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CRA '64 transformed American society. It prohibited discrimination in public facilities, in government, and in employment. This simple statement understates the large shift in American society that occurred as a result. The [[Jim Crow law]]s in the South were finally swept away, and it was illegal to compel segregation of the races in schools, housing, or hiring. Although initially enforcement powers were weak, they grew over the years, and such later programs as [[affirmative action]] were made possible by the Civil Rights Act.
President [[Lyndon Johnson]] signed the bill into law on [[July 3]], [[1964]]. [[Republican]] Senate Minority Leader [[Everett Dirksen]] pushed the act thourgh congress. This act divided both politcal parties and changed both's demographics. Johnson realized that supporting this bill would mean losing the South's overwhelming [[Democrat]] majority (which it did, barring some exeptions). Despite a significant majority of Republican's support for the act, the Presidential nominee [[Barry Goldwater]] voted against the act claiming, "you can't legislate morality". The Mississippi Democratic Party actually endorsed Goldwater as a result of his vote which in turn lead to the formation of the short lived [[Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party]]. Ultimately however it was the brave Democratic leadership over racist Republican opposition that got the legislation past.
==Vote statistics==
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