Theme 2 Topic 2

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Civil Rights Legislation

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT

Key details - ban on exclusion from restaurants, stores and other public places, Attorney-General could file law suits to speed up desegregation, mixed education and voting rights, no racial, sexual or religious discrimination would be lawful, no discrimination on federally aided programmes.

Successes - offered BA civil equality and brought an end to legal segregation. Seen as most important peice of civil rights legislation since the Civil War. Gave power to withold federal funding from any state that was not complying; significant states relied heavily on fed funding. Political triumph for Johnson, able to get passed through Congress.

Failures - Voting rights not protected, de facto discrimination remained. Act only support SC ruling not enforce it. e.g 68% of southern Black school children stil attended segregated schools in 1968. 

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Civil Rights Legislation

VOTING RIGHTS ACT 

Key details - made following illegal : need to demonstrate educational achievement, need to demonstrate knowledge of any subject, needing the ability to interpret any material, the need to prove moral character.

Successes - 1968 = Mississippi had 59% of its black population registered to vote. black people gained voice in who represented them in local, state and fed gov. No. of black americans elected to office increased sixfold from 1965 to 69. Charles Evers= 1st black man to be elected mayor of Fayette, Mississippi. 

Failures - Every other state apart from Mississippi changes less impressive. Virginia = 44% of blacks registered before the Act and only 43% after it was passed. Florida = 51% before act 54% after.

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Civil Rights Legislation

THE "OPEN HOUSING LAW"

Key Details - led to passing of Fair Hosuing Act 1968 = no discrimination in sale or rental of houses. Pleaded for integrated hosuing = imprisioning the ***** in the slums was immoral and exaccerbateracial tensions. 

Successes - Meant BA had a fair chance to buy their own house, establishes a principle of equality/desegregation.

Failures - difficult to enfore in face of difficult white opposition = whites worried if BA live in their area, their house value will decrease.

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Health

MEDICARE ACT 1965

Key Details - Provided fed funded health insurance for over 65s and those with disabilities, do have to pay into it.

Successes - 19 mil in 1966 enrolled, lifted millions of elderly americans out of poverty, v popular that no other president wanted to oppose it for fear of loosing "grey vote"

Failures - more expensive than anticipated = $3.5 bill to $144 bill by 1993. Gaps in coverage e.g glasses, dental care and nursing homes.

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Health

MEDICAID 

Key Details - fed gov gave financial assistance to states to help them provide medical assistance to people who couldnt afford essential medical services.

Successes - Increased amount spent on health care for poorer citizens from $1.3 bill to over $2 bill. 

Failures - Far more expensive, quality offered varied in impact/quality from state to state, doctors + hospitals charged EXTREMELY high prices to gov by lying about condition of patients. "medicaid mill" Doctors refused medicaid patients = more paper work 

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Poverty and Unemployment

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ACT 1964

Key Details - created office of economic opportunity = coordinated variety of intiatives to eradicate poverty.

Successes - created all poverty legislation, 44 states had antipoverty programmes, 17% in 1965 to 11% in 1972.

Failures - limited by cost = Vietnam War high economic pressure on gov, little money left for poverty programmes, 1966 = $12 bill spent $22 bill on Vietnam. Johnson didnt raise tax.

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Poverty and Unemployment

HEAD START

Key Details - enable poor pre-school children to catch up b4 school 

Successes - nearly 1 mil enrolled 

UPWARD BOUND 

Key Details - linked high-education to poorer students with college potential = fed funded part time work.

Successes - 50,000 participated in programme each year = gave young people motivation to go to college.

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Poverty and Unemployment

JOBS CROPS

Key Details - improve skills of unemployed innercity youths

Successes - placed youths in 10,000 jobs, recieved 1000s of applications daily, 53 centres, big companies e.g IBM took part 

Failures - many discipline problems = $11,000 per student to train them - never recieves full support from Congress

VISTA 

Key Details - gave m class opportunity to help out need 

Successes - 1965 = 8000 had volunteered, encourages community service

Failure - still relatively low number.

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Poverty and Unemployment

OVERALL SUCCESS

no of families in poverty decreased from 40 mil in 1959 to 28 mil in 1928. 

establishes long term investment in education 

1/3 of non-white families still lived below poverty line. 

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Education

ESEA 1965

Key Details - 9aimed to use fed funding to aid deprived children. Allocated $1 bill a year to schools with high concentration of low income children. 

Successes - 6.7 bill children benefitted

Failures - Should have been policy against poverty = 1/2 of all expenditure had gone to children living above poverty line. President paid little attention to how worked in practice. Local school administrators skirted guidelines for spending = spend money on administration.

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Education

HIGHER EDUCATION ACT 

Key Details - aimed to help poorer students, strengthen the educational resources of colleged and unis and provide financial assistance to students. Provided loans for students to pay college fees = lower + middle income families

Successes - 11 mill benefitted from $650 mil, reauthroised by congress = 1968,1972,1976,1980,1986,1992,1998,2008. Gave access to Americans from poor backgrounds to HE. 1970 = 25% of college students recieved financial aid. 1950 = 15% of 18-22 year olds, 1990 = 52%

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Housing and Urban Problems

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ACT & DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

Key Details - Co-ordinated various programmes to combat housing shortages and urban decay.

Successess - 240,000 houses constructed = provided $2.9m for urban renewal.

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Housing and Urban Problems

DEMONSTRATION CITIES AND METROPOLITAN ACT 

Key Details - local communities and all levels of gov, work on lack of cheap housing, good transportation, recreational facilities, and slum clearance.

Successes - local gov offered 80% grants to deal w/ healthcare and job creation. 1966= congress authorized spending = $412m to $512 in 1967.

Failures - money didnt change anything = high crime rates and level of violence. cut $1.2 bn = programme underfunded. Congress demanded money for their constituencies and as a result money too thinly spread.

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Housing and Urban Problems

OMNIBUS HOUSING ACT

Key Details - improve ghetto housing

Successes - financed rent supplements, Johnson persuaded people to construct reasonably priced housing. Congress = spent $1.7 mil

Failures - Ghettos remained bad. White tax payers remained unwilling to help, resorts to Fair Housing Act. 1969 = Nixon further reduces spending 

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