Fifty years. In the course of human history, it’s a pretty short time. In the course of the history of the United States, it’s a significant portion. In the life of man, it’s amazingly long. 50 years ago today, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed one of the two or three significant bills that were enacted in his administration. Among the others were the establishment of Medicare and the Voting Rights Act (which has been since decimated). The one that took life today, 50 years ago was the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was a seminal event to me. Because I knew what discrimination felt like, and because I had seen what and how the South- and the North and the West and the Midwest- treated folks different from the majority.
Continue reading 1/2 a Century
