WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)

Description

In this WSB newsfilm clip from May 22, 1963, Senators Thomas J. Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, and John Sherman Cooper, a Republican from Kentucky, support federal legislation guaranteeing the rights of African American citizens. The clip begins with what looks like an impromptu press conference, with reporters sitting at a table with Senators Dodd and Cooper. Senator Dodd addresses the reporters, explaining that the current civil rights situation is a "no-man's land." He recognizes that the federal government will "prevent rioting and disorder" in Birmingham, but believes the government's responsibility is greater than that. He explains that he and Senator Cooper are proposing legislation to "see that the rights guaranteed to our citizens under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment are provided and that those who interfere with them are brought to book." On May 23, the day after the press conference, Senator Dodd and Senator Cooper introduced two bills to Congress: one proposing to grant the government more authority to protect citizens, and the other to increase the pace of school desegregation and to enforce the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed The Civil Rights Act, legislation that abolished Southern "Jim Crow" laws, and outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.Title supplied by cataloger.

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia