Commission on Civil Rights
The Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan federal agency established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957 as part of the Civil Rights Act of that year. Its creation was a response to growing concerns about civil rights violations in the United States, particularly in the context of racial discrimination against African Americans. The Commission's primary role is to investigate civil rights abuses at federal, state, and local levels and to evaluate the civil rights practices of the federal government.
Despite its important mandate, the Commission has faced significant limitations. While it can advise Congress and the president and make legislative recommendations, it lacks the authority to compel compliance from state officials. This limitation has often hindered its effectiveness, particularly in the face of strong resistance from southern lawmakers who opposed civil rights measures. The agency's challenges reflect broader political dynamics of the time, as civil rights legislation became entangled with party politics and regional tensions.
The Commission's establishment marked a pivotal moment in the ongoing struggle for civil rights in the U.S., as it sought to address injustices and facilitate discussions around civil rights policies, despite facing significant challenges and limitations throughout its history.
Commission on Civil Rights
Identification Nonpartisan federal agency charged with investigating civil rights violations at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as with advising the president and Congress and recommending legislation
Date Created by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957
Despite its limited powers, the establishment of the Commission on Civil Rights marked a significant first step on the part of the federal government to eradicate civil rights abuses and disestablish the segregated society enshrined in southern state laws.
In 1870 and 1875, Congress enacted civil rights legislation to enforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, but within eight years, the Supreme Court declared the later legislation unconstitutional. Before the nineteenth century ended, the civil rights of African Americans would be further eroded by the Court’s ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and the actions of southern state legislatures in the wake of the decision. Although demand grew for federal civil rights legislation during the New Deal of the 1930’s, southern congressmen blocked all attempts to pass such laws.
By the mid-1950’s the divisions between the liberal and southern conservative factions of the Democratic Party threatened to split it. Northern Republicans anticipated that civil rights legislation would hasten the split, to the benefit of their party. Concerns, therefore, were less for the civil rights of African Americans than for the Republican Party’s political gains. However, President Dwight D. Eisenhower recognized the need to address civil rights violations, which he viewed as one of the foremost domestic problems the nation faced. In his annual state of the union address to Congress in January of 1957, Eisenhower outlined his civil rights agenda. He called for the establishment of a commission to investigate civil rights abuses, the creation of a new assistantattorney general whose office would be devoted to civil rights issues, the passage of federal legislation to protect voting rights and to guarantee existing civil rights, and legislation to allow the federal government to seek redress via the nation’s court system.
The president signed into law the first U.S. civil rights legislation since Reconstruction on September 9, 1957, known as the Civil Rights Act of 1957. In so doing, Eisenhower created the Commission on Civil Rights, which was provided for by Title I of the act as an independent, bipartisan federal agency. The commission was established to investigate de facto and de jure civil rights abuses at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as to evaluate the civil rights practices and policies of the federal government.
Impact
Federal lawmakers intended the commission to enforce existing federal voting-rights guarantees, but its powers were limited to advising the president and Congress. Although the commission could recommend legislation, it lacked any real power to compel state officials to comply with existing civil rights legislation because the enforcement procedures proved ineffective in the face of southern resistance. Moreover, measures brought before Congress, on the recommendation of the commission, would be subject to the influence of southern lawmakers on Capitol Hill. These shortcomings prompted Congress to revisit the issue three years later with the Civil Rights Act of 1960 , but that law did not result in a more effective commission.
Bibliography
Dulles, Foster Rhea. The Civil Rights Commission: 1957-1965. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1968. Details the history leading to the establishment of the commission and explores its lasting contributions and weaknesses.
Levy, Peter B. The Civil Rights Movement. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1998. Six essays examine such topics as the role of women in the movement and the lasting effects of the events during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Provides good context for understanding the benefits and detractions of the Commission on Civil Rights.