Hailey Heseltine
news@greenepublishing.com
As of Tuesday, July 2, 2024, it has been 60 years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law. This act was the result of a struggle that had lasted centuries; it ended legal segregation, prohibiting separation of individuals by race in public places such as schools, libraries, transportation and other public places. Furthermore, it also prohibited segregation, based on other factors such as sex, religion, national origin and other characteristics. The passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an influential event in American history.
For many years, the principle of “separate but equal” was used to justify segregation. Although public places and resources were kept separate, they were most definitely not equal. Black Americans were often treated like second-class citizens under this arrangement, and given sub-par resources compared to the white Americans.
The Act outlawed more than just segregation. It also barred discrimination based on factors such as race, religion, sex, national origin and others in the workplace. No longer were any of these factors to be taken into consideration whenever an employer was hiring, promoting or firing a worker.
By the 1960s, the creation of the Civil Rights Act had already been in the works for a century. Charles Sumner, a senator from Massachusetts and firm abolitionist during the Civil War era, famously believed that true emancipation could never be achieved unless all citizens were granted equal and indiscriminate access to public places and accommodations, government resources and opportunities. His opinion, however, was not the most popularamong citizens. Sumner was beaten with a cane in 1856 by Preston Brooks, a representative of South Carolina. The famous event became known as a symbol of the struggle between the North and the South on a larger scale. Sumner attempted to push an act very similar to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 back in the 1870s, but it never went through successfully, and his death in 1871 put a sudden end to his efforts.
Two famous activists in Florida were the Moores, Harry Tyson and Harriette Vyda. Both were Florida-born and raised. Harry was born on Nov. 18, 1905, and Harriette was born on June 19, 1902. Harry became a schoolteacher after graduating from high school, and he met Harriette, who also had a background in education. The pair attended Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona, Fla., during the 1920s, and both earned bachelor's degrees. They eventually settled in Mims, Fla., and had two daughters.
The Moores were passionate about civil rights. They founded Brevard County's first chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1934, and put much of their time and energy into the chapter. Meanwhile, they avidly supported causes such as equal pay for Black teachers and more. Harry Moore was even the first person to file a lawsuit for equal pay in the South. Their participation in activism ultimately led to the Moores being fired from their careers in teaching, but their enthusiasm could not be slowed, and they continued their work.
On Dec. 25, 1951, tragedy struck the Moore family. A bomb that had been planted under their bed, supposedly by Ku Klux Klan members, exploded. Harry died on the way to a farther-away hospital, the closest one that would accept Black patients. Harriette survived for only a few more days, until Jan. 3, 1952. Despite national outcry, no one was arrested for the crime. The murder of the Moores was one of the many events that sparked the surge in civil rights efforts in the 1950s.
Now, it has been sixty years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law. The signing did not come without effort. It was the result of the work of millions of people over the course of centuries, and it becoming reality was a monumental moment in history.