Today, July 2, marks one of the most significant turning points in modern world history.
On this day in 1964, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. This piece of legislation officially ended legal racial segregation and prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
The passage of the law was the result of decades of mass protests, civil disobedience, and a tireless struggle led by figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The document removed unfair voting requirements that had disenfranchised African Americans and criminalized segregation in schools, workplaces, and public places. Its signing at the White House, in the presence of key leaders of the civil rights movement, went down in history as a triumph of justice over institutional racism.
Source: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration