Eternal vigilance stands as the price of equality

Last week marked the 248th anniversary of the birth of our nation, yet little media attention was given to the fact that July 2, 2024, marked an equally significant milestone. Perhaps a warning comes from that display of ignorance.

Sixty years ago on that date, the 1964 Civil Rights Bill was enacted. The landmark legislation sought to outlaw discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin – prohibiting unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, as well as providing protections from employment discrimination. More importantly, this bill differed from previous 19th century congressional attempts to fight racial injustice by granting the attorney general of the United States with the power to prosecute offenses at all levels of government and society.

It assumed a national perspective on equitable behavior in the public space, a revolutionary move equivalent to the promise given in Philadelphia in 1776. The 1964 Civil Rights Act sought to finally fulfill Jefferson’s fundamental promise of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

Quietly, without fanfare, that promise has begun to escape American society. Despite some recent successes on the (local) redistricting front, enforcement of anti-discriminatory measures has seen a retreat. Whether it be a conservative Supreme Court limiting interpretation of the original legislation and its successors or simply the apathy of the federal bureaucracy in remaining vigilant, effective economic and educational segregation has been on the rise.

From college campuses to urban neighborhoods, the opportunities for diversity have grown more and more limited in recents years. To paraphrase President Obama, one cannot argue that conditions have improved since the 1960s – yet to make the argument that racism and its effects do not remain prevalent in our society displays equal blindness.

Eternal vigilance stands as the price of equality, just as surely as it provides the lifeblood of liberty – for they constitute both wings of the same battle against oppression. The ability to choose where to live, shop, school, or congregate does not cease, in other words, but charges forth to the ballot box in each quadrennial election.

So this newspaper’s Editorial Board continues to hope, at least. African Americans will face such a choice in November. Many will opt to stay home, considering the partisan options to be little different. Nothing could be further from the truth. One side, led by the first Black female vice president, wages an increasingly lonely fight for the opportunities so hard-fought in the last six decades. The other side offers lip service, and sometimes not even that.

This article originally published in the July 8, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.