Welcome to Thursday`s edition of CNN STUDENT NEWS. It`s good to see you. I`m Carl Azuz
at the CNN Center.
Time for "The Shoutout." Which U.S. president signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law?
Was it John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon or Gerald Ford? You`ve got three seconds,
go.
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law using at least
75 different pens that he handed out to civil rights leaders and supporters. That`s your
answer and that`s your "Shoutout."
It`s the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. It`s goal to end discrimination based
on someone`s race, religion, what country they came from or what gender they were. And
that extended from businesses in schools to voting boots and even bathrooms. The act was
passed after one of the longest debates in Senate history. In the 1960s it was as controversial
as it was historic.
The nation was in turmoil. Young, predominantly black protesters against public discrimination
on buses, in bathrooms and at lunch counters were beaten and hosed down in the South. America`s
very democracy was at stake. And then President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Lyndon Baines
President was sworn in and decided to stake his early presidency on passing the Civil
Rights Act.
No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy`s memory .
But the politics was nasty on Capitol Hill as the prejudices on the streets of the South.
Southern Democrats who felt their way of life was being threatened, threw up hurdle after
hurdle in the House. Across the capital, senators like Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond filibustered,
trying to talk the bill to death.
Richard Goodwin worked in the White House for Kennedy and then for President Johnson.
He was from the South and he had seen firsthand, of course, the poor blacks and the poor Mexican
Americans and other who were not getting a fair break (ph) of the society.
LBJ not only supported the bill, he also knew how to get it passed on Capitol Hill.
Johnson had - he was the master of the Senate. And as majority leader, he knew where all
the bodies were buried, he knew what all - everybody`s weaknesses were.
So, the new president worked the phones calling all sides.
He would be on the phone with Dr. King. Then he would call Governor Wallace. Then he`d
call Senator Dirksen. And then he`d be on the phone with Richard Russell. And he was
pulling out every stop.
He`d call them in the morning, he`d call them at night. I mean there`s a story of calling
a senator at two in the morning and he said I hope I didn`t wake you up.
And the senator said no, I was just lying here on the bed hoping my president would
call.
Johnson`s armtwisting worked. The bill fought its way through a congress. The filibuster
was broken by Republicans and Democrats.
With his signature, LBJ made the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the law of the land following
a groundswell of public support after violence and hate had tested the nation.