Civil_Rights_Act_1969

November, 18, 2008 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1969 Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1969, is an act that has much history and stands for a variety of peoples beliefs. The amount of hard work, suffering and dedication that it took to get this act accepted by congress is unbelievable. The origins of this are very extensive and can be traced far back in to our history. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act has to do with the discrimination amongst a gender of sex in the work place. This act was inevitable because at that time in order for America to be united the discriminations between genders had to begin to fade. It was unfair and unjust to have discrimination in the work place. This discrimination in the 1900’s allowed for sexual harassment and sexual advances to happen in the workplace. Not only was this unprofessional but it crossed the line between employer and employees of different genders. The start of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1969 can begin in the early 1920’s. The National Women’s party was lobbying for equal rights and suffrage. Women such as leader Alice Paul, Elizabeth Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony fought for years, to have equal rights under the constitution. Although it was very unanimous that women experienced discrimination in the work place especially in the salary department, many people were blinded by the stereotypes of the society they lived in. The Government ways of answering the questions of the many women in the National Women’s Party, was to say that women’s problems were better handled through “Special Bills”. The National Women’s party was not lobbying for a “Special Bill”, they were lobbying for an amendment that would insure, the justice system would enforce equal pay, and treatment in the work place for women. Later on in the 1950’s The NWP decided to change its approach from an aggressive go-getter attitude to a more positive and up-lifting one. This tactic was not very successful even-though it did get backing from the National Committee to defeat the Unequal Rights Amendment. The tactic was mostly unsuccessful because of the amount of returning soldiers from the war that would need paying jobs. Although, the National Women’s Party was gaining a vast amount of popularity, and its movement was gaining steam, the dream that there would be an amendment giving equal rights and pay seemed like a lost cause. The National Women’s Party was getting viewed as a party with idle cause. Many of its members were gaining in age, and many were giving up hope. It wasn’t until President Kennedy in 1961 gave the Secretary of Labor and director of Labor Bureau to Esther Patterson. When she was given her position one of her main focuses was getting a Equal Pay act to pass. Esther Patterson began to immerse herself into a rigorous, grueling campaign for Equal Pay and rights for women. This campaign included convincing president Kennedy into the Creation of a National Commission of Woman. In the 1960’s the idea of Equal pay and Equal rights became a prime issue in the nation. With the help of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the current state of the Nation, on June 10, 1964 the bill was passed by the senate making it an official amendment. Which stated that discrimination against an individual because of his or her association with another individual of a particular race, color, religion, sex, or national origin was unconstitutional. The amount of time that went by to get the Civil Rights Act of 1969 was enormous. For an amount of decade’s discrimination amongst people were ignored for no apparent reason. It took a compilation of different people to create a movement that the government could no ignore. The hard work and dedication was all worth it when the bill was signed. Not only did the bill signify a change in times in the United States, but it represented the unity between a nation, and its people that wasn’t present before. The discrimination that took place before the act was not a sound representation of what our nation was built to be. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a step in the right direction, a step to change in the nation