Everett Dirksen and the Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in the 20th century.
It established in law that discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or national origin were forbidden, opening up additional access to employment and public accommodation across the country and particularly in the South.
It’s the first major piece of civil rights legislation that was passed since the end of Reconstruction, when more than 80 years of “separate but equal” policy (known as “Jim Crow” laws) prevented Black Americans from participating on an equal basis in jobs, business, education, housing and leisure.
Over more than 15 years, beginning in the late 1940s, protesters called attention to this forced inequality. They often put their lives at risk, seeking to integrate buses, restaurants, libraries and businesses. Opponents, who tried to continue segregation, often responded violently. Video footage of that shocked and angered people across the country who saw it on the evening news.
That helped set the stage for Congress to consider a law expanding civil rights and ending segregation. So, to, did the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that required schools to be open to children of all races. But many in Congress from the South still favored segregation and had joined together to fight previous civil rights bills by talking for hours or days in order to prevent a vote, a process called a filibuster.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first time enough people voted to stop a filibuster and forced senators to cast a vote. Time magazine labeled the final result a “product of principle and compromise.”
The bill was championed, and mostly rewritten, by Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen, and this page showcases his role in crafting the bill and shepherding it into law.
Crafting a successful civil rights bill
Originally introduced by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the Civil Rights Act was stuck in Congress when Kennedy was assassinated. It ultimately passed the House in February 1964, but as with other civil rights legislation, it would face a challenging climb in the Senate.
There, segregationist senators routinely were able to bury civil rights bills in subcommittees or see them weakened or halted through use of the filibuster to extend debate indefinitely.
Pro-civil rights Democratic leaders, including Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and Majority Whip Hubert Humphrey wanted to avoid that fate for this legislation, which was strongly supported by President Lyndon Johnson. But they knew they’d need votes from Republicans, led by Sen. Dirksen, in order to overcome the filibuster.
Dirksen initially was worried about government intrusion into private business in the bill – the Title 2 section dealing with “public accommodations.” Responding to those concerns was important, because it could mean he could attract more senators to support passing the bill.
Humphrey and Dirksen met regularly throughout the winter and spring of 1964, as did their staffs, employees of the Justice Department, and staff from Minority Whip Thomas Kuchel’s office to negotiate changes to the bill. Notes from those meetings taken by staffer Stephen Horn are available on our website here.
Ending the filibuster
During this time, segregationist senators were staging a months-long filibuster on the floor, preventing a vote on the bill. It’s still considered the longest filibuster in legislative history, lasting more than 60 working days.
A series of amendments proposed by Dirksen in the late spring made minor tweaks to the language that satisfied legislative conservatives but kept intact the goals of the bill and the intent of the public accommodations section.
Multiple times in communications with constituents, Sen. Dirksen talked about the nation’s slow and sometimes delayed history with civil rights advances as plowing “the long, hard furrow.”
Ultimately the Dirksen-Humphrey partnership produced a workable bill, resulting in a decisively bipartisan 71-29 vote on June 10, 1964, to end debate and proceed to a vote on the bill. Nine days later, on June 19, 1964, the bill passed with the vote of 73-27. It would not have happened without cooperation between Democrats and Republicans.
Speaking before the vote to end the filibuster and paraphrasing author Victor Hugo, Dirksen described the Civil Rights Act as a moral issue and “an idea whose time has come. … The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing of government, in education, and in employment. It must not be stayed or denied. It is here!”
Dirksen’s “able and courageous leadership” drew praise from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and was saluted by NAACP chief lobbyist Clarence Mitchell as “a great day for the country and for the future of human rights.”
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A legacy of civil rights support
Sen. Dirksen emphasized multiple times during the debate over the Civil Rights Act that he was “no Johnny-come-lately” to the cause of civil rights. In fact, he had been a longtime supporter of civil rights measures dating back to his time in the U.S. House beginning in the 1930s.
From the 1930s to the 1960s, Dirksen would sponsor legislation including bids to end the poll tax, anti-lynching measures, the creation of a commission to study equal employment, training for Black pilots in the World War II era, and more.
During the 1950s he worked to secure equal tax treatment for the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs on behalf of a constituent and served as one of the leaders in the debate over what ultimately became the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
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See the complete story of Sen. Dirksen’s advocacy for the NACWC on our website.
The first step of many more
Without Sen. Dirksen’s efforts, civil rights advancements in Congress likely would have looked different, if they occurred at all.
Through diligent lawmaking – negotiation, communication and the building of coalitions – he and legislative allies on both sides of the political aisle were able to craft a measure that would not only pass Congress overwhelmingly, but also be accepted by the public at large.
While major, legal changes began with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there were still many steps to take on the road to greater equality.
Dirksen would once again play a legislative role during the negotiations over the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 that contained the Fair Housing Act. But even later measures, from paycheck equity to disability access, would contain some of the “legislative DNA” of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Learn more about Dirksen’s role in the Civil Rights Act from start to finish
Suggested readings
To learn more about Everett Dirksen and the Civil Rights Act, check out these books