Civil Rights Act and Racial Preference

When the civil rights act was being debated in Congress in the 1960s southern senators opposed the bill because they said it would lead to a system of racial preferences. Most liberals regarded these senators as bigots (perhaps rightly so) and emphasized that they all were seeking was equal treatment under the law. Hubert Humphrey said he eat the bill if anyone determined it to legalize a racial preference. It seems that the southerners were right—the Act did lead to a system of racial preferences.