurring, That the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights
25Act of 1964 hereby be commemorated and the citizens of the state
26be encouraged to observe this important occasion in the history of
27the nation; and be it further
28Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
29this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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