As the nation gears up to watch the Olympics Games, I couldn’t let July pass without recognizing the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. This landmark legislation was the fruit of the Civil Rights Movement led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1950s and ’60s. It was signed into law on July 2, 1964, by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Five months later, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership and commitment to achieving racial justice through nonviolence.
While most people are aware that the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin, this historic legislation actually covers much more. The act has 11 sections called titles. Each title was aimed to provide access to help level economic playing fields. The five most far-reaching titles outlaw discrimination in voter registration requirements, public accommodations (i.e. restaurants, theaters and hotels), access to public property and facilities, public schools and colleges, and employment.
Civil rights leaders hoped that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would lead to racial equality and equity for Black, Indigenous and people of color, also known as BIPOC, and women. While there has been progress during the past 60 years, challenges still exist that have caused new generations to continue King’s fight for racial and economic justice.
BIPOC and women have made great strides in government, business, education and religious sectors. In 2020, Kamala Harris broke a glass ceiling when she became the first woman and woman of color elected as vice president of the United States. Today she is on the path to become the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.
Recently, Harvard University researchers found a rise in income mobility among Black people after examining census and tax records covering more than 50 million children over two generations.
However, a large wealth gap still exists. Black people have average incomes substantially less than their white counterparts. In the new book, “Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap,” co-authors Ebony Reed and Louise Story indicate that income mobility did not close the wealth gap. “The Black-white wealth gap still stands at 15 cents on the dollar, where it stood in the 1950s.” The book attributes this to economic discrimination embedded in America’s financial systems, which dates back to slavery and Jim Crow-era practices of redlining, unfair housing covenants, and racial and employment discrimination.
When we look at slavery from an economic perspective, it was designed to generate income and wealth for enslavers that could be passed down to their descendants, while keeping the enslaved and their descendants perpetually impoverished. Old money and houses passed down from slavery still benefit some white people today.
But there is potential to help level economic playing fields and heal racial wounds by truth-telling, reparative acts and increasing diversity and equity in the workplace.
In 2021, Lucy McCauley inherited the Wilmington, North Carolina, home of her great-grandfather. When she learned that his actions helped lead to the Wilmington Massacre of 1898, she sold the house and used the proceeds from the sale in a reparative way. She started a scholarship fund for African American students.
In 2022, Donna Melcher began a journey of racial healing that brought her to Williamsburg. Determined to look her family ties to slavery squarely in the face without whitewashing the uncomfortable parts, she stood before a crowd of more than 50 people, apologized for the harm her ancestors had caused and took tangible, reparative steps to make amends. “One day I will be somebody’s ancestor and I want to be the ancestor that got it right,” Melcher said.
In 2020, 56 years after the Civil Rights Act was passed, Citigroup Bank conducted a study to put a price tag on racial discrimination over a 20-year period. The cost was a staggering $16 trillion! The good news from the study was that the U.S. economy could swell by $5 trillion over a five-year period by addressing the wage gap and promoting diversity within management ranks at banks and businesses.
When we come together to build a more diverse and just community, we all win!
Laura D. Hill is the executive director of the Virginia Racial Healing Institute, which manages Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle. Learn more about her work at varacialhealinginstitute.org.
