Civil Rights

In war and peace the American people have met challenge after challenge with vigor and resourcefulness. Perhaps the most persistent challenge is the one to which this Commission addresses itself in this report2014the challenge of civil rights.

The Republic began with an obvious inconsistency between its precepts of liberty and the fact of slavery. The words of the Declarationof Independence were clear:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are createdequal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit ofHappiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are institutedamong Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of thegoverned.

Equally clear was the fact that Negroes were not free. The greatAmerican experiment in self-government began for white people only.

The inconsistency between the Nation's principles and its practiceshas diminished over the years. Constitutional amendments, court decisions, acts of Congress, Executive orders, administrative rulings, Stateand local legislation, the work of private agencies, efforts by Negroesand other minority groups2014all these have helped remove many of thebarriers to full citizenship for all.

The gains have been considerable. As the second term of this Commission draws to a close, it can report that more persons than ever beforeare exercising more fully their rights as citizens of the United States.The American people are increasingly aware that professions of beliefin the dignity of man have meaning only if they are realized by all peoplein all aspects of life. The gap between the promise of liberty and itsfulfillment is narrower today than it has ever been.

Yet a gap remains. In the changing world of 1961 it seems wideand deep, and the demand to close it is more urgent than ever. Perhapsthis is because the closer we come to the achievement of our ideals, themore obvious and galling is the remaining disparity. Partly, too, eventsin a rapidly changing world have put a new focus on the way in which the United States puts it principles into practice. The emergence of new nonwhite nations in Africa and Asia does not make aninequity any more unjust. It may, however, make remedial actionmore urgent.

The report that follows attempts to measure the remaining gap betweenthe American promise and its fulfillment; to tell of progress that hasbeen made, and to suggest approaches for what remains to be done.

This report principally concerns the civil rights problems of Negroes.Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Indians, and other minorities tosome extent still suffer inequalities and deprivation. But Negroes areour largest minority group, and their rights are denied more often inmore respects and in more places than are those of any other group.Of all minorities, Negroes seem most closely bound to the history andconscience of America. Their struggle has become symbolic. Bymeasuring the extent to which they enjoy civil rights, we may measureour respect for freedom. To the extent that this Nation can successfullyresolve its racial problems, it lends hope to afflicted minorities andtroubled majorities everywhere. For this Nation is concerned not justwith the civil rights of a particular minority. It is concerned withhuman rights for all men everywhere.

PROGRESS DURING THE LAST TWO YEARS

The 2 years since the Commission submitted its first report have broughtdynamic changes in civil rights at all levels of government. These aresome of the milestones of progress on the national level:

2022 In 1960 Congress passed the second Civil Rights Act since 1875,strengthening the measures available to the Federal Government fordealing with such matters as discriminatory denials of the right to vote,obstruction of Federal court orders, and bombing or other desecrationof schools and churches. 1

2022 Through the courts the Federal Government acted energetically to

secure the constitutional rights of its citizens against invasion by theStates: it brought suits to protect the right of Negroes to vote withoutdiscrimination or coercion on account of race in 15 counties in Alabama,Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee; 2 in New Orleans it intervened in a school desegregation suit to protect its courts and its citizensagainst State defiance of the law of the land; 3 in Montgomery, Ala.,it sued to protect the right of Americans to travel freely among the States,

without distinction or obstruction because of their race; 4 again in NewOrleans, and in Montgomery, it sued to end segregation in airportfacilities built in part with Federal funds; 5 in Jackson, Miss., it intervened in a suit to restrain arrests of persons seeking unsegregated servicein bus terminals; 6 in Biloxi, Miss., it brought suit to assure that a publicbeach constructed with funds from the National Government would beavailable to all the public without racial discrimination. 7

2022 With the creation of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity in 1961, the executive branch of the Federal Government took a major step to achieve the national policy that there shall beno discrimination on grounds of race, color, creed, or national origin,either in employment by the Government itself, or in employmentcreated by funds dispensed from the National Treasury. 8

2022 The President of the United States publicly affirmed his support of

the Supreme Court's decision that segregated public schools were forbidden by the Constitution. 9

2022 The Supreme Court, followed by the lower Federal courts, has firmly

upheld constitutional and statutory commands against discrimination inthis period:

It held in 1961 that a State could not redraw municipal boundarylines on racial grounds. 10

In 1961 it held that the operation of a private restaurant in space

leased from a public agency was State action within the meaning of the14th amendment; and that the facility, therefore, could not be operatedon a discriminatory basis. 11

In 1960 it held that Congress had forbidden racial segregation in

services provided for interstate travelers even if the services are notprovided directly by an interstate carrier itself. 12

Also in 1960 it upheld the 1957 Civil Rights Act against constitutional

attack. 13

2022 State and local governments also took important steps:

Twenty-three State laws aimed at preventing racial or religious discrimination in such areas as housing, employment, and public accommodations were enacted or strengthened2014not only in Northern andWestern States but in border States such as Kentucky, West Virginia,Delaware, Missouri, and Kansas. 14

In the deeper South, Georgia followed the example of Virginia in

abandoning massive resistance to the requirements of the Constitutionregarding public education. 15 The first public educational institutionin Georgia2014the University of Georgia2014was successfully desegregatedwith only temporary...