Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Commemorates 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2014/07/photo3.jpeg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:640;s:6:"height";i:480;s:4:"file";s:19:"2014/07/photo3.jpeg";s:5:"sizes";a:10:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"photo3-336x252.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:252;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"photo3-140x140.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:17:"photo3-80x80.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"photo3-640x450.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:640;s:6:"height";i:450;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"photo3-600x480.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:480;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"photo3-415x311.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:415;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"photo3-353x265.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:353;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"photo3-600x400.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"photo3-600x480.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:480;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"photo3-125x125.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Rebecca Farmer
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:262699;s:14:"optimized_size";i:173929;s:7:"percent";d:33.789999999999999;}s:5:"sizes";a:9:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:47:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2014/07/photo3.jpeg";s:13:"original_size";i:109438;s:14:"optimized_size";i:65266;s:7:"percent";d:40.359999999999999;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:6:"medium";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:55:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2014/07/photo3-336x252.jpeg";s:13:"original_size";i:23463;s:14:"optimized_size";i:17152;s:7:"percent";d:26.899999999999999;}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:53:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2014/07/photo3-80x80.jpeg";s:13:"original_size";i:3482;s:14:"optimized_size";i:3410;s:7:"percent";d:2.0699999999999998;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:55:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2014/07/photo3-600x338.jpeg";s:13:"original_size";i:45342;s:14:"optimized_size";i:29333;s:7:"percent";d:35.310000000000002;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:55:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2014/07/photo3-300x300.jpeg";s:13:"original_size";i:23955;s:14:"optimized_size";i:17470;s:7:"percent";d:27.07;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:55:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2014/07/photo3-415x311.jpeg";s:13:"original_size";i:31655;s:14:"optimized_size";i:22916;s:7:"percent";d:27.609999999999999;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:55:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2014/07/photo3-353x265.jpeg";s:13:"original_size";i:25364;s:14:"optimized_size";i:18382;s:7:"percent";d:27.530000000000001;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1636112471 
1404259200

Panelists take part in a discussion on the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Photo by Rebecca Farmer.

July 2, 2014, is the 50th anniversary of the day Lyndon B Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. The legislation prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, religion and national origin. Additionally, the act ended discrimination in schools and other public places, and outlawed unequal voter registration policies.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute hosted an event this morning discussing how the Civil Rights Act continues to impact Americans 50 years later. Among the panelists were Joyce White Vance, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District; Michael German, Alabama Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Delner Franklin-Thomas, District Director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Richard Schwein, FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Birmingham Division.

Panelists generally agreed that Alabama has come a long way since Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Fifty years ago, discrimination was widespread across the country, with Alabama being a central battleground in the Civil Rights struggle.

Delner Franklin-Thomas is District Director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She said she’s thankful for Birmingham’s place in Civil Rights history.

“I’m proud of the legacy that Birmingham has certainly the demonstrations, what happened at the University of Alabama all of that led to the employment provisions under title seven of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” said Franklin-Thomas.

The events Franklin-Thomas mentions are well known to students of Civil Rights history.

These include the May 1963 demonstration at Kelly Ingram Park (formally known as West Park), where the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) held a massive protest campaign. It was an assembly point for participants in what SCLC called Project “C,” with the C standing for confrontation. It included sit-ins, boycotts, marches, and jailings, all designed to end segregation in Birmingham.

During this attack, Martin Luther King was arrested and spent three days in jail. There, he penned his famous “Letter from the Birmingham Jail.”

Later that year, on September 15, a bomb went off at the 16th Street Baptist Church, killing 4 young girls.

Despite the progress of the last 50 years, Franklin-Thomas told the crowd “We still have work to do.”

The panelists at the discussion also said that, in today’s society, discrimination is the U.S. extends beyond just race or gender.

“Civil Rights is this nation’s unfinished business,” said Joyce White Vance, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. “Both the potential in the 1964 act — which we have to work hard everyday to continue to guarantee — and then beyond the act. We have to continually evolve our definition of who is part of the civil rights community.”

Panelists discussed contemporary discrimination issues ranging from the discrimination faced by the LGBT community to human trafficking to guaranteeing the civil rights of the recently released inmates.

Panelists concluded that citizens have a lot of work to do to move Birmingham forward, but they are all optimistic that we are moving in a positive direction.

 

Figures and Dobson are in a heated battle for a redrawn Alabama House district

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama voters will decide who will represent a congressional district that was redrawn after a lengthy legal battle that drew national attention and could provide a rare opportunity for Democrats to flip a seat in the Deep South. Democrat Shomari Figures, a former top aide to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, […]

A wild election is coming to a close — and no one is sure how it will end

From candidate swaps to assassination attempts, the final months of the campaign has been a whirlwind. Here's why the outcome is so consequential.

Elon Musk’s $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes can proceed, a Pennsylvania judge says

Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta in Pennsylvania — ruling after Musk’s lawyers said the winners are paid spokespeople and not chosen by chance — did not immediately explain his reasoning.

Puerto Rico holds general election that promises to be historic

Puerto Rico is holding elections that will be historic regardless of which of the top two gubernatorial candidates wins.

Boeing machinists approve contract, bringing an end to a bruising seven-week strike

Striking machinists voted to approve an agreement that will hike wages by 38%. The deal was endorsed by union leaders, who warned that Boeing’s next offer might be worse.

States and cities beef up security to prepare for potential election-related violence

Washington state's governor activated the National Guard to stand by to help local law enforcement as needed. Meanwhile, extra security is in place at locations across Washington, D.C.

More Government Coverage