Testimony of Gail Heriot, Member, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Before the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. Senate, the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of the 1957 and Its Continuing Importance (September 5, 2007)

Abstract

On September 5, 2007, the author testified before the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. Senate about the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 is known mainly for the two civil rights building blocks it created — the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Those two institutions in turn created the foundation for the civil rights legislation of the 1960s.

Keywords: civil rights, Commission on Civil Rights, Civil Rights Division, Civil Rights Act of 1957, civil rights legislation