The Court seems to get its greatest delight out of turning loose Communists. ", Disappointed, King sent another telegram to Eisenhower stating that the latter's comments were "a profound disappointment to the millions of Americans of goodwill, north and south, who earnestly are looking to you for leadership and guidance in this period of inevitable social change". he notoriously staged a record-breaking one-man filibuster to defeat a civil rights bill . The new law prohibited discrimination in public places. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. I know the Senator from South Carolina, who has been a very distinguished governor of his State, is very well informed in regard to such matters. Then there was another lapse of nearly a month before South Carolina, on May 23, became No. In advocating ratification, Pendleton was joined by James Madison, John Marshall, Edmund Randolph, and Light Horse Harry Lee. My Account | Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100 Martin Luther King Jr., then 28, was a developing leader in the Civil Rights Movement and spoke out against white supremacists. They carried the day against Patrick Henry and George Mason, as leading opponents of the proposition. member of the powerful Appropriations Subcommittee of Defense, pushed the bill through the House of Representatives. The action of the South Carolina convention was not unanimous when it acted on the question of adopting the resolution of ratification for the admission of South Carolina to the Union. [19], The Civil Rights Act of 1960 addressed some of the shortcomings of the 1957 Act by expanding the authority of federal judges to protect voting rights and by requiring local authorities to maintain comprehensive voting records for review so that the government could determine if there were patterns of discrimination against certain populations.[20]. Forty-two States and two Territories had statutes on the subject. A smart witness would never admit he understood or comprehended what was meant. And it was despotism at the hands of a general government that he feared. [9], Thurmond's filibuster was primarily focused on a specific provision in the civil rights bill that focused on minor voting rights contempt cases. (Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states.) Edmund Pendleton served as president of the Virginia convention. After more than 24 hours, a stubble of gray beard had sprouted on his chin, The Post reported. What are your checks in this Government? he kept asking. [15], An agreement among the Southern senators to not stage an organized filibuster had been reached in Senator Richard Russell's office on August 24, four days before Thurmond's speech. They would not consider such a law as coming under their jurisdiction. The Democratic Senate majority leader, Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, who would play a vital role in the bill's passage in the Senate,[5] realized that the bill and its journey through Congress could tear apart his party, as southern Democrats vehemently opposed civil rights, and its northern members were strongly in favor of them. Of course not. Thurmond became Edgefield County's director of education in 1929. The principle that it can exercise only the powers granted to it would seem too apparent to have required to be enforced by all those arguments which its enlightened friends, while it was pending before the people, found it necessary to urge. Johnson sought recognition from civil rights advocates for passing the bill as well as recognition from the anti-civil rights Democrats for weakening the bill so much as to make it toothless. His promised hour passed; Strom spoke on. Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina after his 24+ hour filibuster in 1957. Into those 4 weeks, the Virginians of 1788 packed a world of profound reflection upon the meaning and intention of the Constitution. The position was not a sedate one: Thurmond landed in Normandy aboard a glider on D-Day, and saw action in which he took Germans soldiers prisoner. The celebration of final enactment of the civil rights bill curdled and soured. Mr. President, I wish to say that my action was taken entirely on my own volition. He described these events as "[sealing] Thurmond's reputation as one of the South's last Confederates, a champion of white southerners' campaign of 'massive resistance'" to civil rights. [4] In the Senate, many Democrats from Southern states were angered by the bill. Raised by an aunt, Washington-Williams only learned who her real parents were when she was a teenager. Strom Thurmond Filibustered Voting Rights. 64 Years Later, Advocates During more than 24 hours on the Senate floor to oppose a civil rights bill, Sen. Strom Thurmond read state and federal codes, books, speeches, Supreme Court opinions, the Declaration of . [8] Senate rules allow for virtually unlimited debate on a bill, and a filibuster is a means of using these rules to prevent a bill's passage by speaking for as long as possible. Thurmond, however, chose to make astand. Mr. THURMOND. In addition to litigation, Mr. Richardson also leads the department in advocacy - partnering with leaders (business, community,. [1] Alterations to the bill made the Act difficult to enforce; by 1960, black voting had increased by only 3%. [17], The filibuster began at 8:54p.m. on August 28, 1957, with a reading of the election laws of each of the 48 states,[b][19] and continued with readings from U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, and George Washington's Farewell Address. The commencement was held in a long school building in which the acoustics were very bad. We are running a little ahead of schedule. He was automatically dismissed. The United States attorney general was allowed to institute actions, including injunctions and charges of contempt of court, with fines not to exceed $1,000 and six months imprisonment. Nine men overruled the legislatures of 42 States, and would have overruled the supreme courts in 42 States if their statutes had been tested. The powers of the General Government, he said, are only of a general nature, and their object is to protect, defend, and strengthen the United States; but the internal administration of government is left to the State legisiatures, who exclusively retain such powers as will give the States the advantages of small republics, without the danger commonly attendant on the weakness of such governments., Henry, undaunted, straightened his red wig and returned to the debate. It is ascertained, by history, that there never was a government over a very extensive country without destroying the liberties of the people. Most notably, Thurmond filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for over 24 hours, though the bill passed nonetheless. Although the filibuster was supported by many South Carolinians and citizens of other Southern states, Thurmond's decision to filibuster the bill went against a previous agreement among Southern senators. Henry conceived it. The brave, forgotten Kansas lunch counter sit-in that helped change America. This power is calculated to annihilate totally the State governments. Strom Thurmond filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 San Bernardino County, CA Civil Rights Lawyer with 22 years of experience. Civil Affairs and Military Goverment (CAMG) combat support axioms, Brigadier General Strom Thurmond, U.S. Army Reserve, . Your rich, smug, fine, fat, Federal officersthe number of collectors of taxes and exciseswill outnumber anything from the States. Under this decision the man would have to confess at just about the time he was arrested, because the Supreme Court held that after he is arrested he is under coercion; and because he was held that short time the Supreme Court reversed the case, and the district attorney said there would not be any use to try it again; that the evidence depended on the confession. Without objection, it is so ordered. Senator Barry Goldwater quietly asked Thurmond how much longer he could hold off using the restroom, to which he replied, "about another hour". In the days afterward, Thurmond was criticized by northern Democrats, five of whom vowed to reform Senate rules so that a simple majority vote would end another stunt like it. The following Monday, Henry renewed his assault: A number of characters, of the greatest eminence in this country, object to this government for its consolidating tendency. > The officers could not get hold of the United States Commissioner that night, and had to wait until the next morning, about 9 oclock. And though not remembered as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 was a big deal. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first U.S. civil rights bill passed in 82 years. The Southerners took this drastic. Two months later, on April 28, Maryland ratified. Biden eulogized multiple segregationists, including Strom Thurmond and former KKK member Robert Byrd As recently as last year, Biden bragged about his positive relationship with segregationist Senators like James Eastland and Herman Talmadge In 1987, Biden bragged about receiving an award from Alabama Governor George Wallace There were giants in those days. No one ever had contended that the Constitution was ratified by State governments, but Marshall, with a glittering display of intellectual swordsmanship, neatly skewered the nonexistent objection. How are we going to protect this Government? Sen. Eastland said it was fake news. [3] Its passage showed varying degrees of willingness to support civil rights. May 03, 2019 05:35 PM Joe Biden once praised the segregationist Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina as "one of my closest friends" and championed him as someone who believed in. Unable to speak because of a brain tumor, Engle pointed to his eye to signify his Yes vote. If this be such a government, I will confess, with my worthy friend, that it is inadmissible. Within 20 years, Thurmond would play a role in the major realignment of the two major parties, as the Democrats became the party associated with civil rights and the Republicans veered towards conservatism. That is the practical effect of it. The bill further provides a Federal judge with the discretionary powerif he does not try the person without a juryto decide what punishment he will impose. Then there is the Watkins case, Mr. President, which has hampered investigations by the Congress. In 1948, as President Harry S. Truman moved to integrate the U.S. military and embark on other civil rights initiatives, southern politicians responded with outrage. Kennedy delivered the speech after a series of civil rights protests, most notably the Birmingham campaign, which concluded in May 1963. ( Ira Gay Sealy/The Denver Post / Getty ) The following essay is by Takeaway Host John Hockenberry. Under the direction of Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, the Senate passed a watered-down, yet also passable, version of the House bill which removed stringent voting protection clauses. PDF. He became a fairly conventional senator, focusing on pork barrel projects that would help his home state. The Virginia convention had opened on June 2, not quite 2 weeks after South Carolina, on May 23, had become the eighth State to ratify. At the time of Thurmond's speech, the threshold for cloture was a two-thirds majority. [8] This diminished the already-waning support for the title among Republicans, many of whom opposed its expansion of federal power on conservative grounds in spite of their sympathy towards civil rights causes. In 1954 Thurmond won election to the Senate as a write-in . [2][3] The Act aimed to protect this right by establishing a Civil Rights Division within the Department of Justice and a U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Strom Thurmond was a segregationist politician who ran for president in 1948 on a platform opposed to civil rights for African Americans. It virtually held, in fact, that one can preach communism all he wants to. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. During that campaign he famously said, Theres not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the Negro race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches.. Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina after his 24+ hour filibuster in 1957. [10] Alleged violators of civil rights injunctions are normally entitled to jury trials, with the exception of civil contempt actions. Tempers flared sharply. Was the action of the South Carolina convention unanimous? I believe that every Senator must follow the dictates of his own conscience, in connection with such matters. King sent a telegram to Eisenhower to make a speech to the South and asked him to use "the weight of your great office to point out to the people of the South the moral nature of the problem". It is a formidable reality. Strom Thurmond, who served in the United States Senate for a record 48 years, dies on June 26, 2003. . As, in the near-century between the end of Reconstruction and the 1960s, white Southerners voted solidly as a bloc for the Democrats, Southern Democrats in Congress rarely lost their seats in elections, ensuring that they had more seniority than Democratic members of Congress from other parts of the country. Committed to the filibuster effort were the powerful Senators Richard Russell, Thurmond, Robert Byrd, William Fulbright and Sam Ervin. Strom Thurmond's Filibuster. I should like to believe that some have been convinced by my arguments, and that my arguments have been accepted on the basis on which I intended them to be acceptedas arguments against what I am convinced is bad proposed legislation, proposed legislation which never should have been introduced, and which never should be approved by the Senate. It stands by itself. Thurmond on the proposed Civil Rights Act--handout There are a million objections to H.R. He conceived it very clearly. Furthermore, if a judge should find such a person guilty, as a result of the first trial, we can realize what effect that would have on the jury which would be used in the second trial. Extensive safeguards for the rights of accused were provided by the statute. For other American laws called Civil Rights Acts, see, Part Iestablishment of Commission on Civil Rights, Part IIadditional assistant attorney general, Part IIIstrengthen civil rights statutes and other purposes, Part IVfurther securing and protecting the right to vote, Part Vprovide trial by jury and to amend the judicial code, Please expand the section to include this information. On this day in 1964, the Senate was involved in an epic fight over the Civil Right Act, after a group of Southern senators started a record-setting filibuster in March. ThoughtCo, Dec. 24, 2020, thoughtco.com/strom-thurmond-biography-4161322. So long as the organizing does not begin until a future day, it will be all right. I stated before, that this could not be so. Election of 1860: Lincoln Became President at Time of Crisis, Significant Presidential Elections in American History, Biography of Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States, Biography of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, The Crittenden Compromise to Prevent the Civil War, History of Women Running for President of the United States, James Buchanan: Significant Facts and Brief Biography, Presidential Election of 1800 Ended in a Tie. They would declare it void., Marshall saw no danger to the States from decrees of the Supreme Court: I hope that no gentleman will think that a State will be called at the bar of the Federal court. Note to Mitch McConnell: Strom Thurmond's 1957 filibuster, the longest Mr. JOHNSON of Texas. On Election Day1948, what became known as the States Rights' Democratic ticket won the electoral votes of four states: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Thurmond's home state of South Carolina. I must be convinced, sir. As Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon Johnson has been involved heavily in the fight for the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and as President, he was committed to honoring his own values and Kennedy's legacy in the fight for the much-more comprehensive 1964 act. And as the Civil Rights Movement transformed America in the mid-1960s, Thurmond was one of the prominent conservatives who migrated from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Biography of Strom Thurmond, Segregationist Politician - ThoughtCo The legal questions were two: Did Congress have power to incorporate the bank, and secondly, did Maryland have power to tax it? By 1957, only about 20% of black people were registered to vote. [9][25] This surpassed the previous record set by Wayne Morse, who spoke against the Submerged Lands Act for 22 hours and 26 minutes in 1953. Picking up the mantle. "States' Rights" by Strom Thurmond - TigerPrints The FBI, the law-enforcement agencies, police officers chase down Communists and narcotic peopleand they are hard to catch. The Fifteenth Amendment had guaranteed citizens of all races the right to vote in 1870, but state laws, poll taxes, and other institutions still prevented many Black Americans from voting. 6127, the civil rights bill being considered, Thurmond said; The Post joked he had gone long a way toward listing all million.. Nevertheless, the bill passed two hours after the filibuster and was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower within two weeks. Northwestern Univ School of Law. No political dreamer was ever wild enough to think of breaking down the lines which separate the States, and of compounding the American people into one common mass. * * * I wonder how any gentleman, reflecting on the subject, could have conceived an idea of the possibility of the latter.. As stated in the book, The Sovereign States, South Carolina accompanied her resolution of ratification with a pointed statement that she considered it essential to the preservation of the rights reserved to the several States and for the freedom of the people, that the States right to prescribe the manner, time, and places of Congressional elections be forever inseparably annexed to the sovereignty of the several States.. Mr. President, I am deeply grateful for these courtesies, and again I want to thank the Presiding Officer and the others for their courtesies extended to me, and with this I now give up the floor, and suggest the absence of a quorum. New Hampshire was the ninth. He later served 48 yearsan astonishing eight termsas a U.S. Thurmond was easily elected to the Senate every six years, only stepping down a few weeks after reaching the ago of 100. Power ought to have such checks and limitations, he said, as to prevent bad men from abusing it. the States. Speaking of swimming pools, Thurmond was something of a health nut, or physical culture enthusiast, as The Washington Post put it at the time, so when he decided he would filibuster the civil rights bill, he prepared by drying himself out in a long steam bath beforehand, so he wouldnt have to use to restroom a detail he bragged about for decades, long after he claimed to no longer believe in segregation. During the debate over the law, Senator Strom Thurmond conducted the longest one-person filibuster in Senate history. Thurmond spokeat the convention, where he denounced Truman and claimed that Truman's program of civil rights reforms "betrayed the South.". I expect to vote against the bill, he concluded, to a great roar of laughter and applause. One of the men was admittedly a former Communist. Senator from South Carolina. [7], A bipartisan group of Senators realized that Southerners would not allow passage of the act with Title III, which authorized the US Attorney General to seek preventive relief in civil rights cases. Strom Thurmon: Segregationist, Dixiecrat, Republican As the former periods will probably bear a small proportion to the latter, the State governments will here enjoy another advantage over the Federal Government. Joe graduated from the University of Redlands and Northwestern University School of Law. * * * The proposed Federal Government, he said, extends to the general purposes of the Union. Find the best civil rights attorney serving Murrieta Hot Springs. [2] In the 1960s, he voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. United States federal judges were allowed to hear cases related to the Act with or without juries. While the states had the right to establish rules for voter registration and elections, the federal government found an oversight role in ensuring that citizens could exercise the constitutional right to vote for federal officers: electors for president and vice president and members of the US Congress. Atherton/The Washington Post) Share Forgive me if my memories of summer 2003 are. As a result of that case, the Chief of Police in Washington said it would be very difficult to apprehend and detect criminals and arrest them hereafter and be able to make the evidence stand up in court. Thurmondled the movement of southern Democrats as theymigrated to the Republican Party as an emerging conservative bloc. Constitution. Forty-eight State legislatures cannot have sedition statutes because of these nine men in Washington. A similar situation occurred in California. 386, Thurmond, Strom, "States' Rights" (1948). The Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in the case of Brown v. Board of Education brought the issue of school desegregation to the fore of public attention, as Southern Democratic leaders began a campaign of "massive resistance" against desegregation. [16] Thurmond's departure from the senators' agreement was later criticized by party leaders including Russell and Herman Talmadge. > In the later decades of his career, Thurmond obscured his views on race by claiming that he had only ever been . Section 161 freed federal courts from state jury rules and specified qualifications for jurors in federal courts. clockThis article was published more than2 years ago, At his first White House news conference Thursday, President Biden said he agreed with former president Barack Obama that the filibuster is a relic of the Jim Crow era. This follows a Tuesday statement by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that the filibuster has no racial history at all. The efforts of Thurmond and the Dixiecrats posed a serious problem for Truman.