It is now largely forgotten that a larger fraction of Republicans in both the House and the Senate voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act than did Democrats. This is a reminder or a history lesson.
In the original bill in the House of Representatives the vote by party was:
Democrats for 152, out of 248 Democrats voting, 61.3% of them voted Yea
Republicans for 138, out of 172 Republicans voting, 80.2% of them voted Yea
In the Senate:
Democrats for 46, out of 67 Democrats voting, 68.7% of them voted Yea
Republicans for 27 out of 33 Republicans voting, 81.8% of them voted Yea
Yet today most Americans think that this civil rights law was opposed by Republicans, when the real opposition was always within the Democratic Party, just as the support for Jim Crow laws and for slavery itself had always been in the Democratic Party.
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