BackStory: Legislation Impossible - The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Comprehension Questions

• Why do many people perceive 1964-65 as a time when the government worked? Why did contemporaries often feel differently?
• To which part of the federal government did Martin Luther King, Jr. initially appeal? Why?
• What’s the conventional story of the role of Congress in passing civil rights legislation?
• What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 do?

Comprehension Questions

• What were early impulses for separation? When were the first state segregation laws passed?
• Why were railroads one of the first things to be segregated by law?
• How do these segregation practices spread? What relationship was perceived between modernity and segregation?

Comprehension Questions

• What major international process began to unfold after World War II?
• How did this process collide with segregation in the United States? What about the Cold War?
• How did businesses respond to the government's attempt to pressure them into desegregation?

Comprehension Questions

• What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 not do?
• What would Title III have done?
• What does Cobb note about the composition of the civil rights movement in the south and the violence with which white citizens responded?
• What provisions were in the Civil Rights Act to protect African Americans from violence? Why?
• What were some of the problems unaddressed by the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act?

Comprehension Questions

• How did widespread perceptions of race and sex discrimination differ?
• Why did the introduction of the word “sex” end up “taint[ing]” the bill, according to Freeman? How did this affect the enforcement of the Civil Rights Act?
• How did women respond to the dismissal of their complaints by the federal government?

Comprehension Questions

• How did Southern Democrats try to delay the passage of the Civil Rights Act?
• Which senators controlled passage of the bill?
• Who were some of the individuals who played key roles in the final hours before the bill was passed by the Senate?

Comprehension Questions

• What is the “state action doctrine”?
• How has the role of the Supreme Court in the civil rights movement changed over time?
• Why was the practical impact of the 1954 Brown v. Board decision limited?
• Why is it difficult for courts to effectuate change on their own?
• How did sit-ins complicate the state-action question?
• What was the significance of the Bell v. Maryland decision?

Founded in 2008, BackStory is a weekly podcast that explores the historical roots of current events. Hosted by a team of historians of the United States, the show features interviews with other scholars and public historians, seeking to bring U.S. history to life. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the show do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Learn more at the BackStory website.